The L.A. Dime

Last night, Tina and I zipped down to Hollywood for the Cast/Crew screening of Road Trip 2.   It was great to see everyone again before the show began, and when the lights dimmed, I felt a deep, sweeping, powerful rush of emotion as the Dreamworks and Paramount logos come up before the opening shot.  I’m blessed to say that it was my third time having that experience, and even though they are all small straight-to-vid movies, I consider the production of each a minor miracle.

The movie is a lot of fun.  No exaggeration here — the core cast is amazing.  Now, admittedly, RT2 is not for everyone, and is targeted toward a certain (young male) demographic, but if you like a raunchy romp, I think you’ll have a good time with it.  Steve Rash did another great job directing (we did Band Camp together), and the music is fantastic.  A major highlight for me was meeting The Transcenders (pictured below), and seeing my name in the song scroll with them during the end credits:  “In the Buff, Lyrics by Brad Riddell.” Cha-ching.

I visited set during the last four days of production, and saw a dozen or so scenes get shot, but otherwise, had no idea what to expect.  As a writer working on a project for months or years at a time, you have a set version of the movie in your head.  Once it’s filtered through the director, the actors, the DP, the set and costume designers, and the music people, then put under stress by budget and schedule, it becomes its very own, very different thing.  Sometimes the alterations, omissions and additions are wonderful surprises for which you’ll gladly assume credit, and other times, they can be somewhat disappointing.  But there is much to be learned by a writer by watching the final cut of his/her movie — mostly about efficiency.  What is truly needed and what is not.  There is no better experience than getting a movie made, and hopefully each one has made me at least a little bit better at my craft.

My career would not be possible without Tina, whose love and support and toleration of this moody writer’s life are the bedrock of my Hollywood Quest.  See the post below for her thoughts on last evening.

I’m very proud of the film and everyone involved, and look forward to watching it again with family and friends sometime in the fall.  I’ll let you know if I hear anything about specific dates.  Unitl then, remember this: “Girl, it ain’t so tough, to do it in the buff.”

With The Transcenders

Brad and I were invited to attend the cast & crew screening of Brad’s latest movie Road Trip 2: Beer Pong at the Raleigh Studios in Hollywood. We had been looking forward to this evening for a while and the excitement kept building through the day and as we were driving to the city.

Once we arrived, there was a cocktail reception and a chance to re-meet and mingle with all the actors, crew and executives. Even though I knew some of the key players from the American Pie movie Brad wrote, I was somewhat on the sidelines while Brad was busy being congratulated and thanked for writing a script that all these actors and crew had a chance to work on.

We then made our way into the theater and could barely stand the anticipation of finally getting to see what had become of the script Brad had labored over for many months. We have come to accept that the vision Brad has for a movie, and the scenes he writes into his script, don’t always make it into the final “locked movie” but are always hoping that the general mood, ideas and character voices remain.  As the movie starts, we settle into our seats and hope for the best.

Sitting there in the dark, hearing cheers when certain actors that are in the audience appear on the screen and people around us laugh at various spots throughout the movie, I realize that this, this moment, this experience is why we are in LA. Writing movies for a living is what Brad told me he wanted to do a long time ago when we were still living in Lexington. We made a decision to pursue this dream and see where it would take us. He quit his job and applied to film school. Got in and worked really hard for 3 years to learn the craft and refine his skills. Since then, he’s done great work, earned the trust of executives at various studios and proven himself to be able to deliever on their vision.

I am so very proud of his dedication to this work; his commitment to providing for our family and in the midst of this crazy Hollywood life we’re living, still make the time to be an absolutely incredible husband and father. When the lights came on, and the audience clapped, Brad got up, walked towards the people who had worked in his movie and was received with nothing but compliments, accolates and pats on the back.

On a side note – while I am bursting with pride today, I know that there are many, many more ideas in Brad’s head and I hope that one day soon, his own scripts will also see the lights dim in a screening room on a Hollywood lot.

Once we arrived in Stuttgart on a short flight from Berlin, Uncle Peter picked us up at the airport on his way home from work, and we rolled over to Elhofen on the autobahn.  He and his wife, Moni, have a wonderful home in that beautiful village, across the street from a park where Sophie loved to ride the “ming.” Moni went above and beyond in her research of Celiac disease, and providing me with delicious gluten-free options I could have never expected.

Moni and Peter took us to see the Hohenloher Museum, eat spargel at a wine besen, and provided Sophie with plenty of toys and fun to keep her happy and occupied.  Every morning when she awoke, Sophie would stand at the top of the stairs and shout, “Moni!”  They became very good friends.  Special thanks go to cousins Fabian and Ines for sacrificing their rooms/bathroom for the invading Americans.

The centerpiece of our trip south was the celebration of Tina’s Opa’s 80th birthday.  Events surrounding that occasion included an intimate Grill Fest with family, then an exquisite luncheon at a lovely mountain-top restaurant, an afternoon at Opa’s with family and friends, and finally, a trip to the amazing Mercedes-Benz museum in Stuttgart.

We also spent a day in Heilbronn shopping with Tina’s biological father, Thomas, who flew in from Bulgaria. We also visited his mother, Tina’s beloved Oma,  bringing together four generations of Schneiders for a glass of champagne (and for one, some milk).  Thomas then reunited Tina with the wooden rocking horse she played with as a child — getting it to LA was a labor of love, but Tina and Sophie are both thrilled, so it was absolutely worth the effort.

Our trip concluded with a lovely evening at the home of long-time family friends, the Albers. Karl is the Buergermeister of Erlenbach, a village near Heilbronn known for its wine.

The journey back to LA was complicated by an Air Traffic Controller strike at Stuttgart, which forced us onto a bus for three hours to Frankfurt, where we then flew Lufthansa home.  Peter remained with us until the bus departed, making sure nothing else would stand in our way of getting home.  Those who follow my Twitter feed know that the flight would have been better if not for the asshole who put his seat back into Sophie’s car seat for the duration of the flight, refused to raise it, and complained that she kicked him.  We were saved by a lower level in this enormous plane, housing six bathrooms, that provided just enough room for Sophie to run and shout.  My faith in humanity was restored upon arrival, when an airport janitor volunteered to help us push one of our two carts loaded with eight pieces of luggage and a 30 pound horse to the shuttle stop, all for nothing more than a smile, handshake, and “welcome home” send off.

In total, this trip saw us traverse the 405 twice, take two shuttle rides, visit five major airports, jet across Berlin on the U-Bahn, roar through Baden-Wuertenburg on the autobahn, and bounce along on a stop-n-go bus ride through the middle of Germany.  We visited dear family members, saw wonderful sights, experienced important history, ate great food, and returned safe and sound to The Valley.

Photos of our journey are available for viewing right here.

The past two days in Berlin were a whirlwind.  We’ll upload photos when we return, but for now, here are the highlights.

Checkpoint Charlie:  wow.  As a bit of a Cold War buff, standing beneath the “you are now leaving the U.S. controlled-zone,” and then touching a bit of the remaining wall, was a profound experience for me. 

Potsdammer Platz: as cosmopolitan an area as you will ever find; all bright and shiny and new — it was once in the Socialist East, and now has become a bastion of Western commerce, consumerism, art and culture.

The Filmmuseum:  Germany has a deep cinematic tradition, and the museum is a modern, well-designed collection of that  history.  Most intreresting to me were the Dietrich and Fritz Lang exhibits.  They could do more to celebrate their more modern successes, though, such as The Lives of Others, Run Lola Run, and a host of others.

OlympiaStadion:  talk about history.  This is where Jesse Owens kicked Hitler’s ass.  Modernized on the inside, and still in active use by Hertha BSC (fussball club).

Dandelions and Rain:  there are no dandelions in the city, save for in the parks, but all week long we were under a constant flurry of falling fuzz that looked just like snow out our windows.  Oh, and there were gorgeous Spring rain storms that reminded us of our Old Kentucky Home in May.

The SOS Camp:  the apartments below ours are home to a dozen or so children in the SOS Program.  These kids were either orphaned, or taken from troubled home environments.  They saw Sophie come and go all week, watching her play on their playground, and came to call her “Die Kleine Flumme,” or, “The Little Bouncy Ball.”  Last night, Jacqueline, an adorable eleven year-old, asked if Sophie could come out to play.  How could we resist? For nearly an hour and a half, and well past her bedtime, Die Flumme ran, and climbed, and played, and laughed with these lovely, charming children. I’ll never forget it, and will be keeping in touch with the kids when we return.

Cards:  we play cards everynight.  Marion won the first two nights, but the American grabbed an early lead and held on to win the third.

Down South:  This morning we left our awesome Berlin loft with many a fond memory and hopes for a return visit, hopped an AirBerlin flight to Stuttgart, and are now in Bavaria visiting family outside the city of Heilbronn.  These days will be jam-packed, so I’ll check in when I can.

Auf Wiedersehen!

Day one highlights included a visit to KaDeWe in the well-heeled Charlottenburg district, lunch at Schlemmelmeyer Deli, and Spargel (white asparagus) for dinner in our apartment.  Sophie is just a little off schedule, waking up at 2:00 AM expecting breakfast the last two nights, but we’re adjusting, and having fun Finding Nemo in the middle of the night.

Today we walked to the German Capital, saw President Merkel’s helicopter returning her from a weekend getaway, then strolled over to The Brandenburg Gate, passed through to the formerEast Germany, and had coffee at the famous Hotel Adlon beside the US embassy.

Next was a sobering visit to the  Holocaust Memorial.  It was difficult to leave, and devastating to remain.

Coming soon, an exploration of Potsdamer Platz, The Filmmuseum, Checkpoint Charlie, and the Olympic Stadium. Twitter photos:

<a href=”http://twitpic.com/5cvt0” title=”Share photos on twitter with Twitpic”><img src=”http://twitpic.com/show/thumb/

<a href=”http://twitpic.com/5cu0z” title=”Share photos on twitter with Twitpic”><img src=”http://twitpic.com/show/thumb/

<a href=”http://twitpic.com/5cvm5” title=”Share photos on twitter with Twitpic”><img src=”http://twitpic.com/show/thumb/

This Dime is being dropped from our penthouse apartment in the Tiergarten district of Berlin.  It´s a cool, gray, rainy morning here. 

Our journey was long and not without struggle.  It took 18 hours door-to-door, with a stop in Dusseldorf, where, unfortunately, the bag containing my supply of gluten-free foods was lost.  It has yet to be found, but is still early on Saturday morning here.  I need to lose some weight anyway!

Sophie did as well as could be expected for a 20-month toddler.  She slept for only an hour, which means we didn´t sleep at all.  Amazing energy and stamina she has.  Babies are much stronger than we realize.

She was glad to see Nana and Bop-Bop when we arrived at the apartment, and after a solid six hour nap, woke us at 3:30 AM — jet lag in full effect.  We´ve been up since, and it´s now 7:30. 

We’re heading down into the heart of the city later today.  Will check in later.

NPR had a story on today about the “denomination factor” as an emerging trend, brought on by the current recession. The denomination factor states that people are more willing to part with change, than bills. A recent study showed that when one group of people was given dollar bills and another group was given the same amount of money, but in coins, the group with the coins spent it all while the group with the bills, kept most of it.

The story went on to discuss how people feel like they’re not spending as much when it’s “just change” and the person conducting the study went as far as saying that if she were in a position to make recommendations to President Obama, she would tell him to start circulating more dollar coins into the economy and even consider making a two-dollar coin.

Of course, “just spending” is partially what got us into the current situation but what I’m wondering is — what have been some ways you’ve cut back or figured out how to keep more money in your pockets?

I just received this email from Victor K.  But what else would you expect from the cinematographer of American Pie: Band Camp?

A little girl’s prayer to God:

“Dear God, in this year of need, please send clothes for all those poor ladies in Daddy’s computer……!”
Amen

Our dear friends Mark and Faleena are expecting their first baby at the end of June. It’s been so great to watch these two embark on this journey of learning about the great news, watching the baby bump turn into a beautiful belly, and hearing their stories of getting the nursery prepared.

We were honored to host a baby shower at Hamlin house this past weekend where I tried a brand-new recipe for Red Velvet Cake cupcakes (thanks Romy), and lost miserably at the “don’t break your water” game.

Congrats Mark & Faleena — can’t wait to meet your newest addition and welcome her into our family!!

A supremely talented friend of mine writes the wonderful blog, Sofia Stories, which is now featured below on the Dime’s blog roll. Her latest post beautifully captures what it means to be scared, both as a parent and a child. Check it out.