Jonathon McHugh, Talent Agents, Blogs, etc

Back in October my story came out in the New York Post. That very day Barbara, who works at this talent agency, sent me a FedEx envelope with a letter inside that offered to buy my life rights to this project. I have talked to her on and off on the phone about that possibility, but I haven’t signed anything. So while I was in L.A., I called to ask if I could meet her face to face so I would know what she looks like.

Barbara meets me on the third floor, and she is nice. I have brought Jon Rolston along for spiritual advice, and Clark Caldwell can’t film me because ICM doesn’t allow that sort of creativity at their talent agency, but he comes along to help me because he has some experience with talent agents.

Barbara seems to be my age, and cute, and happy, and she invites us into her office and offers us drinks. She steps out to get them from somewhere down the hall and I whip out my little digital camera and take a picture. I’m not sure why Jon Rolston, my spiritual advisor, looks like a backwoods pig farmer who got into some moonshine, and I’m not sure why I thought he should come with me on this important talk, but I suppose this whole project is a learning experience for us all. Barbara comes back in the room with bottled waters, and we play nervously with the screw caps as she smiles and asks us how the trip is going.

It feels like she is genuine. Her eyes light up, she makes constant eye contact, she doesn’t try to push us in any direction. Then I begin to wonder if that is something they teach people. Actors are a dime a dozen in this town, right? But I feel good about it and her. It would be nice to bring the people’s stories out to the public. I really feel like I have met unsung heroes on this trip. Just absolutely amazing.

So here I am in Beverly Hills, ten blocks from Hollywood. I had dinner last night with a man who has just co-produced Brittany Spears movie “Crossroads”. He wants to work with me on turning my story into a romantic comedy.

There are issues of credibility to discuss. On the one hand, it would be very interesting to see Hollywood totally mangle my dream. I could step back and really watch the process of rape, of big budget destruction. Because this is a very simple idea I have. Dinner with strangers. And to hear a pitch is flattering. I explained to John that I needed to return to the art world. That that was the world interests me. He counters with the fact I could fund a lot of art with this money. I talk about the concept of selling out. He returns with the charge that I am afraid to take my idea to the next level. I am not a martyr, I do need money to see this project through. It costs money to drive an RV around. And I need to pay a astronomical cell phone bill. After all, my phone number is written all over the press. I like to drink coffee. What else? I eat breakfast, and lunch. Dinner is paid for now. But I smoke. Cigarettes don’t grow on trees, do they? Not the ones with filters. You get the picture. I’m not making money out here, I’m just living a dream. There is a difference.

If I could let Jonathon McHugh make a movie about a photo assistant who is looking for love, so he puts his name and number in a Victoria Secret’s catalogue, but eventually falls for the girl next door who feeds his fish while he is out on dates, I would. It would be an interesting study on media. I would love to have it be a single chapter in the life of this project.

Unfortunately, the majority of people would see the movie version first, and when and if they came into contact with me, I would be the cheap version. That’s a problem. That movie would become bigger than me, whether it was good or bad.

There is also the fact I told the AP reporter I was turning down offers to make it into a movie. Let me rephrase that the more fully explore my truth.

“I don’t want to think I am expressing myself one way, only to have it come out totally different.”

So, if someone wants to make a movie, I am willing to do so, as long as I have creative control. Agents, please take note.

Jonathon was looking tired when we came for dinner. We were an hour late, thanks to that famous LA traffic. What had taken 2 hours to drive after midnight took 4 hours in the daylight. We were graciously received regardless. Dinner was outstanding. I even have the recipe for you. This has been a dinner that has been on my mind. In the back of my mind for a while. When I picture a dinner with a movie producer, I think of an all white house. Very modern. In the hills. It was on a slight rise, not a hill. And only three blocks from a busy street with Chinese take out and fish tanks for sale, It was a very lovely home, with terra cotta colored walls lots of folk art hung on display, and their kids listening to music in a room down the hall. An old chocolate lab was wheezing around the dinner table, his hips creaking with displacia. For copyright purposes, Clark asked Jonathon to turn off the music so that he could film the dinner. (I don’t normally talk about this apect of the dinner tour, because I want this blog to be about the people I eat with, not about the process of making a documentary. I ought to start a separate blog for that.)

I felt like it was the clashing of two worlds. Hollywood versus San Francisco. Beatnik meets producer. It was a shiny and faulty offer, very confusing, and he is a genuinely nice guy. His wife was a great hostess, I met his kids, his friends, and that made it hard to understand. If you think of Pluto shaking Jupiter’s hand, you will understand two worlds colliding. That was my dinner in Hollywood. The whole dinner was a pitch, about where this project could go.

In the end, Jonathan came outside and took a look in the RV. He got a good laugh out of it, and congratulated our spirit. He recommended we go stay down by the beach with the other bums, and went back inside his beautiful Santa Monica home. I almost ran back after him.

Not a bad meal. In the morning, we met back up with Jonathan in Burbank, following he and his friend around L.A. freeways, heading to a special effects studio, where Jonathan was working out details on another project he is working on with Snoop Dog.

Here’s Vincent, a really cool guy originally from Jersey, who moved his studio to L.A. He showed us some of his creations. This place was a lot of fun to walk around inside of, but it smelled really strong of plastics. Vincent said it was dental acrylic. This part of the trip really made it feel like we did Hollywood right.

Clark is hidden in this picture. Try to find him:

These are the feet of the Pop Tart Yeti, a giant creature in a commercial.

Did you know blog is a shortened version of web logue? I know Blog is not in Microsoft Word’s spell check, so you may not know what it is either. Don’t feel bad! Perhaps you came here from a link, and don’t know you are able to reply directly to what I’ve said, simply by clicking on “comments” at the bottom of each post. Try it today! Imagine it to be like email, but you click “post” instead of “send”. Then everyone can read what you wrote. You now have an audience of millions! It’s the newest thing! You made it this far in cyber space, why are you stopping now? There’s no charge, no risk, and no problem!

Try it today, let me know if I should make a Hollywood version of my story. Thanks for your input!