Biography

Then a little luck came my way. I had knowledge of the locations available in British Columbia and I met a guy by the name of Patrick J. Palmer who had a movie called Iceman (1984). He and Norman Jewison were trying to get the picture off the ground with Fred Schepisi directing. I knew where they could find some snow and I could get a crew together, so we went up to the Arctic and worked out a plan to shoot the picture up there.

At the end of the night the entire construction crew was grouped together and the head of our department just put his arm out and said: 'Everyone standing to the left of me comes back tomorrow, everyone else, dismissed'. It had nothing to do with my work, I just happened to be standing in the right place. So I was able to go back and work on the production the next day...

I think what made the old business so much fun was the attitude. It was a group of producers who loved to gamble and they took risks on all sorts of pictures. Those guys are almost extinct today.

As a rule, give-up one thing, and you get something else. Some times that's the only way to advance in the business.

It's a business that allows you to go in any direction you want to go no matter what your race or color; or your preferences...no one really cares. It's just as easy to be a successful 80-year old Producer/director as it is to be a 19-year old Producer/director - the same opportunities are there. . And that allows us to all stay sharp.