He was told by legendary wrestling manager Capt. Lou Albano that "the only two things that are real in wrestling are the money and the miles" I added the memories part for the sake of this blog . This quote applies to alot of different things in life, now this isn't the first time I have compared film making and pro wrestling and I'm sure it won't be the last time I do it either because I for one see alot of things that cross over from film to pro wrestling .
I was thinking about this earlier today and I started thinking about those long car rides Bridgett Keith and I made to get to set, spending 2 or 3 hours in a car together (One way) and the conversations we had and the bonding experience that it was and those are memories that I will keep with me forever. the miles we all traveled to and from set gave us alot of time to bond and become friends which is something I sort of expected but not to the level it happened with many of the cast members on set for both Sins of Man : Rise of Mortis and Sins of Man II : Vengeance these are friendships I hope to keep for life .
The money now that's a funny situation for sure as any indie film maker will tell you there really isn't much money to be made in indie film when you first start out . when ever I'm asked weather I want to make movies or money I always respond the same way and I truly believe in this 100% when I say "if I make good, quality movies the money will eventually take care of itself."
I have memories and stories from the filming of Sins of Man : Rise of Mortis that were filled with pain and suffering but those are the stories I tell most often because those are the things I remember about the filming and how I learned as an actor, see with my background in wrestling I'm used to taking alot of physical punishment so doing my own stunts was "Just another day at the office" for me .
When we were working out the big fight scene and laying out the sequence of events my wrestling side came out quickly and I wanted to take as many "bumps" as I could in the fight and I took the most punishment of the four people in the scene and i love every minute of it and did as many takes as it took til it felt and looked right .
Now I didn't do all the stunts or bumps I had a hell of a partner so I've got to give props to Ken Messier who worked with me in that scene and man that was an intense fight scene that ending with a hell of a crash !!
Memories are an important part of life and I try to remember that when I'm interacting with fans because to some people I'm a big deal because I'm a guy who lives in a small town and started making scary movies so when I have fans come up to me I always talk to them, takes pictures and sign stuff for them because that not only makes their day but it also makes my day as well .
We all have memories that we will never forget a few of mine are of course the day I met my soulmate, the day my first child was born, the day I married my wife the births of my other two children along with a slew of meetings famous people the one that I remember the most is Rob Zombie at Ozzfest when he was 35 minutes late for his signing he look at me because I was first in line and he said "Fuckin' MTV, sorry I'm late they always wanna talk when I have somewhere to be" . I walked up to the table and thanked him for meeting me and he signed my CD and shook my hand , that's a memory I will keep forever as well as the CD signed is hanging in my office .
So in closing I hope what you take away from this blog is that the memories and the miles are more important then the money when it all comes down to it because after the fame fades and the money is gone the memories and the miles are all you have left and those are priceless in the long run because no one has the same memories as you and no one has driven the miles you have folks, remember this when life has you down .
STAY HUMBLE, STAY HUNGRY MY FRIENDS :)