My Prairie Home Movie

Saturday, July 23
There’s a showing of dailies today for some financial backers. Everything looks great. The producers answer questions about the shoot and are very complimentary about how the community has handled it. They consider it a blessed project and hope to shop around a finished project by the end of November, with a first screening possibly in January at Sundance.

Tonight, Woody is having a birthday party at a house he’s renting in Highland Park. It is unquestionably the hottest day of the year, but Woody is an environmentalist, so he doesn’t believe in air conditioning. Everyone stays out on the front lawn. It’s a good turnout, John C., Virginia, Maya, even former governor Jesse Ventura and his son, Tyrel. As people line up to chat with Jesse, I talk with Tyrel about his life in Hollywood. I introduce Kathryn Altman to Jesse, and then have a good talk about impersonations with Brian Williams, who’s here to see his daughter Allison, one of the production assistants, and a favorite. He tells me that when he got back after covering the tsunami last December, he went directly to The Town Hall Theater to see A Prairie Home Companion in New York City. He does the best Tom Brokaw impression I’ve ever heard, and he isn’t shy about doing it. He’s a very funny guy and smart. The food was raw vegan, adventurous but delicious. We headed home at 10:30, with the Aquatennial fireworks finale lighting up the skyline.

Epilogue
I never did get to meet Tommy Lee Jones, because he came into town to do his scenes the following Tuesday, so I guess I’ll never get to show him my promise as an action movie guy. Oh well, the experience has been a once-in-a-lifetime thrill. Now comes the waiting to see if I made the cut. Even if my bald spot is the only thing that survives the editing process, my dreams of participating in a big-time movie came true, and that’s good enough for me.