Napalm-Tinged History, by Christopher Derrick – Sympathy For The Devil #44 | @MDWorld

November 15, 2013 Chris Derrick 2 Comments

One of things that we like to hear about is the behind-the-scenes tales of how creative work gets made — ‘cause what goes on behind the scenes is many times just as fascinating and dramatic (and sometimes more so) as what goes on in front. When it comes to entertainment industry, we have a hard time saying “no” to these insights, tidbits and rumors. They add to the mystique of show biz.

Remember when DVDs first came out, and the BTS featurettes quickly these massive productions in their own right. However, these were studio PR machine creations, not unadulterated and candid exposés of the production. Everyone is putting their best foot forward on an EPK (electric press kit), they’re not going to go record disparaging someone. That’s usually done when you’ve had too much drink or coke.

But the creative process is what we want a look at; we all get frustrated in the act of creation and we want to see how others made in it through the darkness.

One of the best glimpses into the insanity of the creative process is HEARTS OF DARKNESS: A FILMMAKER’S APOCALYPSE. Eleanor Coppola, wife of the beleaguered filmmaker, took to documenting the troubled production, and then some crack filmmakers got a hold of her footage and fashioned a remarkable documentary around that classic film.

APOCALYPSE NOW! had a maelstrom of incessant production rumors swirling around during and after its legendary production. The larger than life rumors swelled in the years afterwards, and only compounded the claim that Coppola was out of his mind and couldn’t be trusted as a filmmaker. When the revealing and acclaimed documentary did come out in the early 90s, it did show Coppola at the end of rope and staring into the abyss more often that not on one of the most troubling shoots ever. And with the doc, we finally had actual ocular actual truth of what went on on-set (as much as true can be gleaned considering that we all know the power of editing). It’s not to be missed.

In the late 90s, Jerry Ziesmer – the film’s 1st Assistant Director – published a fascinating book called “Ready When You Are, Mr. Coppola, Mr. Spielberg, Mr. Crowe…”; it documents his exploits as a 1st AD on some major and minor films (including APOCALYPSE NOW!); of them interesting. Ziesmer’s book, the only one I know of written by a member of in-the-trenches film production personnel that wasn’t attempting to be sensational, matter-of-factly lays out some the larger events – that generated a great deal of rumor and eye-popping stories – in a clear version of what happened, by and large, on the APOCALYPSE NOW! set.

Anyone who knows about film production, knows that the 1st AD is the director’s confidant, staunchest supporter and the logistical master of the production. No one wants to see the director’s vision come to life more than the 1st AD. If anyone could cut through the swath of rumors surrounding the movie, Ziesmer could – and he does so in a compelling way that doesn’t whitewash the events or tar them with a sniping editorial slant of someone looking to “set the record straight.” It is an account that gives the most rational recounting of that classic film and its arduous production.

But we want to hear from Francis, don’t we? He’s such a great storyteller (hence why he’s an excellent director). He was going through hell, after all.

So when Coppola had a chance to do DVD commentary on the majority of his “prime” films (he gives a masterful one on THE CONVERSATION and THE GODFATHER trilogy… and one of the best of any director is his DRACULA, whicht was only available on the Criterion LaserDisc), I noticed that he didn’t give one on the original DVD release of APOCALYPSE NOW! (save for a brief talk on the outtake; the used, infrared footage of the destruction of Kurtz’ compound).  The fact that he did commentary on the unused part, but not the film as a while was always tremendously curious to me… had he still not come to grips with that train wreck of production? And what it ultimately did to his career?

In the middle 90s, Coppola went back to start to re-create a version of APOCALYPSE NOW!… a version closer to what he imagined when he was battling hurricanes, recalcitrant actors, health problems, financial distress and a host of other things. APOCALYPSE NOW! Redux, is a quite curious gem, and even though it’s longer than the well-known theatrical cut of the film, it seems to play with a quicker pace.

Later on the APOCALYPSE NOW! The Complete Dossier DVD release, Coppola finally provides commentary on the film, and on the Blu-ray Full Disclosure version, he and his wife provide commentary on HEARTS OF DARKNESS! Which I would never had expected; it’s a perspective that time and wisdom can give an artist. He can look back at the past – distanced by close to 30 years – and a give re-telling and recounting without being tainted (too much) by emotional memory and emotions.

That’s the thing about time, it allows you to see yourself and events in a more even light and be honest with yourself about your choices, motivations & actions and thoughts. And if your memory is good, then you can address events with a clearer head.

That is if you’re sane and are not bitter (and honestly Coppola could, technically, have a lot to be bitter about… considering that he helped usher in an artistic movement in Hollywood, but was never able to fully take advantage of it).

If you’re bitter, you act like a jackass and attempt to smear people, and get your facts convoluted while you’re at it.

So let’s talk about someone who is bitter and jealous, shall we?

Recently on The World of Black Heroes website, the creator of Brotherman calls out Milestone Media for – get this – stealing his business plan (!) and thus (presumably) preempting the world-wide and gigantic success of Big City Comics.

Any quick look at the founding members of Milestone will show you that they had been working at Marvel and/or DC for a quite some time (and during a time when that was rare for African-Americans) and they were creating a fabulous body of work prior to coming together for Milestone. For instance, who can forget Denys Cowan’s run on “The Question”? or Dwayne McDuffie’s superb “Deathlok” miniseries? See, so these guys were keenly aware of how comics and the business were done in a market that really only had Marvel and DC.

What I find highly disingenuous, on the part of The World of Black Heroes, is that it didn’t attempt to fact check the article (nor did they check its grammar) or print a response from ANY of the original Fantastic Five Founders of Milestone (sadly, McDuffie has passed away). The site doesn’t have to be all FOX News with claims of “fair and balanced”, but The World of Black Heroes has no defense for not getting at least one comment/rebuttal… it’s lazy journalism, and goes back to the one of the underlying problems with journalism on the web – a lot of is news not fit to print.

Unless Dawud Osaze Kamau Anyabwile, the creator of Brotherman, actually witnessed any so-called theft and/or got a copy of the Milestone Media, Inc. business plan – back before the company launched – then how can me make these claims with a straight face? Maybe his lips have a permanent crackpipe burn mark that allows him to keep a straight face when he’s lying.

Anyabwile claims that Black Enterprise snookered him, because of a prior relationship with Derek Dingle… those kind of firewalls can quickly be penetrated, and it too would have smacked of bad journalism on Black Enterprise’s part; they would at least print an easy to read disclaimer in the article.

If Anyabwile had his business plan stolen, why didn’t he say something then? Intellectual Property is protected by the courts.

Why didn’t he approach Marvel with his business plan and try to get the same deal that Milestone has with DC? Surely, Marvel would have wanted to find a way to directly compete against DC in a market that it, too, was under serving.

That’s a big “why”, if you believe the numbers of books he claims to have been selling. Maybe not late ’80s/early 90s Uncanny X-men numbers, but enough to warrant a publishing deal IF he had the original plan.

Business plans discuss, in detail, the product that is to be sold – so the original Milestone books – Icon, Static, Blood Syndicate and Hardware – had to have been presented with care, precision and detail for DC to want to get down; is Anyabwile claiming that he made up those characters and their mythology? ‘Cause that’s what he’s claiming!

I’ve been lucky enough to meet and chop it up with the MOTU and Denys Cowan, and they’re far too creative, savvy and entrepreneurial to have to resort to stealing. If they had to steal, they wouldn’t have had the unprecedented success that they have had after Milestone; because while a lot of people can get in the door, to stay in the room and open up new doors requires guts, talent and courage to be the best at all times.

Thieves don’t have those same traits.

Where is the rest of his brilliant fictional creations since? Or is the only fiction that he’s good a creating is this false claimant? If Anyabwile was so visionary, wouldn’t he have shown up elsewhere in the pop culture sphere, time and time again (like Michael, Dwayne and Denys have)? But he hasn’t. And that says a lot, doesn’t it?

One of the things that irks me about these outlandish statements is that they smack of Crabs in a Barrel syndrome, better known as haterade; a trait/behavior pattern too abundant in the African-American community.