Where It All Began

This wild and wacky journey to making a laugh-a-minute indie feature began with a story I wanted to create that would be an offshoot of the life I had lived in the theatre for 24 years. I directed and produced over 130 plays and musicals in those years, and I thought it would be fun to use some of these theatrics in film. Of course, it would seem silly, but not to the character I had created. He was just doing the effect the only way he knew how. His budget was almost non-existent so he had to be creative. No real cars. No great scenery. Nothing fancy. But with a lot of heart.

With my partner, Mary Lewallen, I had already produced and directed a romantic dramady  called Beautysleep Symphony. (Logline: A small town journalist decides to put some passion and fun back into her life by writing a scandalous novel only to discover that thinking about sex all the time can be hazardous to her health. Her alter-ego coaches her through her escapades until Connie stumbles upon a secret which permanently frees her from her former life.) Sounds fun, yes? We finished the film, had a private screening, and found ourselves jacked at the possibilities of our film. We contacted lots of distributors, but alas, we found none willing to give us an advance (very few indies get advances these days). And that was even with some actors with a little clout: Dee Wallace, Max Gail, Adoni Maropis, James Hyde, and Suzy Cote to name a few. So we thought, okay, why don't we do a movie so cheap that it will have to make money? Now that was a real challenge!


The original idea took the form of a stage play. I was helping out a company (the Actors Group in NoHo) that brought casting directors in to give workshops for actors. The play began to take shape when they let me have access to their small black box theatre. I auditioned actors, cast the play (which was called The Cinematic Adventures of Xtra-Man), and set about rehearsing with a tiny cast in a tiny theatre with a monumental idea that would include flying and superhero things. Okay. It was a stretch. And 7 or 8 people saw it. Mostly friends of the cast. I ran the lightboard and the sound and we had some fun. But it was just plain silly. No one took it very seriously. But it was a beginning. And don't we all love beginnings?