While at the University of Michigan studying film, I couldn't wait to graduate and take Hollywood by storm. (Turns out...it's taking me longer than I expected...) Between my 2nd and 3rd year, I went to L.A. for spring break intent on finding a job over the summer. After a lot of phone calls and knocking on a lot of doors, my efforts paid off!
If you remember Golan-Globus productions (i.e. The Canon Group), you'll know they were behind a lot action indy films in the 80s. They did the Death Wish sequels, Chuck Norris fare like The Delta Force, Missing in Action and Invasion U.S.A., the Sho Kosugi ninja films of that era and many other, mostly forgettable films, that you'd recall hearing about and maybe even seeing.
One of those two partners, Menahem Golan, ended up taking over the company 21st Century Film Corp where I found myself one Tuesday afternoon having walked in cold asking about work. I met with a producer who had a film starting up shortly after my summer break was to begin. We talked for a while and he offered me a job on the project. This was to be the very first film I worked on and it was a straight to video movie called Midnight Witness. I was ecstatic. My first real film experience!
I arrived in L.A. a week before the job was to begin and rented a room from a friend in Venice. I was to be a production assistant (P.A.), which is the entry level job on films. P.A.s are basically the grunts of the set. They do whatever needs to be done. This included running errands, cleaning, office work, basic accounting, etc. The hours are very long and the pay is low, but it’s called paying your dues and I was excited to be doing it. I was getting paid $200 a week.
The villain of the film was played by Maxwell Caulfield (of Grease 2 infamy). He was a very nice, affable fellow. There was also a cameo by Jan- Michael Vincent to be shot the third week of the production. Now, for the kids, Jan-Michael had been a notable star years earlier appearing opposite such legends as Burt Reynolds, Gene Hackman and Gary Busey. Just a few years prior to our project, he had starred for three seasons in a TV show called Airwolf. There was a fourth season, but the leads were replaced. It is widely known that Vincent was having troubles with alcohol and drugs during this time which resulted in his being replaced. Which leads us to this story…
The day before Jan-Michael showed up on set, each of the cast and crew was called in to talk to the production manager. The conversation went something like this:
“Jan-Michael Vincent starts working tomorrow. Do not under any circumstances provide him with drugs or alcohol. Don’t give him any. Don’t buy him any. Don’t get any for him. Don’t tell him where he can get some. If he asks you, you can’t help him in any way on that account. You understand?” I’m a twenty year old kid from Michigan who has never been drunk in his life and gets this pitch on my first movie. Took the wind out of my sails a little.
So, the first day Vincent is on set, I find myself at the craft service (snack) table during a lull in the shooting. It's just me grabbing a Coke and him poking around at the limited offerings they can afford on our modest budget. Vincent looks over at me fishing a cold soda from bottom of a cooler and smiles. He asks me, "They got any liquor hidden away around here?"
I probably stared at him like a deer in the headlights before finding my voice, "Umm...I don't think so." I skated away before he could ask me anything further. So, to my knowledge, he never did get the hook up from anyone on that film set, but it seems Jan was unable to escape those demons. His life continued to be problematic including several run-ins with the law and having a leg amputated for some ailment likely resulting from the decades of abuse to his body. To say he hasn't aged well is an understatement. He might be the oldest looking 70-year old you've ever seen:
So, although my first film was a good experience overall, it was far more educational than I was expecting in more ways than one. "Welcome to the glamorous world of filmmaking, kid – If the movie star asks you to blow cocaine into his or her anus with a straw, you probably shouldn't do it." Good rule to live by, unless it's Scarlett Johansson asking...
