Oops.
I suppose introductions should come first. Pardon the indiscretions. I'm a fifty year old editor and camera operator who lived and worked in LA for eighteen years, now living in Mansfield, Texas (yee ha).
It's accurate to say that the 1994 Northridge Earthquake was the beginning of that city giving me the bum's rush out of there.
LA to Jonesboro, Arkansas, from shooter and editor to working in a pallet factory. Culture shock, and a lot of spare time to get back into reading more of Buk.
I'm swarthy, overweight and probably the only camera operator with Tourettes although it doesn't manifest itself the way it did in my early childhood and I manage to appear quite poised when working, but fatigue, stress and lack of food will give me a slightly noticeable set of twitches.
It's fun being a DP with Tourettes...sets the talent on edge a little sometimes. I usually make pretty good money at it because I can make pretty pictures though.
My LA years were marked by a marriage to a very gifted but rather psychotic lady who was Hollywood damaged goods before I got her, but she was a knockout with a terrific chest and a fair amount of brains. Along with the failing marriage I also acquired a raging drug habit and even managed to drink more than I ever planned to. The dope is a distant memory but at least I still enjoy my wine, and it's better without the psycho lady. My new wife is a huge step up in the sanity department. She's easy on the eyes too.
She can drink me under the table without batting an eye.
I guess I'm a cheap date.
A lot of strange and wonderful projects got dropped in my lap during my stint in LA. For a peek at another such project, take a look at "The Deep Freeze Story"
It's a very similar situation even though it's a rock and roll property. Again, it got dropped in my lap by someone who couldn't pay the bill or signed me on as partner, and then for no good reason decided to die.
I have a shelf here in the studio with a pretty good handful of unusual projects that have been orphaned over the years, and I'm actually thinking I'm pretty lucky that I hung onto them all these years. These were good people, and I wish they were still around. It would be nice to see them smile because I don't mind sharing.
I met Fred Havens through a couple of mutual friends.
He was something of an art agent, promoter, curator and critic. He divided his time equally between these pursuits and when he couldn't pull down enough coin at these gigs he moonlighted as bill collector, retail sales schmuck or bartender.
At least that's the way he told it.
Fred tried to beg, plead and cajole Bukowski into doing this interview. It's hard to imagine anyone getting very far with Buk without being rebuffed but Fred was a very charming person. Buk finally agreed to do the interview if Fred could outdrink him. It's pretty clear that Fred was still a little bit toasted the morning of the show.
I know that Fred would be thrilled to see this latest Bukowski project hitting the market. At the time this sort of venture was a pretty tough sell to the majors and the majors had the ways and means all tied up so that small fry like myself had no chance. Thanks to the internet the playing field is leveled.
I'd like to think that Bukowski would be thrilled too, or at least amused.
Anyway that's me for now. It's great reading and catching up with you folks. All of you seem to be very interesting people.
JeffH in "occupied" Texas
I suppose introductions should come first. Pardon the indiscretions. I'm a fifty year old editor and camera operator who lived and worked in LA for eighteen years, now living in Mansfield, Texas (yee ha).
It's accurate to say that the 1994 Northridge Earthquake was the beginning of that city giving me the bum's rush out of there.
LA to Jonesboro, Arkansas, from shooter and editor to working in a pallet factory. Culture shock, and a lot of spare time to get back into reading more of Buk.
I'm swarthy, overweight and probably the only camera operator with Tourettes although it doesn't manifest itself the way it did in my early childhood and I manage to appear quite poised when working, but fatigue, stress and lack of food will give me a slightly noticeable set of twitches.
It's fun being a DP with Tourettes...sets the talent on edge a little sometimes. I usually make pretty good money at it because I can make pretty pictures though.
My LA years were marked by a marriage to a very gifted but rather psychotic lady who was Hollywood damaged goods before I got her, but she was a knockout with a terrific chest and a fair amount of brains. Along with the failing marriage I also acquired a raging drug habit and even managed to drink more than I ever planned to. The dope is a distant memory but at least I still enjoy my wine, and it's better without the psycho lady. My new wife is a huge step up in the sanity department. She's easy on the eyes too.
She can drink me under the table without batting an eye.
I guess I'm a cheap date.
A lot of strange and wonderful projects got dropped in my lap during my stint in LA. For a peek at another such project, take a look at "The Deep Freeze Story"
It's a very similar situation even though it's a rock and roll property. Again, it got dropped in my lap by someone who couldn't pay the bill or signed me on as partner, and then for no good reason decided to die.
I have a shelf here in the studio with a pretty good handful of unusual projects that have been orphaned over the years, and I'm actually thinking I'm pretty lucky that I hung onto them all these years. These were good people, and I wish they were still around. It would be nice to see them smile because I don't mind sharing.
I met Fred Havens through a couple of mutual friends.
He was something of an art agent, promoter, curator and critic. He divided his time equally between these pursuits and when he couldn't pull down enough coin at these gigs he moonlighted as bill collector, retail sales schmuck or bartender.
At least that's the way he told it.
Fred tried to beg, plead and cajole Bukowski into doing this interview. It's hard to imagine anyone getting very far with Buk without being rebuffed but Fred was a very charming person. Buk finally agreed to do the interview if Fred could outdrink him. It's pretty clear that Fred was still a little bit toasted the morning of the show.
I know that Fred would be thrilled to see this latest Bukowski project hitting the market. At the time this sort of venture was a pretty tough sell to the majors and the majors had the ways and means all tied up so that small fry like myself had no chance. Thanks to the internet the playing field is leveled.
I'd like to think that Bukowski would be thrilled too, or at least amused.
Anyway that's me for now. It's great reading and catching up with you folks. All of you seem to be very interesting people.
JeffH in "occupied" Texas
