The world is a sad cold place at the moment and as we watch the tragedy of Ukraine unfold, we can think how lucky most of us are, in the Western world, to live in democracy and freedom and must never let another madman try to destroy it. We have succeeded in stopping a few so far, Napoleon, Stalin, Hitler. We will stop this one too. I still believe in the will of the human spirit.
I am back in Idaho at the moment after a brief trip to California to catch up with friends business and personal. And it’s very cold in Idaho…much warmer in California!
I visited the new Museum of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Los Angeles. It was an interesting experience nonetheless and I am glad I saw it….it is certainly a remarkable new landmark addition to the city. However it was surprising there was nothing about many of the early drivers of the film industry – people like the Warner Brothers, Louis B. Mayer, Charlie Chaplin, Tom Mix, Buster Keaton, Mack Sennett…the list goes on. They surely should have been included, maybe they were there somewhere and I didn’t see them. There is a lot about Orson Welles and his classic Citizen Kane and glad to see much about Stephen Spielberg and his remarkable contribution to the business….the shark from Jaws is there, hanging in the huge stairwell.
Love sailing
Rainbow of Hope
My sailing friends live and work in Ventura and I usually stay there, near the beautiful Pacific Ocean. So if I want to visit people in Hollywood I take the train in….don’t enjoy driving the California freeways anymore. Travelling by train anywhere is always a fascinating experience, watching the scenery and the people. Actors have to be people watchers…you can find and build a character from someone you see. Everyone has little personal habits, facial and gestures and they can be useful to draw on and use, in some future performance.
I took a trip in to have lunch with my Manager and friend Marion Rosenberg. She met me off the train and we had lunch in the famous Jewish deli Langers, in downtown LA, a slightly dubious location, but full of character and characters. Marion is one of the special ones in our industry. She found and initiated the development and was one of the Producers of The Deer Hunter, she developed and associate produced Revolutionary Road, she started BAFTA LA, she worked as Producer for Elliott Kastner on a number of his films, she represented Bette Davis for a while and among her current clients is the great director Paul Verhoeven. And – currently she is on the Board of Directors of Greenlight Women. Marion is a wonderful benefactor to our industry and I respect and admire her .
So that’s a bit about life at the moment….to keep the skills honed and exercised, while waiting for films waiting in the wings, to nail down their financing, I have been writing and recording the odd short story….here’s one-
More later friends.
Serenity Statue, Hyde Park
