The company jet landed on time and taxied to a part of the tarmac where private jets usually jockeyed for space, only now it was nearly deserted. Its only passenger got off and walked alone, carrying only a well-traveled messenger bag, to a small office to sign some arrival papers and then went to his car. But leaving as if nothing had happened was not on his mind at the moment.
Such was what I experienced when I arrived back in L.A. Chuck Tyler and I were returning from an interview with CNN in Atlanta when Chuck got an urgent text message that 2 figures from Artists Unlimited, Sarah Smith and Scott Jackson, had suddenly resigned and Walter Murphy, the company CEO, had died suddenly. Simply flying home and waiting for a phone call was not Chuck's style, he wanted answers and he wanted them yesterday, so he ordered the jet to fly him to company headquarters in New York, and sent me home. Corporate intrigue was not my style. Besides, I didn't have the right suit for boardroom back-stabbing.
Around the office, there was an understandable air of uncertainty as we all wondered what would happen next. Jeff Murphy was tending to arrangements for his Dad's funeral so his work was being handled temporarily by Mike Schneider. Mike was highly regarded by Chuck but I'd never worked with him. His first order of business was to try and reassure everyone their jobs were safe.
"Look, I know you're nervous about what's going on, I am too." Mike said when we met in his cluttered office.
"Has Chuck called you?"
"Yes, he's been meeting with the lawyers out there...apparently Walter didn't have all his affairs in order like we always thought."
"Really? A guy like him?"
"Oh yeah...Chuck may start using the words 'war footing' when he gets back."
The last time I heard those words was during the Marty O'Brien debacle. And the hardware installed in my leg courtesy of the late Mr. O'Brien suddenly throbbed a little.
"The important thing to remember is this," he said firmly "I want you to continue to do your work, you are one of the best assets this firm has, Chuck knows it, Jeff knows it and I know it. You will always have a place here."
We both took a deep breath. He'd made his point.
"And with that in mind...take a look at this." he said.
It must be an unwritten law in Hollywood that every actor aspires to be a director, every director aspires to be a producer, or vice versa. Mike Jensen wanted to be the latest to enter that club. Mike was big in the country music world, putting together big tours or one day "event shows" in Nashville. I'd met him when he did his one night "Supershow" on Nashville's main drag. How I don't know, but he somehow navigated the legal waters with ease and the result was some truly epic shows that put lots of money into the clubs, bars and other businesses along the main drag. And also made the entertainment big shots on the west coast take notice of this budding tycoon of the south.
"Read it and tell me what you think." Schneider said as he gave me a script. In bold letters on the front page was the title: "Superstore".
The script showed the author to be Mike Jensen.
"Mike's getting into the film business?" I asked as I flipped through it.
"Yep, and he wants Chuck to be an investor."
"When did he learn to write scripts?"
"It's really not that hard. I've thought about trying it myself. I'm not so sure he wrote all of that himself anyway"
"What does Chuck say about it?"
"He hasn't seen it yet, I think you should read it before he does. "
I read it that night, it wasn't "Citizen Kane" but looked to be a good bit of fun for whomever was involved. Chuck gave his OK via text message based on what I said about it. Two weeks later, I was in North Carolina, given the job of taking still photos, but also being the company spy, monitoring the company's "investment" in the film.
"For those who couldn't get enough of Supershow, now there's "Superstore", right?"
"Sure, it's all in the naming." Mike said as he showed me around the set.
"Can't fault you there."
Mike had found a clever solution to the cost of using a studio. A buddy of his who specialized in commercial real estate found a huge vacant warehouse that had been languishing on the market since its previous tenant had moved out, and it could be easily retrofitted to serve as the outside of the store with the inside used for sets. Also beneficial was the willingness of his buddy to allow parts of the building to be blown up at the climax.
"Superstore" was an action comedy set in a huge discount store that's the target of a robbery. Its star would be Kaley Cuoco as a single Mom who stumbles onto the robbery and is assisted by a co-worker who'd be played by former Playboy "Girl Next Door" Kendra Wilkinson. UFC champion Ronda Rousey would be a co-worker who becomes their nemesis. I think getting Ronda was the reason the film got the green light, Mike must've known he could sell this to the UFC crowd if she was in it.
The last time I'd seen Kaley had been when we shared a limo on the way back from the premiere of "Dreamer". And a lot had happened to her since then. For one thing, she was now a married woman and the name "Sweeting" was added to her name.
As for Kendra, we'd bumped into each other twice in the past but unlike her "Girls Next Door" pal Bridget Marquandt, we'd never gotten to know one another. And while Bridget and I had fun the times we were together, I wondered about Kendra, she seemed like a wild child at times but a sweet girl at others. The last time I'd seen her was at Chuck's birthday celebration at his Hawaii beach house. And since then, she'd become a Mom and saw her marriage dissolve.
When I saw Kaley arrive on the set with her husband and disappear into a huge RV, all I could think was, lucky guy. Rather than pay for big trailers, Mike had worked out some kind of arrangement with an RV dealer and a row of them were provided for the cast.
Mike was certainly resourceful, I'll say that.
When I arrived on the set, much of the interior scenes had been completed and now they'd be getting into the bigger stuff, which would make for good photos.
But what I didn't count on, was the time it took to setup some of the explosions that were necessary to the film. Actors always complain about how they waste time on films waiting around all day to get at the most 5-10 minutes of usable footage. For me, it wasn't that big a problem since I was usually busy with something else.
"Look, uh, why don't you get some photos of Ronda or Kaley." Mike said during one lull in the filming.
I looked around for Kaley but any hopes of hanging around with her suddenly looked unlikely.
"I don't think that would be a good idea." I said as I looked over Mike's shoulder.
"Why?"
"I just saw her go into her RV..." I began.
"So?"
"She's with her husband."
Mike turned around just as the door closed on it.
"Oh, yeah...well, I'm sure you can pass the time productively." he grinned.
I strolled over to where a huge bus was parked, just as I approached it, I heard a loud "THUD!" followed by another and then a rapid-fire "bappita-bappita-bappita" sound.
"What the...?" I thought
It turned out I had walked into a makeshift training area Ronda had setup that included a heavy bag and a speed bag which she was hitting with bullet speed. She had a fierce look on her face the whole time.
"Time!" a trainer yelled as he handed her a towel and a bottle of some concoction she probably had an endorsement deal with. I was right because its logo was prominently painted on the side of the bus in bright silver and blue.
"Now I know who provided the bus." I thought.
Ronda now saw me.
"Hiya! I saw you around the set!" she said as she offered me a heavily bandaged hand "I'm Ronda!"
"Jim...not sure if you'll break my hand." I said as I noticed her hands.
"Oh, that! Nah, I'm harmless." she said as she untied her blonde hair and shook it loose.
"OK, I'll take your word for it."
She laughed.
"Wanna drink?"
"Sure, why not."
She turned to someone who looked to be an assistant who tossed me a bottle of the energy drink called Xyience. I took a sip and certainly gave me a jolt.
"Powerful, huh?" she said.
"Oh, yeah." I somehow said "Does this mean I can fight for the championship?"
She looked me over.
"With a little work, maybe."
"Like 10 years work?"
She nodded, then laughed.
"I'll stick to my day job, then."
"You been doing photos long?"
"Coupla years, I like it."
"Looks like a good job, ever do any fighters?"
