The Guttenberg Bible: A Memoir by Steve Guttenberg

The Guttenberg Bible: A Memoir by Steve Guttenberg

Author:Steve Guttenberg [Guttenberg, Steve]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Published: 2012-05-08T00:00:00+00:00


Chapter 13

One of the wonderful parts of being with a big agency, and having some heat, is that other agents also work for you. I had a primary agent, Peter Meyer, whose trusty assistant, Elaine Goldsmith, was sharp as a tack. They talked to everyone about me. And I thank my lucky stars they spoke to David Schiff, who had been an assistant at the agency and was now an agent. He told Peter about a film at Warner Bros., being produced by Paul Maslansky and the Ladd Company. The same company that did The Right Stuff and Once Upon a Time in America. Hugh Wilson, the creator of WKRP in Cincinnati, was directing. I didn’t hear any of that, I just heard that they were sending the script.

I loved to read scripts. Some screenplays are good technical or passionate works. Some are just crap. But reading a screenplay takes an ability on its own. You have to surrender to the storytelling enough to give it a chance, but still be able to watch the characters, the story, the act breaks, the quality of the work. And then, once in a while, you get a lightning bolt while reading something, and you think, “This is a hit.”

I told my girlfriend LeeAnne that I had read this really funny script that reminded me of Stripes meets An Officer and a Gentleman. If you need shorthand for movies, you use the cute and disgustingly trite “this meets this.” But it really did make me think of those films. I had a meeting at Warner Bros. the next day.

I keep saying there is something thrilling about having a gate pass to a Hollywood studio. “Yes, sir, Mr. Guttenberg, park in any of the spots that don’t say reserved.” The Ladd Company is a beautiful building in Santa Fe style, with a courtyard and its own lobby. Next door is Malpaso, Clint Eastwood’s company. Walking into these offices gives you a feeling of intimidation paired with desire. The waiting room had a few guys waiting to be seen. Some straight-looking, some odd. Fern Champion and Pam Basker were casting and I got called in.

Paul Maslansky, the producer, was a bear of a man with a giant appetite for stories and life and making movies. This script was his baby. He had the idea while doing an Amy Madigan movie in San Francisco. He was driving to work and saw, on a street corner, a tall policeman chewing out a young recruit. And he had it. The lightning bolt. Those are Funny Characters. Like the Keystone Kops. And he went on with his day. But when he got back to the Ladd Company, he asked Laddy to let him develop a film. “I call it Police Academy.”

Laddy was known for not getting too excited about anything. He had an even temperament and made classy films. This was way out there for him. But he wanted to make it. He was making film after film, Chariots of Fire, Outland, Blade Runner, he had lots of power, and was able to take chances.



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