One night in Chicago, while I was working as location manager on a stupid commercial, and trying my best not to lose my temper with the stupid producer from LA, I got a call from a Chicago production manager friend of mine, Karyn McCarthy, asking me if I would like to come in to the office thenext morning and meet Robert Altman, and start location scouting for his new film, The Company. Would I ever? I said yes immediately. Suddenly I could deal with the present situation much easier, knowing it would be over in a matter of hours, and the next morning I would be starting a new job working for one of my film heroes. I was really floating on clouds the rest of the night, and even though we shot well into the early morning hours, I was up and ready to go downtown early for my meeting.
I was very nervous to meet Bob, but there was no need. He was so nice and warm, welcoming and charming. Our meeting only lasted five minutes, and he was a bit vague about his desire for locations, but since I hadn't even read the script yet, it didn't matter. I had met Robert Altman, and I was going to be the location manager on the film.
Over the next three months I got to watch Bob more than I had much meaningful direct contact with him. He didn't deal with tasks like locations very hands on, other people did most of that for him. Since The Company was mostly shot in the rehearsal studio and sets built for the film all in one building downtown, there wasn't a lot of on location work. Probably because he was 78 at the time, he wasn't up for that. Look at Gosford Park, one location, or Prairie Home, mostly one set.
I remember one day I was in Karyn's office talking, and Bob came in. He had to ask Karyn about something and he sat down and relaxed for a moment. Then we just started talking, and Karyn told him that I was a film maker and had just directed a feature. He asked me a bit about it and I started to tell him when his producer came in and had to take Bob away to deal with something. When Bob left, Karyn and I just looked at each other in disbelief at our brief tete a tete with Bob Altman. It was a real "wow" moment for me.
I never had a chance to speak with him so directly again, except at the wrap party, when I thanked him for the party and the opportunity to work on the film. Our wrap gift on the show was a black and white scarf with the words THE COMPANY knitted across the length of it, designed by Bob.
When we were on location, Bob always went out of his way to say hello to people. I remember when we shot the big dance in the rain scene for three nights at the Petrillo Band Shell in Grant Park. We invited the city of Chicago to join us for the big crowd scenes, we made rain, we had special effects, and everyone got wet. But hundreds of people came down to see Robert Altman work. And Bob came out on stage and said hello to everyone, and thanked them for being there. He was like that everywhere we worked; at the Auditorium Theatre, at a private mansion, at the club Neo, I could always count on Bob to be kind to everyone we dealt with; from the cops directing traffic for us to the people that rented us a lunch room location. That is not always the case with star directors. And it makes my job so much easier when I tell a location that Altman is directing the film, doors open a lot quicker. Everyone wanted the chance to meet him.
I was very impressed to watch him work on his first film in high definition video. He sat at a bank of monitors and watched the four cameras simultaneously, and after each take make adjustments. He was a perfectionist, and would do take after take, looking for something intangible that he was waiting to happen. At 78 years old and after so many films, here he was embracing this new technology and playing with it, creating with it, like the master artist he was.
The only time I got mad at Bob, and of course I kept this to myself, was when he cancelled a shot called for 8 PM at an exterior location downtown. It was November and cold, and I guess he just didn't feel up to it. I had spent three weeks setting up that location dealing with buildings, businesses, agreements, street closures and other entities, and he just pulled the plug on it because it was cold. That's power I thought. Oh, well, that's what I do. Things change. Of course the film didn't suffer with out that scene, so I guess he knew what he was doing.
I no longer work as a location manager, but working with Robert Altman on The Company was the best L.M. job I ever had.
I will always remember Bob Altman as a kind and creative man who made great films, loved actors, and took the crazy world of show-biz in stride. He inspires me today to continue to seek my way and stay true to my vision, the way any artist must. Thanks Bob.
I took the photo above while we were on a location scout. He is seated with the DoP of the film, Andrew Dunn, and (R) his son and camera operator, Bobby. Photo credit: Noel Olken © 2002
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