Ladies Night

Mary McGuckian — the writer, director and producer of The Making Of Plus One... — has been honored by WIFTS (Women’s International Film & Television Showcase) with a Career Achievement award.

Actors Jennifer Tilly, Amanda Plummer, Donna D’Errico, Lothaire Bluteau and I were there to cheer her on. Mary’s big moment came at the very end, after more than three hours of award-giving. By that time, I confess, we were nearly losing the will to live. Mary received a roar of gratitude from the audience for promising to keep her acceptance speech short.

The event was held at the upscale Andaz hotel on Sunset Boulevard and, apart from going on way too long, it was an uplifting evening with some incredible women being lauded. Like Betty Markoni, who has helped tens of thousands of women in her native Zimbabwe fight back against sexual exploitation, poverty and violence. It’s a commonly held belief among Zimbabwean men with AIDS that they will be cured if they have sex with a virgin, usually against her will.

Betty helps these girls and women find their voice. She provides counseling, rehabilitation and somewhere safe to live. Betty rightly received the WIFTS Humanitarian award. There’s an amazing documentary about her work, Tapestries Of Hope.

Not so easy street....

My producing partner and I have shot the sizzle reel for my reality TV show idea. The shoot couldn’t have gone better. Two weeks to edit, then her agent and my manager can try and sell it.

While we were out filming, a pleasant-looking man of about 30 walked into the frame and sat down nearby. This turned out to be a happy accident from our point of view, so I asked him if he’d be so kind as to do it again. He told me he would be happy to help. As we walked back to the others, he said he was homeless and asked if I could spare a couple of bucks for some food? I gave him five.

The wonderful singer/songwriter Celia Chavez referred to a book by Steven Pressfield, The War of Art, in her blog. Celia wrote:

"The premise of this book is that resistance is a creative person’s tireless and impersonal nemesis, and you have to resign yourself to battle it. You will encounter the worst and most heartbreaking obstacles around that which you are most called to do. It defines the different forms resistance takes and recommends that an artist hunker down and assume the mentality of a professional soldier in an endless conflict."

Most people who achieve success would agree that luck plays a part. Maybe they were in the right place at the right time, or knew someone who knew someone who could help or guide them. Yes, it’s a battle at times, but the harder we work, the luckier we are. And the ones who make it are the ones who don’t give up.

Habit forming

Just had a long phone chat with Mary McGuckian, the writer/producer/director of The Making Of Plus One…

Here’s the latest scoop. It will be properly premiered at the American Film Market early November, located very conveniently just up the road from me in Santa Monica, followed by a BAFTA/LA screening later in the month. Then WIFTS (Women in Film and Television Society) will honor Mary and her brilliant film-making skills and screen the movie in Los Angeles at the end of November.

Mary has just returned to France, after spending two weeks in the Italian monastery where St. Benedict once lived, writing a sequel to The Making Of… (I just re-read this line and want to make it clear that it is Mary, not St. Benedict, who has written the sequel). It wasn’t so long ago, while she was going through the hell of financing, filming, editing, refinancing and trying to sell The Making Of… while coping with the ensuing mental and physical debilitation, that Mary told she would never make another film. Now she wants to go through the whole process again. That woman has metaphorical balls of steel.

Before finalizing distribution for The Making Of Plus One Starring Cate, Kate and George, The Story Of A Hollywood Nobody and reimbursing those financiers, Mary is now working on another ‘mockumentary’ featuring the same stellar cast (including, ahem, Julia and me). This time it’s about trying to get a distribution deal for Plus One... The opening scene will be a bunch of industry types yawning at the end credits of the three-and-a-half-hour director’s cut of a (pretend) movie based on my book. It will be shot entirely in Los Angeles.

I am not going to even try explaining this to my parents.

Yes, we Cannes!

I am writing this on my new laptop, a Toshiba, that my Man Child bought me for my birthday. I think I might have had more children if I’d realized they could one day provide so generously for me.

It has been a rollercoaster few weeks. Colin and I house- and dog-sat for some friends whose fabulous place is right under the Hollywood sign off Beachwood. Our charge, Delilah, had a bladder infection that involved the need for a doggy diaper. I was sorely tempted to take a photo and show you how funny she looked, but decided against it in case Delilah’s owners sued me or, worse, didn’t ask us to stay there again for ridiculing their beloved bulldog/pit bull. Yes, that’s right, half pit bull – the great white of the canine family.

Many dog lovers think the pit bull has a bad press (certainly Delilah is a sweetheart who never barks), but not a friend who turned up for dinner with her toddler, took one look at Delilah and called a babysitter to come and get the kid.

The next weekend, Colin was invited to the launch of the new Audi Q5. He looked at me over the top of his own laptop (a Mac) and wondered if I might like to go as his plus one. I politely declined until I learned the launch was an all-expenses-paid weekend at The Biltmore in Santa Barbara. I have dreamed of staying there.

It was everything I hoped and more. Margaritas (fancy ones with Cointreau) by the pool, amazing food, endless champagne, a cruise, tennis on the astroturf court, croquet, a suite, matching bathrobes, a mountain bike ride along the coast and staff – lots of staff. This is where I belong, I thought.

Having tasted and enjoyed living in the lap of luxury, you can understand how excited I am that ‘The Making Of Plus One…’ is being launched at the Cannes Film Festival on May 17. It was screened for the selection committee yesterday but canny director Mary McGuckian has hired a cinema to launch it there with a big fanfare whether it gets into the competition or not. With some 3,000 films competing for 16 slots, the chances are slim.

And I got paid the movie money I’ve been waiting for and assured was coming for almost a year. There was much rejoicing in our small but perfectly formed apartment when the money was wired into our account. This was an important moment both psychologically and practically.

I have booked my flights and will be staying in a lovely little hotel my friend Sheran found (and has sworn me to secrecy as to its location). She and another great friend, Diane, are also flying to Cannes to share this amazing trip with me. Julia will miss it because she has gigs in Japan, but she wrote a song for the movie and she’s in it for about five minutes.

Here’s a link to a trailer for the film. The distributor, New Films International, has retained the services of a top PR firm, DDA, to promote it. ‘The Making Of Plus One…’ sets things up nicely for the movie actually based on the book. I shall be armed with copies of the book and my adapted script, and will be in Cannes networking shamelessly to sell said wares.

Whatever happens, this has been a wonderful adventure and Mary McGuckian has pulled off a series of miracles to get our little movie funded, finished and set for its big launch.

Never give up

It was like old times for Julia and me. Here we were, at a 40^th birthday bash for Matt Goss. I can’t remember the last time we went on a girls’ night out. The party was amazing. A hip and happening disco (I realize the fact that I just wrote the words disco, hip and happening means I’m not), great food - British fodder like fish and chips, bangers and mash, and mushy peas - endless champagne and a sensational cake surrounded by Cadbury’s Flakes. A truly top night. Just 100 of Matt’s closest friends.

Being 40 isn’t so bad when you have a gorgeous fiancée who adores you, a great house, a new album coming out, drive a Maserati and only look 25. Matt’s mum was there, but not his identical twin, Luke (who was celebrating their big four-oh quietly in Palm Springs). It’s wonderful that the Goss brothers are still in the game after more than 20 years.

Julia’s busy preparing for her next tour to promote her jazz album, China Blue. Click onto www.juliafordham.com for details. And we’re looking set to go to France on October 24^th for The Making Of Plus One movie. I have a meeting with Mary McGuckian this week to hear the latest, so, all in all, I musn’t grumble. Fingers crossed the current financial woes aren’t affecting our movie. She’s invited all the cast to the Chateau Marmont for lunch this weekend. I doubt she’d do that if she had bad news.