Meanwhile, cats constantly look at you like you asked them to give you a ride to the airport.
I’m all about the givers. Like my friend Ted Melfi, who directed my film, then went on to direct St. Vincent, and the upcoming Hidden Figures. Ted was always the most selfless guy – when his brother suddenly passed away, Ted and his wife immediately adopted his brother’s young daughter without hesitation. So it comes as no surprise that he recently got involved with The Black Ghiandola.
It’s a film written by a 16-year-old named Anthony Jonathan Conti, who is suffering from a life-threatening form of cancer, and whose wish was to make a zombie film. A-listers immediately sprang into action. The movie was co-directed by Ted, Sam Raimi and Catherine Hardwicke, and stars Johnny Depp, JK Simmons, Penelope Ann Miller and Richard Chamberlain.
I love that Ted did this, but really, that’s how much of Hollywood operates. It doesn’t matter the level of talent, or even if you’re in the business – Los Angeles people care. Like my friends Aina and Bru, a married actor/director team who donated ALL of their wedding cash gifts to an orphanage. Or my friend Jeff, a creative director who volunteered to speak to parolees because he thought they might need to know what to expect when they enter the work-world. Or Kim Rhodes, who played Zach and Cody’s mom, and allowed the mother of an actor Kim didn’t even know to stay at her home, after the actor got into a bad motorcycle accident, and his mom came to LA to care for him. Who does that?
Want to make America great again? God bless. But we’ve already got it covered in LA.
