Chapter 31
Organizing Things
After classes that day I went home and to sleep, waking at five the following morning. At eight, I called Julius Baxter and learned that Mr. X was no longer my producer. I wanted to cheer, but realized that left a gaping hole in my financial and distribution needs.
But Julius was at least a step ahead of me. "You have an eleven o' clock conference call in my office. Be there, no tie necessary. But be there, and be prepared to answer some tough questions."
I made my class in Spanish at nine then cut the remainder of my morning schedule. I stopped by the football coach's office and hurriedly told him I had lost interest in being a backup quarterback. He took it well, and I trotted to my car and drove over to Julius' office.
It went surprisingly well. He had a client who knew a guy, who knew a ... you can see where I'm going with this. At any rate, 'the guy' in question happened to be located in California, Silicone Valley to be specific. His name was Howard Keller, and he made it clear to me that he did not invest in beginners, but had seen two of my films made earlier with Hayley and thought they had merit.
"More than merit," he said, "they made a shitload of money. They were also fresh and full of ideas that, I'm sorry to say, have been stolen by everyone out here in the business. I'm guessing you've got some new ideas, at least I hope you do, or I'm wasting my money."
"Mr. Keller," I said, trying not to stammer, I do have some new ideas, but I'll tell you what, you bankroll the first film, and if you don't like it, you keep it and I'll forgo any money it makes."
"You sound confident, kid."
"Oh, I'm not finished. If you like it, you double the size of the bankroll for the next two films, and we split the profits fifty-fifty, after you recoup your investment."
Keller protested, saying, "Wait a minute, I don't make any deals without my lawyer's approval. I recommend you do the same. That said, I'm not turning your offer down, I just want cooler heads to look at the situation. We need to put it in writing, ask Julius, he'll tell you I'm right."
I looked at Julius and he nodded affirmatively.
"I don't disagree with you, Mr. Keller, I think you're right. Perhaps you'd be kind enough to let me know how much money you're thinking of advancing us to get under way." I then went on to tell him what my needs were and where we stood as a production company.
"You've got all those people lined up?" he said.
"No. Not all of them. I still need a lighting expert, an electrician and two cameramen. Um, I expect to meet with the cameramen this afternoon to see if they'll accept my salary offer. I've got feelers out for a couple a scriptwriters. I'll have to look at some of their work to see if they really can put a script together. And my production manager is putting an ad together to pull in some potential actors and actresses for auditions."
"You've been busy," he said.
"I can't afford to waste time. This afternoon I'm having someone check out several locations for shooting the sex scenes. You know it never really ends until the film is in the can."
"I know. Okay, before the lawyers get involved, will $100,000 be sufficient to get you through the first film?"
"I certainly hope so."
"It had better, that's all you're going to get out of me. I want a film that's different from all this shit being mass produced."
"I'll tell you this much, we'll have a story with a plot and lines the actors can deliver without screwing up. I'm hoping to attract the female audience to my films as well as the males already going to see them."
"I like you're thinking. Okay, I'll be in touch with Julius and you. Good talking with you. Break a leg, kid," and he hung his phone up.
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I had an hour before my meeting with Wilbur and his buddies, so I went to Burger King and feasted on two burgers and an order of large fries along with a coke.
To say that Wilbur was excited would be no exaggeration. He was quivering with excitement as he introduced a tall, skinny, pimpled faced kid, named Ross, whose driver's license stated that he was twenty-six, although he looked fifteen.
"Vinnie's late," Ross said in a high-pitched voice. I would later learn that his friends called him Birdie because of it. I shortened it to Bird, for two reasons: first, Birdie sounded too juvenile and I didn't want a group of naked men and women trying to get it on while someone called Birdie was being told to move in for a close-up, or other camera strategy. Second Larry Bird was King on the basketball courts at the time. Calling him Bird, gave him prestige, and with his geeky looks and voice, he needed as much of that as I could dredge up for him. And he seemed to take to the new nickname.
Vinnie showed up ten minutes later. He was a muscular guy, although short, possibly 5 feet, 5 inches tall and wore elevated shoes. He was decent looking, and in short order proved he knew more about camerawork than Bird, but because he was late and because it really didn't matter, except to the guys themselves, I made him 3rd camera.
All three needed camera work. Porno, I was told, was totally acceptable to their world in that it counted as professional work behind the lens on their respective resumes. I offered them the same wages and met no resistance. And when I told them they would be filming the interviews and getting blowjobs from the occasional applicant (well, females anyway.) they quickly signed the contracts Julius had provided me with earlier.
Vinnie also proved valuable in setting me up with my electrician and not one, but two lighting experts, all of whom were happy to sign on the following day.
I called Sigourney, learned that Allison wanted me to know that she expected to see more of me in the future, and that she was meeting with a potential writer later that afternoon and would I be interested in sitting in. I was, and did.
Her name was Ursula Bartoli. I would have cast her for a role in a nanosecond. But one of the first things she told me on meeting her was that she was not interested in performing in front of a camera.
"I do," she said, "have some interesting ideas for some storylines, however. I have a vivid imagination and Sigourney here tells me you're looking for that rather than the run-of-the-mill crap one rents at the video store these days.
I admitted that was what I wanted and told her I would pay her $50 for a synopsis and that if I liked it, would pay her $500 for a finished script.
"What about revisions?" Ursula asked, "There are always revisions that take time, and of course they always need to be done immediately."
"How does $100 sound?"
"For each revision, fine, but no, if that includes all revisions."
"Are you a law student?" I asked with a smile.
"No, but Daddy's a lawyer," she answered, returning my smile.
"Okay, a hundred for each revision, ' I said agreeably. "And here's a check for $150 for the first three synopses, ' Ursula.
