October 1, 1990
Yesterday we shot in the subway.
Today was Steadicam day. I made my screen debut as Bart’s friend who comes to pick him up. I got to wear a suit and tie.
Tomorrow is my last official day. Deborah is begging me to stay on.
October 3, 1990
Spent my day off setting up my bedroom and office, buying household items, etc. It felt strange not being on the shoot. I guess I really should stick it out until the end. It’s only one more week.
Deborah had this to say about NYU: “They say it’s a three-year program, but it really takes five years. You can expect to spend $2000 on your first-year film, $10,000 second year, and $20,000 third year. Add that to three years’ tuition, and you’ve spent a hundred thousand dollars. What I would do, if you have the wherewithal – I mean, three years and $100,000 – is spend those three years working for free on every film shoot you can. At the end of it, you’ll know how a film gets made; everybody will owe you favors, so you’ll have a crew; the equipment rental places and the labs will know you, so they might give you a deal too. Take the $100,000 and make a feature! Then you’ll be a filmmaker.” She sighed and said: “But no one ever does that. They come around like you’re doing, and ask a lot of questions, and I tell them what I just told you, and then they go off and enroll in the program.”
October 4, 1990
Ambulance/extras day. It rained. I’m definitely coming down with a virus.
I promised to work tomorrow (half day) and Tuesday and Wednesday. Deborah was thrilled.
October 6, 1990
The phone man came yesterday and changed my life. Three weeks of calling people from pay phones, and I’d almost forgotten what it’s like to have a phone in the house. Any time I feel like talking to someone, I can just pick up the phone and call. Wow. An amazing luxury.
Talked to Roland, Ann Norton, Robert, Brian, and, this morning, Tomi. I also bought a modem and hooked into Broderbund’s QuickMail system.
What will I do when this shoot is over? Put a final polish on Bird of Paradise, of course, and send it off. Start thinking about ideas for short films. Start working on the Prince 2 design. The Mac Prince graphics. And maybe, just for fun, rent a 16mm camera and shoot a roll of film…
October 8, 1990
An expensive day. Acquired a CD player ($270) and a Mac color card and monitor ($1000). But it had to be done.
Robert read Bird of Paradise and really liked it. It was very gratifying.
Tom Marcus called to bring me up to date on Nintendo licensing. They’ve been stalling Virgin in hopes that a major Japanese player will make an offer. Hope they don’t lose the whole thing.
October 10, 1990
Shoot’s over. Mark Netter was hilarious during dailies, doing ad-lib voice-overs that had us on the floor. The wrap was quite emotional, actually. Rode home with Mark, Nick Sigman and Jenniphyr Goodman. “I’m gonna get so depressed,” Mark said. “Post-partum depression.” He and Nick tried to cheer themselves up by blasting Rockabilly Classics.
Finally met the elusive Jackie Garry, who everyone has been telling me is from my hometown. To my relief, she’d hated high school. “Couldn’t wait to get out of there,” she said. Saved me from a round of whatever-happened-to.
