FAQ

The recurrent theme is the hero who, for whatever reason, is incapable of communicating enough with his love object to satisfy her need for connection

Finding Shannyn was the ultimate case of life imitating art. Just as Mitch discovers Laurel by accident, Steven Gaydos was having lunch at a restaurant on La Brea in Hollywood and saw Shannyn. She was going through a line-reading with a young actor at a table in front of me and he figured she was an acting student. He didn't want to say anything to her because he was with a group of women and I thought it would look like the ultimate Hollywood cheeseball move. You know, "Hey, baby, I'm making a movie and can I have your phone number to call you for an audition?" But after about 45 minutes of seeing her sitting there in front of him and knowing in his bones she was a Monte Hellman heroine, Steven got the nerve to go over and give her Monte's number and tell her he thought he should talk to her about the movie. Steven had absolutely no idea she was an actress and a well-known one at that. He had never seen a single piece of work she'd done, never even seen her picture. He just knew she had that Monte Hellman vibe. But what he didn't know was that she would take "Laurel/Velma" and deliver a performance that isn't just great, but iconic. Like "Laura" and "Gilda" and "Madeleine/Judy" she's got that film noir DNA.

Melissa fell in love with this script, and decided it was time we (Monte and Melissa) took our lives into our own hands, and not wait for someone else to give us permission to make movies. We (Monte and Melissa) made a budget, and when we only raised half of it, Melissa just decided to forge ahead anyway. When we predictably ran out of money half way through, she didn't tell anyone, and since we already had plane tickets, she decided to just forge ahead again. Because she as the captain didn't abandon the sinking ship, the ship never sank. It listed a little at times, but Lord love her, we're still afloat.