Having "been there" when the "amiable dunce" (James Garner's 2-word description after working with him, which I agree with having met him when he was CA gov) was playing the role of "president," it constantly amazed me how many decisions he approved that actively harmed the movie business. Most prominently was the 1986 tax reform that ki…
Having "been there" when the "amiable dunce" (James Garner's 2-word description after working with him, which I agree with having met him when he was CA gov) was playing the role of "president," it constantly amazed me how many decisions he approved that actively harmed the movie business. Most prominently was the 1986 tax reform that killed the provision that promoted investment in independent film projects; it immediately killed five projects I was aware of when their financing disappeared. A friend at the time pointed out that Reagan's career in the movies wasn't really all that spectacular - he *needed* that "Death Valley Days" gig - and that as a "disappointed lover" (lots of them around in Hollywood), he felt why should he help people who never helped him?
During last summer's strike, I went down to the Warner's picket one day and talked to a group of young screenwriters. I almost felt bad telling them how things had been when I broke in, because that kind of wide-open opportunity situation will never happen for them. I also came away amazed that I make more money than they do, as a book author now. It sure didn't used to be that way! And I get to write what I want to write about, the way I want to write it, and work with people who see their job as making all that successful in fulfilling my desires.
I wouldn't recommend trying to break into Hollywood to my worst enemy now. At Roger Corman's last public event in 2011, Jack Nicholson showed up, and later I found myself next to him at the bar. We got to talking about our experience as students in the Roger Corman Film School, and at one point he said that he wouldn't have a clue how to break into Hollywood today. Of course the finest actor of his generation couldn't do it today - he wasn't a trust fund baby when he started out. Like all the other Corman success stories, he needed those jobs to survive.
Having "been there" when the "amiable dunce" (James Garner's 2-word description after working with him, which I agree with having met him when he was CA gov) was playing the role of "president," it constantly amazed me how many decisions he approved that actively harmed the movie business. Most prominently was the 1986 tax reform that killed the provision that promoted investment in independent film projects; it immediately killed five projects I was aware of when their financing disappeared. A friend at the time pointed out that Reagan's career in the movies wasn't really all that spectacular - he *needed* that "Death Valley Days" gig - and that as a "disappointed lover" (lots of them around in Hollywood), he felt why should he help people who never helped him?
During last summer's strike, I went down to the Warner's picket one day and talked to a group of young screenwriters. I almost felt bad telling them how things had been when I broke in, because that kind of wide-open opportunity situation will never happen for them. I also came away amazed that I make more money than they do, as a book author now. It sure didn't used to be that way! And I get to write what I want to write about, the way I want to write it, and work with people who see their job as making all that successful in fulfilling my desires.
I wouldn't recommend trying to break into Hollywood to my worst enemy now. At Roger Corman's last public event in 2011, Jack Nicholson showed up, and later I found myself next to him at the bar. We got to talking about our experience as students in the Roger Corman Film School, and at one point he said that he wouldn't have a clue how to break into Hollywood today. Of course the finest actor of his generation couldn't do it today - he wasn't a trust fund baby when he started out. Like all the other Corman success stories, he needed those jobs to survive.