Cessna

The big "showdown" sequence in my screenplay-in-progress takes place on a Cessna, ending with my teenage protagonist having to land the plane herself. And this brings back memories of my own experiences as a Cessna passenger 20-plus years ago when I worked for a producer who owned one.

T. was an eccentric mechanic from Rhode Island, who defined Yankee independence and stubbornness. He got into the film business via porn, which he got into by inventing and patenting a mechanical device that made film loops possible in porn arcades of the era, which also made him rich. Making movies became his expensive hobby. He made what he called "T&E" movies, transferring them directly to video for marketing in foreign countries. T&E stands for Tits & Explosions. You wanted a movie with as much naked female flesh and blown up buildings as possible. I wore many hates, from assistant director to writer to accountant to goffer. The challenge of writing was to tell as coherent a story as possible that had as little dialogue as possible, as many moments of female nakedness as possible, and as many explosions as possible. It actually was good training for learning how to tell a story visually.

At any rate, T. owned a Cessna and flew at every opportunity. His movies always had great sweeping shots of pretty scenery shot from his plane. I often was his passenger.

Typical day. Mid-morning. T would ask if my buddy Dick was free for lunch. This was when Dick was doing great in real estate in Bend, in central Oregon, and had a large ranch there. I'd phone, and if he was free, we'd drive to Troutdale where T. had his Cessna and fly over the mountains to lunch with Dick, then fly back to Portland for the rest of the work day. It was easy to feel like a film bigshot doing this, even if you were making garbage movies. Flying over the mountains, over the Sisters, was spectacular because we seemed close enough to touch them, just the two of us, both pretty large guys, in this tiny cockpit, with those huge snow-capped mountains within reach.

T. was admirably safe as a pilot. A big drinker normally, he never drank when flying. So he never joined Dick and me in wine during lunch.

The scariest flying experience with T. was flying into Seattle-Tacoma for a film festival, landing amidst all those huge jets. He never used the Portland airport, preferring the small suburban Troutdale.

T. become the model for my porn king filmmaker in my screenplay Casanova Does California.
T. only made, or rather tried to make, one porn movie himself, a total comedy of errors. He did own some bookstores after he discovered how much money was to be made, most of them in the region out of state. Here's a scene from my screenplay with the character:

INT. TOM SNOW PRODUCTIONS - OFFICE - DAY - LATER

A nearly empty bottle of Scotch is on the desk. Tom has been
holding court.

TOM
It's the image, it's always the image!
Fucking writers never know that. All
they know is words. Show me a writer
and I'll show you too many goddamn
words!

Sylvia sticks her head in the doorway.

SYLVIA
I'm leaving now, Mr. Snow.

TOM
Wait a minute.

He leans over the desk and grins.

TOM
Amado, you want to get a little head
before she goes? She's great, trust me.

Casanova, not sure what has been asked, shoots a puzzling
look to Christiano.

CHRISTIANO
(to change the subject)
Tom, I forgot to tell you, the
picketers are outside again.

TOM
Goddamn ice queens. Somebody should
fuck their brains out and give them a
life.

T. was crass, funny, unique. He gave great support to such young local filmmakers of the time as Gus Van Sant, Eric Edwards and Penny Allen, loaning them cameras, letting them use his editing room and copy machines, but has never gotten the credit for this that he deserves. Because of his affiliation with T&E and porn, he was dismissed by "real" filmmakers but he had a heart of gold and future "names" owed him a lot.