Author: Todd

The first two weeks of June find me in Australia. Seems like a dern fool thing to do after being gone for three months but I’m chasing a dream and there’s no time for pleasantries. Initially I thought I’d leave Shreveport for Australia in the early or mid part of the shoot but I’d simply forgotten how a production devours you. Completely. Your mind, body and soul. So after only two weeks at home I caught a fifteen hour flight to the land down under.

Why Australia?

I met Kerri Grisham thru Betsy Rue (my more than naked partner in crime from MBV) and Harry Manfredini (the true voice of Jason Voorhees). Kerri had an idea for a screenplay. Oh bother. Wish I had a dime for every time I heard that. BUT. She had more than just an idea, she had a business plan to get the thing made. And that’s the part that won me over. We bantered back and forth via email for ages and in the end I told her, while I could write the story in my sleep, I was never gonna be able to fake the Australian stuff. So she suggested we go. We’d meet with companies and vendors and fact find and research all in one big bloody Mary pass.

Of course, Patrick and I would co-write the piece. And in a perfect world he’d direct but that woudl depend on schedule. Due to the Drive Angry buzz, we were and still are finding ourselves busier than normal.

So. First things first. Australia is different.

For instance. Ladies and Gentlemen. Welcome to McDonalds.

Food is bland in Australia. Hate to be a pecker about it but that’s the clearest way to put it. That said, food is better for you. Not as many additives. Not as many spices. Not as much science. Folks on the average are in better shape as a result.

Everyone drives on the wrong side of the road.

And the sky is bigger.

Everything is bigger.

We stayed with Kath and J.A. and Porter the Cat. The cat was not named after Porter Wagoner. And that is likely the wrong spelling. Named after a character Eric Bana played.

Eric Bana’s name came up often. More than often. Hourly. Aussies are very proud of Aussies. While all American television and movies make their way down under, the topics of conversation center on the actors and crew from Australia. And there are many. More than you’d realize. It’s because Americans are…well…I’m not sure if we’re self-centered or if we just don’t care where you’re from. Perhaps a bit of both. I know for me, I don’t care where you are from as long as you can act, hold the camera or adjust the lighting. I personally don’t care what color you are or what what god you call home. Do your job and don’t annoy me. And we’ll get along just fine.

The trip consisted of meetings. Lots and lots of meetings. Enough to wake my sleeping A.D.D. and have it screaming. We had interviews with local Australian media. We met with companies to discuss product placement.

We had several meetings with Village Roadshow (the Warner part has been dropped). We also met with producer, Michael Lake, who has joined forces with us on this great adventure.

I attempted to run while there. But it wasn’t easy. I’m convinced running upside down is bad for you. Suddenly I was using completely different muscles. I felt heavier. And that dog HATED me. He wanted so desperately to eat my spleen. Every day that hole was bigger. I knew that we would eventually meet. And I had made my peace with the coming battle. While it is true I am a dog lover, this little snot was purely of the devil and I planned on kicking his doggie ass. But alas, one day when I ran by, the hole had been filled and my enemy had gone silent. We never met and I fill extremely unfulfilled. As if Return of the Jedi never happened.

So between meetings and running we visited dozens and dozens of locations so that I could simply people watch.

And People are different. At first glance you would think Aussies are a violent, angry bunch. I cuss. It’s a tool in my work and I’m good at it. But I’m a child compared to the average Aussie. Someone pulls out in front of you and it’s, “For fuck’s sake…” and what follows is a rant of epic proportions. You see an old friend and it’s, “Get fucked you fucking slut!” So no. Aussie’s aren’t a violent, angry bunch. They just a rude bunch of loving bastards.

Aussie’s don’t talk the way we think they talk. There’s is no, “Throw another shrimp on the barbie.” Aussie’s don’t use the word “shrimp”. They use prawns. Therefore your stereotyping is based on a lie, rest-of-the-world.

While there though, I did very much enjoy the meat pie.

I did not, however, enjoy the Kangaroo. Kind of chewy.

All in all, the trip was good. Accomplished waaaay more than I ever thought we actually would and even had a moment or two for some down time…albeit, perhaps not the downtime I would have chosen.

You see…Kath and J.A. kept bringing home new and interesting movies to watch. Jason X was, as it has always been…tough for me to watch. But I was reminded how much I really loved both MBV and Messengers II. I was particularly intrigued by the Aussie packaging which included Jensen, Jaime and Kerr on the cover. As it should be, I thought.

The biggest difference that leapt out at me was the pissers. The above pisser is smack dab in the center of a pub filled with drunken men’s men and the women that beat the hell out of them. And yet…it was remarkably clean. You can go into a fancy schmancy restaurant in the States and 9 out of 10 times the men’s restroom floor will be covered in piss, toilet paper and on occasion a big ol’ misplaced dump.

It became an obsession. Everywhere we went I had to visit the potties. And every single time the place was spotless. Please explain to me how the most powerful (and I’m told richest) country on the planet is made up of men who consider pissing on the floor tolerable. Americans are dirty. And not in the good way like the girl who rubs honey on her headlights.

Of course, not everything in Australia is awesome.

Certainly AT&T blows even in Australia and they’re not even there. Even with the international plan, you are essentially still paying AT&T’s rate as well as an inflated charge for daring to leave their coverage in addition to paying the local coverage. A call back to the states or from the states would cost me a couple bucks a minute. Even texts were pricy. I explained to my friend, Dean Lorey, that if he texted me, be aware that each text would cost 50 cents.

And on the business side…I’ve been debating whether or not to bring this up. Hrm. I will be delicate. Kerri’s story contained some indigenous content. The story would deal with Aboriginal legend. And this, in Australia, is VERY political. I could sort of relate because the U.S. took its land from the Indian. Australia took its land from the Aboriginal. In American the Indians were given worthless plots of land to live on together as payment. In Australia, if I understand correctly, the government will give an Aboriginal person a house. In some cases the Aboriginal person can simply stake claim to any house or plot of land. And in some areas Aboriginal children were taken from their families and placed within white homes. The latter is apparently the biggest cause of tension. And to say there’s some tension between white and black is an understatement.

There are hard feelings on both sides of the fence and I really struggled with this. We’re talking about the country the size of America with a population the size of Orange County. Seems like there’s plenty of room. But…none of my business I suppose.

However…in order to tell a story with Aboriginal content we were going to need an Aboriginal Consultant.

I spent considerable time with our consultant and his Aboriginal family. I listened to their stories. I watched them dance. And looked at their art. All very sacred to them. And I have to say, Political land mines aside, I was very intrigued by what I saw and heard. I could feel this turning into an epic little story.

And then it was time to leave.

Warm goodbyes to Kath and J.A. for taking good care of us. And it was off to the airport.

The flight back was longer. There were some issues which resulted in my having to jump to New Zealand. That and I had pounded away some vodka for the initial flight over which resulted in my being unconscious for ten hours. Not the case on the return. I was wedged between two sleepers and far too sober to sleep myself. But…such is the life of a Hollywood playboy.

Eventually I made it home to my little girl and ate some pasta. As mentioned in previous posts, week two into Drive Angry Izzie was diagnosed with Autism. Granted it’s not severe but that doesn’t mean there haven’t been challenges. The great thing is that Momma pulled the team of Jedi together to begin extensive training. And wow could I see a difference. Izzie was advancing leaps and bounds. Her Jedi skills were astounding.

Still, Izzie Rain will never be a “let the wookie win” kind of girl. She’ll be the one to rip the wookie’s limbs off

Which brings me to today in which her momma texted to inform me that Izzie had found a blue permanent marker. When I replied “How bad?” I got crickets. So I walked down the street to a pure OMG moment. Her face, hands and legs were mostly blue. She’d also attacked the carpet with said pen. Nana was scrubbing Izzie and Mel was curled up on the floor attacking the carpet. I took over with Izzie and dunked her in the tub for awhile.

Anyway, that was today. We’re talking about June.

And back in June it was good to be home.

I walked in to find a present from Mark Wheaton. His previous four shorts, which sold via the Kindle, he had self published. I love his writing. I highly recommend you Amazon the book. And then grab all his shorts as they come out. You really can’t go wrong for 99 cents.

On the 16th I registered for Comic Con. Late. Thank you Heather from Pro Registration and Nic Cage for allowing me to name drop.

It was also nice to just sit back down at the computer and start pounding on the keyboard. While there I found an old email from Adam Ward, Drive Angry’s B Camera operator. While in Australia Adam had sent a couple hundred pics from the shoot. This was the first time I had a chance to check them all out.

Looking back thru these old pics reminded me of the journey and how freaking awesome our cast and crew was.

I have praised Nic, Amber Bill and Billy. I’ve praised David Morse and Tom Atkins.

But what about the nameless? And by nameless I mean those who normally don’t get a name in a script. I’d like to think even the smallest part is written with some juice. And it’s true. But the right actor can take a small part and make it stand out. Like Leather Jacket. James Herbert’s attitude and acting had us giving him more lines. More scenes. He goes from henchman to Billy Burke’s sidekick. Christa Campbell, adored by the horror community, is part what I consider one of the most important scenes in the movie and she nails it. Man With Wig. That’s a character you’d lose after you see him. But not in the hands of Kenneth Wayne Bradley. Bryan Massey and Tim Walter were so good they walked away with actual character names rather than Officer #1 and #2. Playing Nic’s daughter, Arianne Martin is so strong in her role that we actually made changes in the story to accommodate. Jamie Teer does more with not a single line of dialog than most actors do yacking nonstop their entire career. I could go on and on and will in later posts but off the top of my head these jumped out.

I’v mentioned producer Craig Perry in the past. Back during MBV’s shoot we were aware of Final Destination shooting in 3D as well. And we were thrilled. We, after all, thought if we both did well then there might be a future to this whole 3D thing. Then we read an interview with Craig in which he said our movie would be a dry heave with nothing but gimmicks. Later I busted his balls about this and he took it like a man. Since then we actually chat quite often. Back in June he asked what I thought of Brian Pearson as a 3D DP. I told him as far as I was concerned Brian was the only 3D DP in the business. Craig hired him for the next Final Destination and I couldn’t be happier.

This is Glenn. Glenn Neufeld is a Visual Effects supergenius. Glenn built the Defiant. Designed, engineered, built. Only the greatest Star Trek vessel ever created. And Glenn is now on our team. One of the Beatles. Overseeing all the VFX love needed to bring Drive Angry screaming into the theaters.

If we jump to the end of August to talk about current events, here’s where we stand. I’ve seen a half dozen cuts and each one gets better and better. The movie is awesome. Currently the glorious Michael Wandmacher is in the process of scoring. I’m heard half the score and love it. Another of the Beatles. I write to his MBV and Piranha soundtracks daily. Drive Angry will soon be added to the mix.

Next month we travel North to Skywalker Ranch to lay in the gnarly sounds that only team Skywalker can produce. It’ll be most of the MBV Skywalker crew back together again. More details on that as we get there.

Three events are worth noting for the end of June.

One, Billy Burke’s CD came in the mail. Billy had gifted Patrick and I three early cuts back during the shoot and I’d made them a permanent part of my rotation. Burke really is the real deal. He was a musician long before he was an actor and it’s clear. Sort of feels like a family thing since the video for Removed was shot in Shreveport. The CD cover was designed by our own assistant editor, Martin Bernfeld (recall Martin loaned me his car at 5am so that I could venture to Memphis to see my baby girl for Easter). Martin is good people. He’s also Danish. Thus, if you haven’t, you should check out Burke’s CD on iTunes or grab a hard copy from CD Baby.

Two…I found the perfect house. Right up the street from Mel and Nana. The previous couple moved out at the end of the month so July would consist of moving and the long ordeal of getting settled. Ah, the exciting rock-n-roll lifestyle of the mundane.

And finally my good friend Dean would be working on the next Mitch Hurwitz (Arrested Development) TV show.

I currently hear from Dean, or at least he attempts to call, every morning and every night. He’s pretty much 7 days a week, 12 plus hour days.

The show is called Running Wilde with Will Arnett and Keri Russell and the buzz on it is great.

Above is a picture of me biting Dean’s head.

So. Wonder how fast I could bang out July? Could I actually get to August before the…end of August?

But not right now. Right now I’m gonna go get a tank of gas, clean my grill and cook some bird.

No one’s gonna take me alive
The time has come to make things right
You and I must fight for our rights
You and I must fight to survive
— Muse

The site’s back up! Big shout out to Devin Lussier, Gearworx for a great run, Dreamhost and Joker for a good future and Thomas Bartels for again putting up with me.

Still a couple kinks to work out but nothing time can’t fix.

Proper update later. Forget what month I was on.

Above pic was awesome fun. I was there. Standing behind the photographers. Crowd reaction to the trailer was awesome. Panel was quirky and fun. I wasn’t on the panel. Turns out, extensive research shows that the Comic Con crowd doesn’t want to see/hear from a co-writer. Who’d’a thunk? :)

For them what don’t know. Bill Fichtner is my friend. That is all.

And now for some of my favorite TWEETS during and after the panel.

All in all it was a great week. I did some panels. Made some new friends, saw a bunch of old friends and as icing on the cake, Thomas Jane and I buried the hatchet. It was a good week.

Likely the best trailer ever made.

Now that I’m home, I find myself slightly out of sorts. Three months in Louisiana, a week at home then Australia for two weeks of research. I’ve been home for a two weeks but still feel mostly upside down. I know, woe is me. Nic Cage movie, world travel, please don’t flood me with your salty tears.

So, let’s dive into May 2010.

Lussier and Danton. That’s Glenn in the BG but we’ll come back to him. This snap was taken by Nathan Amondson back during the Tech Scout before we rolled the first camera. Director and 1st Assistant Director. Steve Danton is an excellent Assistant Director. Organized and on the ball. He moves the crew like a well oiled machine. The man worked on Lonesome Dove for crying out loud! “Crying out loud.” That’s an old southern saying. Not sure where that came from. Let’s pretend I didn’t say it and move on.

So. Here’s the catch. It didn’t start out smooth sailing. Danton is a powerhouse of an AD. I asked around. There are basically two schools of thought in the world of Assistant Directors. There’s the school that feels the 1st AD there to “assist” the director. Lunacy I know. The job description isn’t exactly hidden within the job title. Then there’s the school that believes the Assistant Director is there to keep the director in line.

Danton is of the later school.

This is actually a great thing. If your director is an idiot.

Patrick Lussier is no idiot.

It’s great if your director is scatterbrained, a drug user, egotistical, all art and no substance, a drunk, a conman. I could go on. And believe me, all of the above exist and most of them make far more money than you or I. They keep working too. Despite their assorted obstacles. And that is because of ADs like Steve Danton. The Dantons of the world come in and keep the peace.

But we had a competent director. Smart. Accountable. Likable. Our director needed an assistant, not a dictator, so, needless to say the early road was a little rocky. I’m not here to sugar coat the journey. But here’s the thing to remember, a lesser collection of strong personalities could have…and most likely would have…bled out. And as a result would have failed to producer a great movie. But our team adapted, improvised and in the end…overcame.

So, let’s talk jackets. I should have mentioned this in April but April was already pretty unwieldy. In April the 300 crew jackets Patrick and I ordered arrived. I started folding. Remember, Patrick had traded in his assistant for…I forget…a better lighting package or some production advancement. So when it came to jacket folding and distribution…enter the writer.

When it was all said and done I knew every crew member by first name and jacket size. And…we needed to order another 50 jackets in order to cover the really big teamsters as well as the post guys. Composer and team, editing, sound and a few politicals as well.

So with two weeks to go…it certainly looked like we might win although the shoot was stacked easy to hard. The roughest work was coming. Two weeks of straight nights…although much of that was on stage. See, there’s no reason to shoot stage work at night but we didn’t have the extra days to properly turn us around. So nights it was.

For the most part our masters left us alone. Our studio spies were reporting that the suits were thrilled although the gatekeepers never bothered to tell us this.

Most weekends I would join team editorial for breakfast. But work never ended. Every moment we discussed the film. What we could do differently to overcome what we didn’t have and utilize the small resources that we did. There was hardly ever a moment to just chill out.

Patrick and I were also preparing pitches on other gigs by night. There was apparently some Drive Angry buzz back home so we were receiving some scripts. Most were dismal. I hate kicking my brother writers in the balls so I’ll blame the development process but we were sent some of the worst scripts ever written. Some great ideas dismally executed. So we worked up some fixes and pitched.

Mel and Nana kept me knee deep in Izzie pics and it helped keep me going.

One thing that both annoyed and fascinated us was that we didn’t have the time nor money to cheat. We couldn’t throw big money at the screen to cover up or distract the audience from our challenges. We had no choice but to THINK our way out of problems. It’s funny but all movies should start with a story. What saved us at every turn was focusing on story. Relying on story telling always bailed us out of any problem where the cats with big money and lots of time rely on big explosions and massive CGI fixes.

In case there’s any confusion, yes. I am bragging. :)

See them boots? Them is Frank’s boots. And now, my boots. I played Frank. Frank wore them in the movie. I wear them now. Our Costume Designer, Mary McLeod found them. She dressed us all. Kept us all warm. Along with Andree (who was also essential to our crew jackets conquest). This wasn’t your normal group of clothiers. Tough as nails these gals.

I don’t understand the hierarchy of world costumes but it seemed as though Susan and Sarah ran the truck. Dena was Nic’s personal costumer. Bunny and Frank (great gals both) kept us clothed on set. And toward the end, Bunny’s man, Paul dropped in to help when Frank shot down to New Orleans on another gig. Paul also gifted me with the jar of Tennessee moonshine above. They really should pack that stuff in the barrels them St. Bernard’s carry. Stuff heats you from mouth to crotch in less than 5.4 seconds.

When I saw them standing there, I announced, “Three of my favorite fuckers all standing together.” And I meant it too. Left: Randy Kinyon, Transportation Coordinator. If it had an engine or wheels then Randy was your guy. Here’s an example. Nic was not completely thrilled with one of our cars. Didn’t like the look. Came back to us with a photo of the look he was attracted to. It was LATE in the game to make a switch. But. We showed Randy the pic. He said without the slightest hesitation. “I know where that car is. Five minutes from here” Said car is now in the movie. And as a side note, Randy’s wife had a screenplay optioned during the shoot. Not easy to do in today’s world.

Middle: Captain Dan Sumner. Dan ran basecamp. Got trucks and trailers from point A to point B. Got Actors from Hotels to set and back again. Dan became a fundamental part of Patrick’s ritual. Patrick could not leave at the end of the day without finding and talking with Dan. Dan was Patrick’s shutoff switch. There was a calm about Dan, a peace. Only need to chat with him for 5 minutes to feel it. Like a walking Fountain of Youth. The Holy Grail with feet. Of course, not all would notice this. Not all could. You’d actually have to have a heart in your chest to notice. We had some that didn’t have one of those.

Finally Erik Vonhoff ran Bandit Rentals in Simi Valley. Erik provided the 69 Charger(s) which as it turned out, my character Frank owned in the movie. Erik and I did a few video’s together to discuss the cars. They should hit the net at some point.

Now, here’s a little unknown fact. When you buy your crew 350 jackets, Karma repays you in ten T-shirts. Seems just about every department made shirts. The Teamsters, Grips, Gaffers, PAs, Transport, Bandit Rentals, Production Design, Craft Services and the list goes in. Even the studio ended up ordering T-shirts and caps. One side of my closet is filled with Drive Angry swag.

Assistant Props Master, Wade Easley has a private conversation with Issac Amondson (Nathan’s brother), Set Dresser. Those standing near, reported the following conversation.

Wade: “Hrmph. Would you look at that.”
Isaac: “What’s wrong with it?”
Wade: “Dunno. Sometimes it just does that.”
Isaac: “Cool.”

Wade’s job was to manage the props on the truck and later he ran props for second unit. Isaac was the on set dresser. It was his job to make sure props didn’t move around. If the Gun was on the table when the scene started then it was up to Isaac to make sure it stayed there til the end. Guns, Canolis, clothes, beer, you name it.

The above conversation took place on the day we unveiled the Morgan. Only one in the US of A. Shipped to us from LA. Randy behind the wheel. I can’t tell you this story. The story of the Morgan’s journey throughout our little movie. But a good story it is. Remind me to tell you later. After the movie comes out.

What I can tell you is that the scene in which the Morgan appeared…changed. In fact, a week before shooting we did not have the scene written. But that part was easy. It’s what we do. Crunch time. Solve problems. Adapt, improvise, overcome.

But then the kind folks who allowed us to use the Morgan had to approve the new scene since it’s not what we originally presented to them. That took a little time.

Next, we had to find where to shoot it. Because we had no location. This sent team locations into a scramble…and as always…they triumphed perfectly. Although…once we had started shooting, as you can see, Sherrill from Locations…had earned a break.

The wrap party was like the moon. In constant rotation around production. At first we heard the company did not do wrap parties. There were a few rumors floating around as to why. 1. Didn’t want to spend the money. 2. Last wrap they had, folks got so drunk there were big problems, arrests and so forth. 3. Another story told was that they had a wrap party a week early and as a result the crew phoned in their last week. I’ve no clue what the real story is but by the end, the suits and masters were mostly pleased so I was hearing there would be a wrap party. First I heard it would be a week early. Then I heard it would be a few days after wrap. In the end. It was a few days after wrap. When it happened the bulk of us were already gone.

But Nathan created one heck of a flyer.

So, as we drew to near the end we were only missing a couple of elements. One, we’d had some 2nd Unit mishaps. There was one big car chase that would be in question as a result. But, Patrick did what he does. He made sure we had what he needed to have.

We were also missing a close up on Frank. Yeah. Me. Seems the A camera slid in front of the B camera during my close up. Bill Fichtner could not have been more happy as the A camera, of course, was on him. This meant I would have to done the clothes and I would have to step back into the role. Bill came with me. Bill was off screen. You’d never see him. You’d never even hear him. Jay had already recorded Bill’s side. No. This was all about me. And yet. Bill was there. Standing just a couple of feet away. Acting. Again, he didn’t have to be thee. Many actors would not be there unless they were going to be seen or heard. But the moment he heard about it, there was never even a question. He was there. At my side.

My god, I love that man.

The last night was an emotional one. I didn’t take pics. Didn’t want to. It was the only day we went into overtime. Two hours I think. When Danton called wrap, Patrick thanked the crew. His voice cracking. I found it hard to speak to those crew members I knew had bled for us.

In fact, this is Sam. Sam’s a PA. Production Assistant. She rents a room from my buddy and screenwriter, Dave Rosiak. Sam could work most people I know into the ground. PAs never stop. Never slow down. Both their bodies and minds are constantly turned on. Constantly on the move. Constantly on alert. They eat standing up.

Three or so weeks from wrap I noticed Sam limping. It hurt but she didn’t want to take time to go to the doctor. By the way, we didn’t have enough PAs to do the job. Any surprise? So they were all doubling and tripling up. Watching each other’s backs. Sometimes you’d see Sam limping to and from set and you could see the pain on her face. Sam refused to leave her team hanging. She was making crap money in a thankless job. Suits didn’t even know she existed. None of them. PA Patrick, Matt, James. They were invisible. Still they worked. Because they love their the movies. The love making movies. They loved our movie. And I guess you could say they loved us.

Upon returning to LA, Sam learned she had broken her ankle way back when. She had worked all that time atop an broken bone.

But that last night was tough. Tough to say goodbye knowing all the sacrifices that had been made. Made for the movie. Made for us. This cast. This crew. Simply amazing. Even the suits. Even the gatekeepers. I understood why they did what they did. I understood how doing what they did allowed us to make even the tight budgeted stuff we did. Well all except one gatekeeper. Who I have never mentioned. Likely never will. Other than to say I hope he gets hit by a car.

Not really.

Yes. Really.

But except for that one gatekeeper, everyone else, even those with whom I may have differing theatrical ideologies, were all striving to make a great film.

And now I’ve seen it. several early cuts anyway. It’s far from done but the movie is there and it’s the best thing we’ve ever made. By leaps and bounds.

And then there’s Patrick. This truly is a film by Patrick Lussier. He is the magic that is Drive Angry. He is the gel that held this whole thing together.

Home to see Izzie. Amazing how much she had grown. Her vocabulary was so much bigger. She was telling stories, answering questions, asking questions, communicating.

I’d missed so much.
…
I guess that may have been the hardest part.

Once she was tucked safely in bed and asleep. I walked to the office.

Figure there’s no better time than the present. Mel and I have been separated since August. Not sure that much is different. Still see her throughout the day. The two of us still break breakfast bread with Izzie every morning. Still laugh and cut up. Moving into a house right up the street. It’s going to be just fine.

So, back to the finale…we wrapped the morning of the 16th. I was home the afternoon of the 16th.

It was soooo good to be home if only for a week. And by the way, Izzie loves people. If there was any doubt, this should clear it up.

But sadly, I could not stay. I’d agreed to go to Australia to do research for a project Patrick and I were considering. Two weeks. Guess I’m nuts.

I flew to LA and hung out with Patrick in Editing, watched what he, Devin and Martin had put together over the last week.

I brought one of Izzie’s toys with me. Muno. He’s from Yo Gabba Gabba. I know. You’d really have to have kids to understand that one. Anyway, I was gonna do that thing where you travel somewhere new and take pictures of an item at every stop. Yeah. That didn’t last long.

Brian stopped by for lunch. We ate spicy Indian food. Told old war stories about running in the trenches.

It was a little surreal.

Alot surreal.

Hard to explain. I had not decompressed yet. And there I was about to fly 14 hours forward in time to Australia’s tomorrow. They are a day ahead you see.

I said my goodbyes then Jeremy was kind enough to drive me to meet BenDavid Grabinski.

I don’t really know who BenDavid is. Fellow writer. Knows everybody. Far more than I. Seemed all these people I knew, knew him. F.J. DaSanto, Kyle Newman, Mark Wheaton, Craig Perry. BenDavid had sent some very kind FB messages back during the MBV3D days. Messages of support. Had also been amazingly supportive of Drive Angry. For instance we’d announce attaching David Morse and BenDavid would make an enthusiatic comment. Nothing major but sometimes it really is the little stuff when you really need it that counts.

So, it was time to meet in person.

Turns out, the reason he knows so many people is that he is a genuinely nice guy. Passionate about movies.

But his fiance, Amanda, is way cooler.

So by midnight I was on a flight to Australia. More on that in June.

Wait a minute…have we caught up? No. I’d have to get June out before July’s end.

I’m currently moving into a house up the street from Mel. Next week I’ll be in LA for a premiere, meetings and diner with Fichtner. The following week is Comicon…nah…I I’m not so sure we’re gonna catch up. :)

In closing, thank you so much for the kind emails, FB messages and comments concerning last month and my young padawan, Izzie. You have all warmed my heart. Thank you.

Week 2 ended on April Fools Day. Fitting. This was also the day, Izzie and her momma boarded a plane to come see daddy. Although separated, understand that Mel and I are the best of friends. And thanks to assistant editor, Martin, and my stupidly losing my keys, I was able to borrow his car and join them later.

I might as well get this out in the open. I have debated it. Have discussed with Mel at length and we have decided keeping it a secret helps no one.

My Izzie reunion was one of absolute joy. I’m not a very good absentee father.

As joyful as it was…I could tell something was bothering Mel. She was distracted… stressed even. Because she had received news the day after I left for the Shreveport location and had sheltered me from it. She knew it would derail me. Distract me. So, she alone carried the burden. She carried it for a full month. Until Easter weekend.

Izzie. My beautiful. My perfect. My greatest accomplishment. The one creature on the planet that proved to me that I could love something more than myself…

Izzie is autistic.

Now, don’t you dare send me emails of “I’m so sorry” or “You poor dear”. Don’t you dare think for a moment that this is a bad thing. That it takes away from the perfection of my daughter. On the contrary. This makes her all the more stunning. Izzie is gifted. She can move things with her mind. She is imaginative and polite. She says please and thank you and I’m sorry. She loves to cuddle and take naps. She is friendly to strangers. Normal children are just that. Normal. There has never been anything normal about Izzie Rain.

She loves spiders and dinosaurs and ghosts and all things that go bump. She can work an iPhone, iPad or iMac like a master. She can count and knows her ABCs. Izzie is strong with the force. And thanks to Mel, we now have a team of Jedi working with her weekly to train her. To protect her.

In the world of Autism, Izzie is moderate. She isn’t Rainman. She makes eye contact. She loves people. She can communicate and wants to. While she is imaginative and can get lost in her own mind, she doesn’t get stuck there. She loves to hug, loves to explore and learn and play.

There are some speech challenges. Some motor-skill challenges. And when she, as a 3 year old, does not get her way, there’s the chance of a meltdown. Granted, all 3 year olds have meltdowns. But perhaps this particular meltdown is a little different. However it’s nothing she nor we can’t handle. As I said, we have a team of Jedi Masters working with us.

A special thank you should go to our dear friend Allen Speigel who noticed some subtle signs months ago. Not only did Allen give us a head’s up but he also made calls and helped to speed Izzie through the process that could well have taken months if not years. Were it not for Allen we would not have found out until much later. Were it not for Allen we would not have our incredible team of Jedi Masters.

And they are THRILLED by the way. Thrilled that we caught this early. While there is no fix. Just like there’s no fix for being tall or weepy at movies. There are tools to assist in living with it. We all got our baggage. You learn to work with your baggage. Learn to use it to your advantage. Izzie will learn to use hers to her advantage. Will learn to capitalize on the gifts of autism. Will learn to adapt. Improvise. And overcome the challenges of autism. I have used A.D.D. and two parts OCD to build a career.

Izzie will use her Autism to rule the world.

BUT…it may have taken me a week or three to come to this more positive attitude.

Upon learning…what I wanted to do was go home.

I did not want to go back to Shreveport.

But I did.

I went back because I have a responsibility to my crew. To my cast. And even to my masters. One of which is remarkably ungrateful. Not to mention I have a partner. I was not about to abandon him. Life happens. You deal with it. Drive Angry was our biggest opportunity to date. Opportunity that could benefit both our families. I would be there to support my director. To be his assistant. To do whatever needed to be done for him, for the crew, for the cast without complaint. To run as much interference as I could. To shield Patrick from distracting drama as Mel had shielded me. It wasn’t much but it was part of my job. Granted a job for which I was not being paid as harsh as my burden, Patrick carried the full weight. Anything I could do to lessen that load, I would. Without hesitation.

You’d think that masters would appreciate my willingness to work for nothing. No. Not all. Monday morning, within five minutes of seeing one of my masters, he/she joked about how my staying at the Holiday Inn was a waste of production money.

I did my best to keep Patrick’s schedule, though I’m not as tough as he. Up two hours before call. In bed two hours after dailies. My body was bruised from stunts. My brain was numb from lack of sleep. I wrote, put out what fires I could not to mention I’d been recently kicked in my autistic balls. Yet on top of it I had to put up with rude behavior from one who was supposed to be protecting me and the project.

I laugh about it now. Not so much then.

The thing is, I can live with the tight budget. I can adapt to the tight schedule. That’s business. But the rude behavior? The rude behavior proves it isn’t just business.

Week three took us to a farm, a church and a bridge.

It was also the time Patrick and I figured we’d better start talking crew jackets. We had been told early on that Millennium doesn’t do crew jackets so Patrick and I decided to provide them.

I researched and was quickly reminded of how much I suck at research. I needed help. I asked for it from Andree Fortier in costumes. She had worked with us on MBV and started researching jackets and printshops.

Nathan Amondson our production designer, thankfully joined forces and provided the designs. We used my Skywalker Fireman jacket as a prototype. Nathan worked his magic and suddenly we had me wearing the prototype. We settle on a charcoal color. Removed the charger and placed an order for 300 jackets. Later we would add an additional 100 to cover the post production crew. Editing, Composer and Skywalker Sound.

Back in California Mel and Nanna continued to send me updates and pics of Izzie. I was back into the swing. And Mel said Izzie was doing great.

While shooting on the farm I learned just how amazing a perfect team of PAs could be. Ours worked so hard. They ate standing up. They ran, they biked. They came early and they stayed late. They worked for crap money and they worked as locals so no per diem. They multi-tasked. Here, PA Patrick, was on his way to deliver coffee, stopped to hump my leg while answering a call over the radio.

That same week I also got to meet David Morse and loved him. It’s a great role which he made so much better. It serves purpose. Plot, character and just plain cool. But the weight he brings to the role takes it well beyond what we ever dreamed. When the man speaks, you believe him.

Met David’s wife and boys. They’re not Hollywood. It’s kind of refreshing. David is quiet but professional. Steel and velvet.

We chatted between set ups. One day while on an exterior shot I watched him watch Patrick. Finally he asked, “Does Patrick ever yell?” I laughed and told him, “No. Never. Yelling at cast or crew would simply never occur to him. It’s not in his wiring.”

Rene gets full credit for making David happen. Rene Besson. Rene is a suit. Works for Millennium. And mid-way through production he became a producer on the movie. He asked DeLuca and DeLuca said yes. That shows how classy DeLuca is but it also shows how deserving Rene was.

Rene is…I suppose…one of our masters. But Rene is a good man. Oh, don’t get me wrong. He can be a raging pain in the ass but at least with Rene you know what to expect. He’s a shark. When he’s hungry he eats. When he’s full he shits. Rene has a job and believes in it. I’ve met so very many who throw there weight around for reasons of insecurity or arrogance. Not Rene. He loves moves. LOVES. I happen to believe in my job as well. While the two jobs are supposed to compliment each other…they often don’t. He didn’t know what to make of us in the beginning and we didn’t know what to make of him. But eventually we figured out that we may come at things from totally opposite directions, but we are still on the same side.

For instance, if we have 100 bucks to make our movie then I want all 100 bucks. I ain’t asking for 110 or 105. But I want my 100. Right down to the last penny. If Rene can make the movie for 80 bucks then he will. I can’t argue his position. Can’t even say he’s wrong. But I want my 100. However, It’s because Rene wanted to make the movie for 80 bucks that allowed us to get more than we normally would have.

Rene fought for 3 extra days of 2nd unit…and got it. He was the toughest negotiator. Not only did he get us Morse, but he sealed the deal for Billy Burke, for Charlotte Ross, for Fichtner, for everyone we wanted. He never came back to us saying we have to cast Actor X on the foreign sales list, although I know he heard that from his masters. We all got masters. Rene may have been tough… but he still MADE the deals with our choice for each role. Patrick was there when it was happening and I saw it happen. Rene got us who we wanted. Got us the cast that was BEST for the film. Every time. And that’s huge.

And the biggest selling factor for me, Rene was always supportive of Patrick. Was never dismissive. Patrick appreciates him for that. I’d work with him again without hesitation. Rene loves movies. And that’s rare in this business, as odd as that sounds. He has a massive movie collection — and can rattle off quotes from the highest brow art flick to the most ridiculous B movie guilty pleasure. We may be different sides of the coin but together we’re a damn fine coin.

Rene was and is on the side of Drive Angry.

Nathan Amondson recently sent me a bunch of old pics from the scout. This one cracked me up. The Palomar Motel. That’s Rene, John Thompson and myself. John too, is an exec at Millennium. I like John too. He’s charming and charismatic and he worked on Once Upon a Time in the West!

Our faces should tell the whole story. The Palomar had some challenges. You DO NOT want to go in there with a black light.

But the pic sparked a debate. Millennium.

In Hollywood there are roughly two primary systems for making movies. Via the studio system the story will change because the suits will get involved in the creative. BUT, nine out of ten times there will be more money for production.

Via the Millennium system they WILL NOT change the story. You will have creative freedom as long as you stay within budget and schedule. But don’t go crying for more money.

It’s an amazing debate. Do you choose less money but creative freedom? Or give up that control in exchange for more money? Because rarely do you get both. Unless you’re Cameron.

Either way will have its pros and cons. Either way you’ll get bloody. But is there a better choice? I’m not sure there is. But I think I’d always choose creative over money. That said, I look at the above pic and I fall in love with Gary Tunnicliffe all over again.

By the time we moved to the church we were well aware of the armor needed to make a movie in and around Shreveport. Sunblock and bug spray were essential. As important as the SI and the Red.

As I’d mentioned previously we wrote the church as a back up plan for rain. But we ended up liking it better. That said we still had to block it and it was nearly time to shoot it.

So between setups, Patrick and I sped our way to the church. It was just us and PA Samantha. We walked thru the action, the dialog, we walked through the scene. It’s hard to explain it. It was exactly the same thing we do when we write. We banter and act out and watch the movie in our heads.

Most folks won’t understand our bond. Won’t understand what we do. I think Sam might. She saw it in action. She saw the process and the joy that comes with it. You don’t do it because you are paid. You do it because you have a responsibility to your cast and crew. You do it because you love the story. Because you love the journey of creation. Samantha pulled me aside after and thanked me for letting her watch that. She’s so damn cute.

Then it was back to the crew where we were shooting exterior driving. After all, it wasn’t called Walk Angry. Previously there was a scene involving Ms. Heard and a song. We had several possible songs. But Amber suggested one of her favorites. We threw the song into our machine and Holy Cow we got it. As you can see, MaxP3D, Richard, Joey and Will were thrilled.

Nearly every weekend the PAs did something entertaining. BBQs, get-togethers, or in the above instance, an evening cooked community breakfast. Pictured left to right are Wildcat, who ran base camp. John White our 2nd 2nd. Samantha who I mentioned above and PA Patrick who was photoed humping my leg earlier. Missing from the pic would be PA James, who was likely at home with his beautiful wife. And PA Matt, who was likely somewhere quietly planning to take over the world.

These kids worked their tails off. Production Assistants. They didn’t waste time telling you how hard they work. Talk is cheap. All you needed to do was open your eyes. They were competent and professional. The movie will be better because of them.

Ladies and Gentlemen. Dave Crone. Camera operator. Dave is a keeper. Dave isn’t one of those guys who talks about all his other jobs. All the celebrities he’s worked with. Dave had more physical production experience than anyone else yet you’d NEVER know it. Until you watched him work. Dave Crone is a genius. We did not have money to burn. And we REALLY didn’t have time to waste. Dave made sure we got every shot. Made sure we told the story.

Every single day Dave, Brian and Patrick would meet and talk and figure out how to survive under our particular extreme circumstances. They always met at least an hour before call. Throughout the day you’d see the three of them or any combination of two quietly chatting. They never yelled. Not at the crew. Not at each other. They would sit together at lunch. They would meet and chat after wrap. All three were at dailies. They never missed.

I would listen when they talked. And rarely had a clue what they were talking about but they knew. If you put the camera here then you can tell this while accomplishing this and we get the story in two shots rather than four. I was fascinated. And stupid. But I’m dashing and that goes a long… well that’s worthless but whatever.

I had seen Patrick and Brian do this on MBV. But with Dave it reached a brand new level of awesome.

Dave Crone. You, sir, are the man. Dave Crone, on behalf of team Beatles, please accept this warmest of invites to join the band.

Kevin Meier. Sound man. His job title was Sound Utility. I don’t know what that means. But I can tell you what he is not. He is NOT a master at pranks. I was notorious about leaving my Macbook Air and/or iPad everywhere. On a cart, on a stump, on a ladder. One particular day when I returned for the iPad it was gone. So, I walked around the set and there was Kevin. Hunched over typing away. He was writing me a Poem in Notes. It was flowery and romantic and sexy. And had I not seen him writing it, it would have been the greatest prank EVER. I would have found the note and been like What the Who? Kevin, you numbnut.

The sound boys kept me smiling.

There was also Randy Pease, Boom Operator. It was Randy’s voice you’d hear in your ear after just about every take. While Randy is a master at collecting sound, he’d certainly have a job sitting in the audience during Mystery Science Theatre 3000. His comedic timing is impeccable. He has a Masters in heckling from Stanford.

Rounding out Team Sound was Jay Meagher, sound Mixer. I don’t have a pick of Jay on this computer but he looks alot like Brad Pitt. Jay was the Emperor of sound. Randy and Kevin were Vader and Vader’s little brother Stumpy. We never made life easy on them. Between the planes, trains, autos, factories and our 1st AD’s heavy breathing…Jay and the sound boys had their jobs cut out for them but they were amazing.

I have never had better food on a set. Liz and Dottie in Craft Services took amazing care of us. The food was good. The snakes were plenty. A golden cornucopia of plenty. (That was supposed to be snacks but snakes is funnier.)

And over in Catering, Donna and Sue were my girls. I want to marry them. The food really was great. I know I’m a broken record but the crew was simply amazing. Every department took great pride in their jobs. Every department knew this one was special and wanted to be a part of it.

Tim Trella preps the car for Oakley Lehman. My bromance with the stuntmen continues. These guys were the best. Watched out for each other too. When the bombs drop. When anarchy rules, I’m joining forces with the stuntmen. And we’re gonna eat our masters first. With some Australian BBQ and a splash of Vegemite. Okay, hold the Vegimite. Stuff is nasty. Sorry Aussies. Truth.

I have mentioned the mostly thankless job of being a stand-in before. Pictured left to right are Todd, Nathan, Michelle and Will. We became friends. Like the PAs, the stand-ins were very much in the know. And I LOVED this about them. They stood quietly and watched. Listened. They were fully aware of the heartbeat of the set. I was able to put out fires before they started thanks to them. I really cannot stress how in debt to them I am.

Nathan is also a great writer. It will not surprise me to see his name in lights one day. In fact, as I mentioned in a previous post, Nic read one of Nathan’s scripts and loved it. They became buddies and took the private jet together. I was never invited on the private jet. I can only assume this is because Nathan has better hair.

I so very much love our team. I was continually dazzled by Nathan’s production design. He is the greatest gift Millennium gave us. But we will steal him from them. Nathan is getting married soon. All the very best, my brother.

I will never get tired of singing the awesome of Michael DeLuca. He has always had our backs. Always. From day one. Before that. For me, I would not have a career had he not said yes to the little movie that shot Jason Voorhees into Space.

When it came to Drive Angry, Mike got it. Completely. He was the first and only producer we met with whose only note was to go shoot it.

Then there was D-Day. Dooms Day. It was a bad day. We had so many but this was a particularly bad one. It resulted in this photo. This photo made me want to attack. Made me want to beat the living… I really don’t want to go into details. People on the outside were stupid and their stupidity ended up kicking my friend in the teeth.

DeLuca had gone back to LA for the weekend. I didn’t know who else to turn to so I wrote him an email in the middle of the night. He responded immediately. He booked a flight that instant. Next thing I knew he was on a plane to Texas which was the only way to get to Shreve. You bounced. He had our backs.

Michael DeLuca is simply astonishing. Most suits don’t understand the delicate balance it takes to both make the movie for a budget and support your creatives. DeLuca does. He’s in a league all his own. I’m curious what studio he’ll end up running. It’ll happen. Won’t be long.

Patrick Lussier is one of the best directors in the business. You saw it here first. Well, not true. Others have said it but the world will catch on soon enough.

He’s smart. Way smarter than I. He understands story and drama and tension and character but he also completely understands the technical side. He edits in his head. Knows what he needs. He will save your production money because he’ll outthink screw ups and accidents and even greed. He can adapt to any challenge. And the crew loved and loves him. Completely.

Here’s the thing. You treat my friend with respect then you earn my loyalty.

You take advantage of my friend, yell at my director, take advantage of my friend’s talent and kindness and we will be enemies. For life. I will never forget.

I love our cast. Even the day guys. Say hello to the Fuckers. Left to right, Fucking Middle, Fucking Driver and Fucking Passenger. I forget the first guy’s real name. He was great though. Con and Joe I got to know pretty well. Con is also a stuntman and a big ol’ ball of muscle. Joe had one of the most remarkable cadences I’ve ever heard. Unique in the way Shatner and Owen Wilson are unique.

Watching them reminded me how much I love Patrick and I. We wrote some great roles! There’s a fine line between arrogance and fact. But these guys took great but tiny roles and gave them life. So very proud of them.

Tom’s last day. Atkins. He is the man. He is a Beatle.

As we neared the end of April I was missing my baby girl. Mel was feeding me reports. Izzie was already showing results. She was wooing her assorted Jedi Masters. They LOVED her. Saying please and thank you and being genuinely polite goes a long way.

Her speech was already improving. Four weeks later and I could tell a difference over the phone. Our baby girl was gonna be just fine. Better than fine. Confident and perfect.

I know I posted this pic already but if you had a pic with Tom Atkins in which he was wearing a Dumbledore Dies T-shirt, wouldn’t you post it often?

Tom Atkins was wrapped. Hated to see him go. Made us want to hurry up and finish and get started on our next. Here’s hoping H3D pulls its head out of its butt and gets made because we wrote Tom and heck of a role. We wrote him an awesome role in I SAW WHAT YOU DID over at Dark Castle as well. But that’ll likely never happen. Whatever happens. You have not seen the last of Tom Atkins.

As long as Patrick and I are around. Tom will be around.

My daughter and my dad. Easter weekend 2010.

And that brings us to the end of April.

I’m sitting at Kathy and J.A.’s kitchen table in Brisbane Australia where I’m doing research on a story called The Dark Things. It’ll be another Lussier/Farmer script. Not certain yet how involved we will be beyond writing as all of that is still on the table but it’s an awesome project. And something of a financial investment as flying to Aus ain’t cheap! But too early to give out more details. Whatever happens, we keep the faith and keep writing.

Before the 14 hour flight down under I spent the day with Patrick, Devin, Martin and Jeremy in editing. The movie simply looks and feels stunning. DeLuca dropped by after me and Patrick showed him some footage to which DeLuca summed it up perfectly.

“Ah. The air that I breathe.”

Can’t wish for more than that.

And as I’m off to the Gold Coast, Rest in Peace, Mr. Hopper.