would have expected twin Halle Berrys. They also bring an LA Times and Wall Street Journal, which are probably costing twenty bucks apiece.
The same driver and limo show up at nine in the morning to take Willie and me to the studio. We arrive early for our meeting, so we spend some time walking around the place, looking for stars. I don’t see any, unless you count Willie.
We are eventually ushered into the office of Greg Burroughs, president of production at the studio. With him are a roomful of his colleagues, each with a title like “executive vice president” or “senior vice president.” There seems to be an endless supply of gloriously titled executives; I wouldn’t be surprised if there are three or four “emperors of production.” The lowest ranked of the group is just a vice president, so it’s probably the pathetic wretch’s job to fetch the coffee and donuts.
It turns out that the overflow crowd is there merely as a show of how important we are to them, and everybody but Greg and a senior VP named Eric Anderson soon melts away. Greg is probably in his late thirties, and my guess is, he has ten years on Eric.
“Eric will be the production executive on this project,” Greg informs. “He shares my passion for it.” Eric nods earnestly, confirming that passion, as if we had any doubt.
Willie’s been uncharacteristically quiet, but he decides to focus in on that which is important. “Who’s gonna play me?”
Greg smiles. “Who do you have in mind?”
“Denzel Washington,” says Willie without any hesitation. He’s obviously given it some thought.
“I can see that.” Greg nods, then looks at Eric, whose identical nod indicates that he, too, can see it. “The thing is, Will, we don’t start to deal with casting until we have a script and director in place. But it’s a really good thought.”
Eric directs a question at “Will.” “I hope you don’t mind my asking, but do you have a mother?”
Willie shakes his head. “Nah. Used to.”
“Why?” asks Greg of Eric, barely containing his curiosity.
“Well,” Eric says, looking around the room and then back at Willie, “I hope I’m not talking out of turn, and this is just me speaking off the top of my head, but I was thinking it would be really great if you had a mother.”
“Interesting,” says Greg, as if this is the first time he has heard this idea. My sense is that Eric wouldn’t say “good morning” without first clearing it with Greg, even if it’s just “off the top” of his head.
“Well, it ain’t that interesting to me,” says Willie. “My mother took off when I was three and left me in a bus station. I ain’t got no family.”
Eric nods. “I understand, and again, I’m just thinking out loud off the top of my head, but I’m talking about for the sake of the story. If your mother was there, supporting you the whole time you were in prison, believing in you…”
Willie is starting to get annoyed, which in itself does not qualify as a rare occurrence. “Yeah, she could have baked me fucking cupcakes. And we could have had a party in the prison. Mom and Dad could have invited all my fucking invisible aunts and uncles and cousins.”
I intervene, partially because I’m concerned that Willie might throw Greg and Eric out the fifth-story window and they might bounce off the top of their heads. It would also necessitate getting two other passionate executives in here, thereby prolonging this meeting. The other reason I jump in is that they are alluding to an area in which I have a real concern, which is taking dramatic license and changing the characters and events. I’ve heard about the extraordinary liberties Hollywood can take with “true” stories, and I don’t want to wind up being portrayed as the lead lawyer of the transvestite wing of Hamas.
We hash this out for a while, and they assure me that the contract will address my concerns. We agree on a price, and they tell me that a writer will be assigned and will want to go back East to meet and get to know all of us.
I stand up. “So that’s it?”
Eric smiles and shakes my hand. “That’s it. Let’s make a movie.”
THE FLIGHT HOME is boring and uneventful, which I view as a major positive when it comes to airplane flights. The movie doesn’t appeal to me, so I don’t put on the headphones. I then spend the