I Owe It All to Johnny Depp (Sort of)

January 14, 2013

“There's nowhere you can be that isn't where you're meant to be...” 
― John Lennon

A bit of backstory before I begin. (Or you can skip directly to the Internship Part Marked Below)

Back in May, I traveled to LA for a special screening of Tim Burton’s 2012 film adaptation of Dark Shadows. Now this wasn’t the premiere at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre (formerly) but a double feature at the Vista showing the new film and the 1970 House of Dark Shadows. The event was exclusive to members of the Dark Shadows fan club and featured cast members of the original show along with a charity auction.

Now this was my first time traveling to LA and I wanted to stand out so I went the extra mile to craft my own Johnny Depp inspired Barnabas Collins costume. My trip to LA, however, started out on the wrong foot. I overslept and almost missed my flight, got sick on the plane, and my jaw hit the floor when I saw that the cab fare from the airport to the hotel was $86 without tip. After dropping a third of my money on the hotel room, I decided to try to find the theater in advance but my GPS malfunctioned and lead me in the opposite direction to a liquor store in a bad part of town across from the Church of Scientology.

I had hit rock bottom but there was nowhere to go but up from there and I won’t go into detail regarding the fun I had exploring the “touristy” parts of LA and will instead skip to the actual screening. After House of Dark Shadows concluded, the charity auction began and who should I spot winning all of the memorabilia but Daniel Roebuck. Daniel Roebuck, a character actor who has literally been in everything ever made in Hollywood, from The Fugitive (Biggs) to Matlock (Cliff Lewis). Of course, my generation knows him best as Arzt from Lost, the know-it-all obnoxious teacher who blew up while handling dynamite. I’m an admirer of his film Dark and Stormy Night so naturally I had to talk to him.

I noticed, however, that Daniel was talking to another gentleman so I waited patiently for him to finish before interjecting. Now picture, if you will, ME dressed as a pale white vampire with razor-like bangs, fangs, and a green Inverness cape standing a foot away with piercing eyes staring. I guess I hadn’t taken my appearance into account as I stood waiting all nonchalant. I’ll let you infer what Daniel’s reaction was but it did end with him asking for several photos with me. I talked with Daniel for a good five minutes before he had to rush off. Before he left, he pointed to the man he had been talking to and said “He’s a director, you know.”

He immediately held out his hand to shake and introduced himself as Tim Sullivan, the director of 2001 Maniacs and Chillerama. I had seen 2001 Maniacs back in high school and saw that Chillerama was on the shelf at Target so Tim’s name did have merit in my book. We talked for a good while about all things Dark Shadows, comic books, and movies until an usher interrupted saying that the manager requested my presence for photos. Tim told me to look him up on facebook as I was whisked away.

It wasn’t until I had finished with the photo op that I realized that I had just missed the greatest opportunity possible to enquire about an internship in film. I returned to my seat slightly dismayed just as Tim Burton’s film started. As the credits rolled, I jumped up and scanned the theater for Tim. Now, this isn’t like a movie theater we’re used to in Iowa. With its Egyptian décor, it was closer in size (length wise) to CY Stephens. Just then, something caught my eye. Tim was at the back of the theater and he had spotted me. He waved and I desperately tried to make my way to his location. Did I mention that I had been sitting in the second row? Hordes of people stood between me and Tim and something happened that I hadn’t considered. I was still in costume. And I was surrounded by legions of Dark Shadows fans. I was stopped every two feet by people requesting photos and I couldn’t say no. Finally, I reached the outside of the theater and Tim was nowhere to be seen, lost amidst the sea of limousines waiting to pick up the original cast members.

Flash forward two days and I’m back at my home in Ankeny, Iowa. Tim accepted me as a friend on facebook. I’m about to send him a message asking about internship opportunities when I notice that his “About” section states that this page is to be strictly used for fan service and NOT business. Disheartened once more, I look up Tim’s film company New Rebellion Entertainment and using the email there, shoot him a message.

One week passes before I hear anything. The email I receive goes along the lines of “Great meeting you at the premiere last week. I rarely check this email account myself so use this one instead…or better yet, here’s my cell phone number. Give me a call.” My already large eyes doubled in size that day as I gazed at my computer screen.

Now flash forward again and I’m making my calculations on the best time to call. Because there’s a two hour time difference, I figure that I’ll call at 9pm which will be 7pm his time. It’s great because it will be after supper time and I won’t have to worry about him being stuck in horrific LA rush hour traffic. The phone rings eight times before it reaches voicemail. I leave my message saying I’ll call back.

The next day, I’m lying on my futon stressing over when to call again. This time, I figure I’ll call at 2pm but then I realize that this will be lunch time and I don’t want to interrupt anything. I lie on my futon over-contemplating the situation before finally passing out from the stress. Suddenly, I’m awakened by the sound of my phone ringing loudly from where it sits. And then I realize…Tim has called me! I tell him that I make films in my spare time and he tells me send him some of the films I’ve done.

I send him Steampunks, Under the Setting Sun, and the fake trailer for Elvis Presley Vampire Hunter. He tells me that I look just like “him” in Under the Setting Sun and that my work in Elvis shows that I have a similar acting style (being a character actor and all). Needless to say, Tim is impressed and he approves.

Internship (In case you decided to skip everything above)

I’ll cut to the chase now. Tim told me about an upcoming series he’s working on and that he’s still assembling a crew and that I’m more than welcome to join him as a production assistant. The series will be filming in Denver, CO in August.

We keep in contact but in July, I receive a call stating that production on the series has been pushed back to March but that he’s holding a two-day film school workshop in Chicago in August.

I gladly attend the workshop (and I frantically rush to register for the last few required classes I need for the Fall semester). The workshop consists of reviewing the progression of a scene from script (first draft to final draft) to filming via the review of raw footage to assembling the scene ourselves through editing.

Let’s jump to now. The crew has been assembled and my duties have been assigned. I’m acting as an associate producer and I’ll be managing the social media of the show’s star. This will allow me to work at home until we start casting in Denver come February and filming in March. Now let me elaborate on this process. Whenever you see an official facebook page for a celebrity ie. Joss Whedon or Felicia Day (the Geeky ones not the Hollywood blockbuster celebs that use only twitter), there’s so much to manage that it’s literally a full-time job. If the celebrities did everything themselves, they wouldn’t be able to accomplish anything; no new films or projects.

Now I know what you’re thinking. So, these official pages are run by imposters then? No, not exactly. We work in conjunction with the star generally obtaining photos, statuses, and videos to post at various times of the week. They are all chosen by the star and we act as liaison between them and the fans. We respond to the messages that have been sent in a way that doesn’t seem like they’re being written off and not giving too much so as to encourage stalkers.

I realize that because I’m revealing this secret that I can’t actually tell you (the general public that is) the star of the show that I’m doing this for (for confidentiality reasons). Although, it wouldn’t take much to figure it out.

I can, however, post the email I received from Tim today as we embark on this new journey:

Hey Guys-

I feel like Professor X gathering the X MEN for the first time!

But here goes- this is the FIRST email to the entire HOMEFRONT team, or Team ****** as I like to call it, as not only will this team be responsible for producing HOMEFRONT, it will also be responsible for maintaining the social media surrounding our boy ****.

This is a true experiment in what I see as the future of the industry-

Basically, using social media to build an interactive fanbase to which we then sell content and product.

If this works- we should all benefit creatively and financially. The sky truly is the limit – and in the end, the heights we reach or don’t reach will rest squarely on our shoulders.

As with any venture- the start up will include a lot of work with little compensation- but then, it will inevitably be a lot of reward and a machine that runs itself having been well oiled along the way.

Why am I doing this?

First off- FREEDOM. Freedom to be my own boss creating my own content that I own without answering to corporate hacks who ‘don’t get it’.

Second off- the chance to build a CREATIVE COMMUNITY of talented individuals who will all grow in this venture and get the experience and opportunities that might never get in exchange for hard work and passion.

Thirdly- (Section omitted due to Confidentiality)

Because at the end of the day- I MAKE THE MOVIES THAT I WANT TO SEE CUZ NO ONE ELSE IS MAKING THEM.

And the money to be made from making them ensures I don’t have to go back to McDonalds to pay the rent while making them.

So—with that being said- tomorrow will be our first TEAM ****** production meeting in LA. We will be going over the attached WORKBOOK/TO DO LIST.

For those team ****** members who will not be in LA (Danny, John and Stephen) you will be with us in spirit, and we will be in touch within the next day or two to go over the worksheet personally.

So- for those at the meeting tomorrow- feel free to glance over the attached- but don’t sweat it- I will have a hard copy of it for you tomorrow- and we will go over it page by page.

For those who won’t be here tomorrow, take a look at this when you can- and again, I will be in touch.

Thank you everybody-

And away we go!

Tim

As you just read, I sadly couldn’t attend the production meeting, but am currently waiting for a phone call detailing my schedule and specific duties as I sift through the workbook that was attached to the above message. I sent a text to Tim stating that I’m just happy to be a part of the team.

The journey has just begun. Who knew that dressing up as Johnny Depp and being at the right place at the right time would lead to such an opportunity?

I’ll keep you all posted.

Best.

Stephen