While were gearing up for another huge Ultimate Workshop next weekend thought Id toss out some more Mecey trivia for ya to chew on. Ha! Back in the early 90s I was approached by Marilyn at Studio West about having a couple TV producers sit in on one of my Playmate tests. They wanted to sit in the background and simply observe how a Playboy shoot really worked. Okay... They watched, listened, then at the end of the shoot approached me to ask if the director of a movie they were producing might also attend one of my shoots. Absolutely! I love the movie biz and would love it. Another test shoot is planned and the director arrives. He also wishes to remain in the background while I do my thing. After the shoot is over we chat. The first thing out of his mouth, this was nothing like I had imagined it would be. Then he went on to ask, would you be open to coming onboard as my consultant for the PB shooting stuff in our film? Guess how long it took for me to answer that question? LOL The production was happening a few weeks later in Vancouver, Canada. Hollywood north they called it back then. Im flown up and begin my consulting by meeting cast and crew. I was in heaven. The star of the movie, which btw was called Posing was none other than Wonder Woman, Linda Carter! Then there was Amanda Peterson, who was back then known for a movie called, Cant Buy Me Love (OH, also had a guy in it by the name of Patrick Dempsey), and finally, Michelle Green. An actress from a TV show in the 90s called LA Law. The production is scheduled to last nearly a month, though Im scheduled for about a week or so. I arrive at the outset and it was for all the Playboy shooting portions of the film. Oh, the film was about three women who had posed for Playboy and how it affected their personal lives, a housewife, a college student and a stock broker. The clincher, I had photographed the real life women being portrayed in real life!!! Something not the producers, the writer, director, nor I, realized until I arrived on set! Anyway, Im there learning the ropes of movie making when its time for their actor, portraying the PB photographer to photograph Linda Carter, the housewife. I show him how to hold my cameras (I was loaning out to them), how to direct during a shoot, what to say, etc. The script was literally opened to some ad lib lines during this segment so Steve, the director was relying on me to give their actor stuff to say. He enjoyed my way of directing the models and really wanted my dialog. Well, the scene begins and the actor was a bit full of himself and decided not to use what I had given him but words of his own choosing. Which did not fly at all with Linda who literally stopped the scene and told the director she was not comfortable with how the actor was portraying himself with what he was saying to her. Steve agreed and told him to listen to me. I take him aside and again tell him what to say, how to say it, etc. But he did not want any part of this non-actor and below the line person telling him what to say. So, take 2, he says something similar and again, Linda stops the scene. This time, Steve is not happy. He calls a break and he, along with the exec producer, another producer and the DP go off into a room. I am beside myself thinking Im failing! A few moments later Im called into the room, which to me meant I was about to be fired. As I walk in theyre all standing in a row, smiling. Im completely apologetic, but they stop me instantly. Steve begins by saying these words, exactly. David, howd you like to be a star? I kid you not. Im now completely burning up, face on fire, blushing. I dont know how to answer other than, I am the worst at memorizing stuff Steve. Plus, I cant act. I dont... Steve stops me in mid-sentence. We dont want you to act, we want you to be you. You have a few lines to learn (I had pages of dialog I would later learn once I was given my script) but even then, I want you to deliver them as David Mecey would say them. Thats all we want. We dont want an actor, we want you. I told them I could try to save their actor but they told me he was gone. Nothing to save. They wanted me. Well, I remained there another few days before I had to fly down to the Caribbean for a 5 day swimsuit shoot. Remarkably, they held all my shots in the movie until I returned from the Caribbean. I learned my lines on the way down on the flight, during my evenings on location, then on the flight back to LA. Oh, I had the models run my lines with me on the island which they thought was a hoot. lol Yes, it seems like a dream, yet, it really happened. I know because they still play the movie from time to time even today. lol Steve, the director and I have remained friends ever since. Linda was a total sweetheart as well as Amanda and Michelle. Welcome to Chapter 8 of my book (if I ever really write the thing)! Theres more about this in this chapter I might add, but, that will have to remain in the book. :) LOL
Posted on: Sun, 28 Sep 2014 20:58:31 +0000
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