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    Tyson Blue: I lobbied very hard for it to be put on the DVD, but Frank thought it was too much of an in-joke. But I’ll keep hoping; hope, as they say, is a good thing…  
    Lilja: After having the opportunity to follow the making of this movie, did it turn out as you thought it would when you attended the screening?  
    Tyson Blue: It was everything I hoped for and more. I thought it was by far the best translation of a King novel to the screen, and that the changes Frank made were for the better. There were a couple of scenes and shots I wish had stayed in, but the overall result is so fine, I just can’t argue much with it.  
    Lilja: I know you tell us about a favorite moment from your visit on the set in the book (no, I won’t reveal it here). Is there any other moment you feel like sharing, one that isn’t in the book?  
    Tyson Blue: Yeah. I didn’t put it in the book, but I got to be one of the mourners at Elaine Connelly’s funeral near the end of the film; I’m seated to the right of the coffin, next to a woman in black, in the shot of the graveside service. Constantine is the man in the black suit standing at the front end of that row, by the way. I’m easy to spot; no one else moved in the shot.  
    Lilja: What’s next for you? Any new books in the making?  
    Tyson Blue: For now, it’s back to my regular job as an attorney; I recently re-entered private practice, and that takes a lot of time. I’m also working on starting up And I In Dreams Behold , a suspense novel I put aside two years ago when The Green Mile came along. I’m also looking to place Observations From the Terminator , and have been asked to do an essay for Steve Spignesi’s new King book. I’m definitely open to doing more work with Frank Darabont, if possible, but that’s a ways off yet. And I’ll keep writing my regular King news columns and anything else that comes along. There’s always something. 
     
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    James Cole 
     
    Posted: October 27, 2000  
     
    Lilja: Please start this off by giving us some general information about yourself, including a list of all the work you’ve done in the movie busi-ness.  
    James Cole: I grew up in New England and began making short films when I was eleven. I began writing seriously in college, and have been published in Castle Rock: The Stephen King Newsletter, The Stephen King Encyclopedia and The Lost Work of Stephen King , as well as Sci-Fi Universe and Video Watchdog magazines. I moved to California to pursue a writing career in 1991. I have been writing scripts for over ten years, but none have been produced as yet.  
    Lilja: The reason why we’re interviewing you is because of the short movie for Stephen King’s “The Last Rung on the Ladder,” for which you paid one dollar for the rights. When did you shoot this film? How much did it cost to produce? How many official airings have there been, and could you tell us about a funny incident from the production of the movie?  
    James Cole: Production on The Last Rung on the Ladder began in 1986 when I was twenty. I had moved to a small town in Cape Cod in 1984 and met Dan Thron, a fellow filmmaker and Stephen King fan. We decided to adapt this story in 1985, but could not find a suitable barn, so the project was abandoned. However, we decided to try again the following year. We found two local kids and useable locations, and shot for nine days during the summer of ’86. We had no crew and only two Super-8 cameras, but were able to accomplish a great deal. 
    There was no single “funny incident” I can recall, but there were many moments of laughter from flubbed lines and goofing around. The kids were terrific (ages eleven and thirteen), and we had a lot of fun, despite the difficult settings and rushed schedule. The total cost was around fifteen hundred dollars—mostly for film and processing, plus the rental of editing equipment and the transfer to video.  
    Lilja: How come you picked “The Last Rung on the