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Authors: Iris Rainer Dart
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there.
The wine she had with dinner was making her a little woozy, and she thought she’d fall asleep immediately, but after she took
off her makeup, flossed and brushed her teeth, and shooed the cats away so she could slide into her bed, she picked up the
stack of scripts from her night table and sorted through them.
One of them was an action-adventure piece that interested her because she saw on the title page that it was written by two
women. Maybe that would mean there would be some heart in it. Maybe if it had emotions along with the explosions and she really
liked it, she could bring in a woman to direct it, too. Wouldn’t those kaboom films benefit by a human touch that made the
characters more accessible, so that the audience actually felt something for the people involved?
Yes, maybe she’d just look this one over. Even though she felt worn out, she kept reading. Good opening, she thought, after
the first four pages. And after a few more pages the story was starting to intrigue her. By the time she was on page forty,
she had grabbed a pen and a pad and was feverishly making notes. Hurriedly writing down what she knew were wonderful ideas
to make this project work. People she could put together. The people who would make it happen. She could even imagine the
kind of musical background it should have.
When she’d finished the script, she put it and her pad of notes on the table next to the bed and turned off the light. Ah,
Bibberman, you son of a bitch, she thought. There’s life in this old girl yet, and I am not going to let you get to me. I’ll
hang in and get some good work done, even if I have to be known as the menopausal mogul. Then she slid into sleep with a smile
on her tired face.
----
6
S
he wasn’t even
sure
if her rattletrap clunker of a car would make it all the way to L.A. She couldn’t afford to have it serviced. Couldn’t afford
to do anything. She had one credit card that wasn’t maxed out, so she’d use that to fill the tank and get the oil checked.
Of course once she got down there and one of them gave her a job, things would be different
.
After she decided on the plan, it was so easy she wondered why she hadn’t thought of it before. Well, not easy, it took some
nerve, but hell, she was an actress. She could sound as if she were somebody important. She took a deep breath and dialed
the alumni office in Pittsburgh
.
“
CMU Alumni Office. This is Dee Dee. How may I help you
?”
“
Oh, hi, Dee Dee. This is Rose Schiffman. I was Rose Morris when I was at school there,” she said, and then she took a beat
to hear if Dee Dee would make some remark to let her know she didn’t sound like Rose Schiffman, or if Dee Dee knew Rose Schiffman,
but she didn’t seem to notice that anything was weird. It was a great idea because since Rose Schiffman was a writer, most
people didn’t know what her voice sounded like
.
She said she was part of the West Coast Drama Alumni Clan, and she wanted to do some personal solicitations for the new building
fund, to write a personal letter reminding all of the entertainment-business alums that the drama department had been responsible
for their success and that now it was time for them to “give back “ Boy was that the right thing to say. The very friendly
Dee Dee flipped
.
She said, “Oh, Mrs. Schiffman, I loved the movie you wrote
, Faces.
I cried so much when I watched it. My husband and I just rented the video again the other night, and I cried again as if I’d
never seen it before. I know a personal letter from you to some of the alums would mean so much. I mean there’s such a lot
of money in the entertainment industry, and who better to give it to than us. Right
?”
“
My sentiments exactly,” she said, thinking what idiots people made of themselves over celebs
.
“
Why don’t I fax you a list of the people we’re trying to get involved in the new fund-raising
The wine she had with dinner was making her a little woozy, and she thought she’d fall asleep immediately, but after she took
off her makeup, flossed and brushed her teeth, and shooed the cats away so she could slide into her bed, she picked up the
stack of scripts from her night table and sorted through them.
One of them was an action-adventure piece that interested her because she saw on the title page that it was written by two
women. Maybe that would mean there would be some heart in it. Maybe if it had emotions along with the explosions and she really
liked it, she could bring in a woman to direct it, too. Wouldn’t those kaboom films benefit by a human touch that made the
characters more accessible, so that the audience actually felt something for the people involved?
Yes, maybe she’d just look this one over. Even though she felt worn out, she kept reading. Good opening, she thought, after
the first four pages. And after a few more pages the story was starting to intrigue her. By the time she was on page forty,
she had grabbed a pen and a pad and was feverishly making notes. Hurriedly writing down what she knew were wonderful ideas
to make this project work. People she could put together. The people who would make it happen. She could even imagine the
kind of musical background it should have.
When she’d finished the script, she put it and her pad of notes on the table next to the bed and turned off the light. Ah,
Bibberman, you son of a bitch, she thought. There’s life in this old girl yet, and I am not going to let you get to me. I’ll
hang in and get some good work done, even if I have to be known as the menopausal mogul. Then she slid into sleep with a smile
on her tired face.
----
6
S
he wasn’t even
sure
if her rattletrap clunker of a car would make it all the way to L.A. She couldn’t afford to have it serviced. Couldn’t afford
to do anything. She had one credit card that wasn’t maxed out, so she’d use that to fill the tank and get the oil checked.
Of course once she got down there and one of them gave her a job, things would be different
.
After she decided on the plan, it was so easy she wondered why she hadn’t thought of it before. Well, not easy, it took some
nerve, but hell, she was an actress. She could sound as if she were somebody important. She took a deep breath and dialed
the alumni office in Pittsburgh
.
“
CMU Alumni Office. This is Dee Dee. How may I help you
?”
“
Oh, hi, Dee Dee. This is Rose Schiffman. I was Rose Morris when I was at school there,” she said, and then she took a beat
to hear if Dee Dee would make some remark to let her know she didn’t sound like Rose Schiffman, or if Dee Dee knew Rose Schiffman,
but she didn’t seem to notice that anything was weird. It was a great idea because since Rose Schiffman was a writer, most
people didn’t know what her voice sounded like
.
She said she was part of the West Coast Drama Alumni Clan, and she wanted to do some personal solicitations for the new building
fund, to write a personal letter reminding all of the entertainment-business alums that the drama department had been responsible
for their success and that now it was time for them to “give back “ Boy was that the right thing to say. The very friendly
Dee Dee flipped
.
She said, “Oh, Mrs. Schiffman, I loved the movie you wrote
, Faces.
I cried so much when I watched it. My husband and I just rented the video again the other night, and I cried again as if I’d
never seen it before. I know a personal letter from you to some of the alums would mean so much. I mean there’s such a lot
of money in the entertainment industry, and who better to give it to than us. Right
?”
“
My sentiments exactly,” she said, thinking what idiots people made of themselves over celebs
.
“
Why don’t I fax you a list of the people we’re trying to get involved in the new fund-raising
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