by Shane Briant
With director of 'Constance' and 'Shaker Run' Bruce Morrison.
'SHAKER RUN.' HELICOPTER ACTING!
I almost immediately moved on to another New Zealand film, produced by the same man who had produced 'Constance ' – Larry Parr.
This film was not so intelligent – not that there's anything wrong with that! It was a road movie starring Oscar winner Cliff Robertson as the hero, Leif Garrett as his offsider, Lisa Harrow as the glamour ingredient, and me as the bad guy.
Bad guy Shane meets tough guy Cliff Robertson.
Cliff had won the Oscar for his portrayal of the name role in the film 'Charly.' I thought he was superb in the role I couldn't wait to meet him in person. 'Shaker Run,' was directed again by Bruce Morrison. I spent almost fifty per cent of my role in a black CIA helicopter. It was an amazing experience to tour the entire South Island of New Zealand from the bad guy's chopper. Imagine what it might be like to swoop down low over the lake in Queenstown, flying less than three feet from the water's surface, and then peeling off to fly over the snow-capped Remarkables. It was magnificent!
I greatly enjoyed Lisa Harrow's company. However, I felt she wasn't exactly comfortable in such a crazy film – she's much more of a cerebral actress, whereas I'm happy to do most genres of film – after all, I started out in Hammer Films. Leif was a nicely crazy guy who had never seen fish served whole, but always in fillet-mode. And Cliff? I believe his heart wasn't in the project, and he wished he wasn't sixty-three – a tad too old to be playing gung-ho road heroes. He did a marvelous job driving the Trans-Am hero-car at high speed like a true pro.
One problem that Bruce, our director, had to resolve one way or another was Cliff's make-up. In true Academy Award fashion, Cliff had his own idea of how a superhero should look – deeply tanned and rugged. But, as Bruce pointed out, the character Cliff was playing had been living in New Zealand for over a year – so where had the tan come from? It didn't make sense. But Cliff wanted to look the way he thought he should look, so he insisted on a deep tan. "The guy is an American hero! He's going to look great. Okay?"
Bruce had a word with the make-up supervisor, but regardless of what make-up she applied, Cliff added his own product every day. He ended up looking very dashing – and lets face it, the film wasn't exactly 'Gosford Park,' was it?
I was looking forward to single long dialogue scene where the good guy, Cliff, meets the bad guy, me.
We rehearsed for thirty minutes or so. During that time Cliff never looked at me once. Perplexed, I eventually asked him the obvious question.
"Cliff, when we do the take, are you going to look at me at all?"
He looked at me, smiled and pointed to a light.
"That's my key light, Shane."
That was it. As far as he was concerned, that light was optimum, so he wasn't about to spoil things by looking at me.
Cliff was right – in a way. He looked great in that scene. Very well lit. The quintessential movie star. I didn't look nearly as good. But I have to say that I don't think it makes much sense never to check back at the actor you're playing a scene with – even if it's only once. Otherwise the moviegoer is going to wonder if there's actually someone else in the room.
BACK IN OZ
'TWISTED TALES' WITH GEOFFREY RUSH, & A SECOND
NOVEL.
When I returned to Avalon I splashed out on a Mercedes. Not a new one, but a lovely silver 1982 model. I loved it. Coco the pig dog preferred the Beetle convertible I'd bought a couple of years before but was hammered to death in a hailstorm.
Christmas in Avalon. Coco dressed as Pigdog Santa.
I thought Coco looked much better lounging out the window of my first 'proper' car.
My next film production was not the best ever, but it was work, and I thank Phil Avalon for that. It was a thriller titled 'Tunnel Vision,' starring English imports Robert Reynolds and Patsy Kensit. I played a police inspector, but was not overwhelmed by the power of the script. I was impressed by the performance of Rebecca Rigg, who went on to work on 'Jerry Maguire' and 'Fair Game,' with Naomi Watts and Sean Penn – her abilities were instantly recognizable, but sadly wasted in this one. Gary Day was as good as ever.
It's interesting to note that Phil chose to bring in his 'English imports' to impress, yet it was the Aussies who shone. And remember, all those years previously when I arrived to promote
chopped liver as far as Englishmen went. I didn't mind in the least.
That year I finished the editing on my second novel, 'The Chasen Catalyst.' This was a thriller concerning the possibility of widespread drug trafficking via the diplomatic bag. Fortunately, Harper Collins liked it and it was all systems go. So I thought, anyway. No one told me that Harper Collins had allowed a zero budget for the promotion and marketing – not till a year later.
No point in publishing in a vacuum – you'd have thought they'd have known that.
When it was finally brought to my attention, I quizzed my publisher. Angelo told me this by way of an explanation: "We spent forty thousand dollars promoting your first book—the second book had to sell on its own merits now people know you're out there."
Of course no one knew 'The Chasen Catalyst' was out there. Duh!
As I had done with 'The Webber Agenda,' I worked day in day out, contacting radio shock jocks and reviewers and television talk show hosts. This was not organized by Harper, but by me. I gave twenty radio interviews all over Australia. I appeared on the television show 'Good Morning Australia,' with the wonderfully generous and charming Bert Newton, as well as appearing on the morning show at NBN Newcastle. But when I went out into the centre of Newcastle to sign books I was told by the stores that they hadn't received delivery of the books. Yet, Harper knew of my television show. Amazing.
So the sales of 'Chasen' were disappointing, mainly because of the lack of promotional cash and some distribution glitches. Simple.
I was also informed at that particular time that Harper had made the mistake of reprinting far too many copies of 'Webber' when it began to sell well. Had they not done this, I would have sold ninety per cent of the print run. When they reprinted, they were left with thousands of books on their hands, so the sales figures showed only that I had only sold sixty percent of the run. Their fault, not mine, but guess who was blamed? Always the author – never the publisher.
In the same year I was cast opposite Geoffrey Rush in an episode of Bryan Brown's television series, 'Twisted Tales.'
'Bonus Mileage' was a very amusing script, well written, and
stylishly directed by Chris Collins. The story concerns a calling card that, when passed to a stranger, changes identities.
As one might expect, Geoffrey was extremely funny as Harry Chisolm. Bone-dry humour. He was a joy to work with, and at the time wasn't famous. I remember asking him during lunch one day what he was up to, and he told me that the film he'd just finished was getting some great reviews at the Berlin Film Festival. The film was 'Shine' and would win him an Oscar. Which yet again demonstrates the truth in the saying 'you never know what's around the corner.'
One last interesting tidbit from this show. An actress by the name of Kate Fischer played a flight attendant in the piece. To call it a cameo might overstate the case. But at the time she was engaged to Australian tycoon Jamie Packer, son of tycoon Kerry Packer, who was the son of tycoon Frank Packer. So when the television company started to promote the series, 'Bonus Mileage,' it starred Geoffrey Rush and Kate Fischer.
That's showbiz.
With Geoffrey Rush in 'Twisted Tales.'
In the same way, when the video of 'Till There Was You' was released, there were two snapshots on the cover, and two names featured – Mark Harmon and Kate Ceberano. Why? Because she was a big singing star in Australia at the time, and although she didn't actually act in the film, she did sing a Jazz song at the end of the movie.
The owner of the video rights has to hard sell. So he publicizes whoever arouses the most interest on the day. No use compl
aining – Jeröen Krabbé, Deborah Ungar and I were, again, chopped liver.
'LET GO' BY HARPER COLLINS. MAKE MORE MONEY!
Having had my second thriller published by Harper Collins Australia, I must say I felt I had really found a home. I regarded the publisher who had said such worthy things about my first two books, and my editor at the time, as good friends.
However, I think it's important to point out to those as naïve as myself that it is thoroughly pointless to mix friendship with business practices.
I shall give an example.
When I came to Australia, I was looked after by a lovely man who was paid by Fox Columbia to show me a good time while I was in Oz. Many months later, when I tried to contact him he told me frankly that while I was promoting 'Chatterley,' it was his job to be my friend. Now that this period was over, sadly he had too many friends.
I was a bit shocked to hear this, but it was a salutary lesson. My editor at Harper was very kind and generous to me when I was favourably looked upon by the publisher. But this soon changed when the sales figures – due to the misjudged and premature reprint of 'Webber' – were analyzed negatively. I believe she was obliged to say positive things to me about my work while Harper viewed me as an asset. I believe she was a much more cerebral person and the kind of fast fiction I wrote was not exactly her cup of tea. As far as I was concerned, I saw her as a friend and colleague. I genuinely liked her, rather than viewing her as someone who could be useful to me.
I am not so naïve these days. I don't blame her in the least. Business is business, and you have to edit what you're given and seem polite about it.
I had written my third thriller, 'Hitkids,' in Santa Monica while waiting for Gary Fuchs at Contemporary Artists to find me a job. Scott Citron and Jen Perito kindly let me stay in their apartment, where I looked after their five cats while they were away, Scottie coproducing a television series in Berlin.
When I returned to Australia – Mr. Fuchs sadly never found me any interviews, let alone work – I submitted my third novel, 'Hitkids,' to Harper Collins Australia.
A few weeks later, I was summoned to 'Harper Collins Australia Central.' In Ryde. To attend a meeting. I had no idea what to expect.
Eventually, I was directed to a boardroom where at least ten men and women were seated. My publisher briefly introduced them all. Marketing, sales, editing, etc, etc. He then made a short speech outlining how disappointing the returns had been for 'Webber,' and pointing out that the sales of 'Chasen' had been a tad disappointing too. At this time I didn't have a chance to mention this was their fault for rushing into a reprint on 'Webber' and failing to promote 'Chasen.'
Then came the clincher. The opinion of the board on 'Hitkids.' The novel, about the gifted son of an Irish hit man living in Los Angeles who takes on the business after the tragic death of 'dad' in a freeway accident, had been 'read.' Interestingly he didn't say exactly by whom. The general opinion was that the whole premise was politically incorrect. He pointed out that because the anti-hero was only 9 years old – no women would want to read it.
"52% of all our readers are women!" he pointed out.
I thought to myself, "Hey, that's practically fifty-fifty isn't it?"
When I was given a chance to speak, I made various points I thought made sense. It was their fault they printed too many copies of 'Webber'; it was their fault 'Chasen' didn't sell, as the reviews of both books were great. And, as for the age of Harold, my antihero in 'Hitkids', had no one in the room ever seen the classic film 'The Demon Seed'? My story focused on whether humans were actually born bad, or whether an evil nature could be the product of a child's
social environment. Yet all in the room seemed to think it 'wasn't nice' to tell a story of a young lad that murders people.
Eventually I gave up. "You don't want to publish my book?" I asked.
"No, we don't think so, Shane," Angelo replied.
So that was that.
The following day I asked the head of distribution whether Harper Collins Australia would like to distribute the book if I paid for it to be printed in Hong Kong. The reply was that they wouldn't mind that at all.
So I had a cover made up by a very talented young friend of mine, Oliver Moreton-Evans.
Oliver Moreton-Evans' design.
Wendy edited it, and Harper Collins distributed it. As usual, I did all the presswork – radio and television. I made four times the
amount of money with 'Hitkids' than I'd made on my previous two books. It was another lesson. Yet no one at Harper Collins either thanked me for the money they made on the distribution deal, or admitted they had made an error of judgment in telling me I'd written a book that 'would never sell.' Lets' face it, how many people have the courage to admit they made a mistake? That was a huge lesson.
However, I still had a lot to learn.
A FOURTH NOVEL. 'BITE OF THE LOTUS.'
When I first came to Australia in 1982, the film breaking box office records was George Miller's 'The Man from Snowy River.' So when I heard all those years later that they were making a television series based on the same story, I asked my agent to see if she could find something for me.
Being cruel to my 'wife,' played by Fances O'Connor on 'Snowy.'
All my favourites, barring Ian Barry, were directing episodes. The cast was littered with good actors – inter alia, Andrew Clarke (who I'd worked with on Anzacs for six months) Guy Pierce, Hugh Jackman, and Wendy Hughes. There had to be a bad guy coming up soon, I thought. Indeed there was, a decidedly unpleasant man. One who arrives in town to take back his errant wife – beautifully played by Francis O'Connor – who has had the temerity to desert him. My old mate Pino Amenta directed this two-part tale, and this time I holidayed – sorry, worked bloody hard – in the hugely picturesque spa town of Daylesford.
Now that I had had two books published by Harper Collins, as well as one published by my own company and distributed by Harper, I was determined to keep writing.
The next novel I wrote was more of a saga than a straightforward thriller. By 'saga' I mean a much longer novel, over five hundred pages, set in Washington, Sydney, New York, Saigon, Moscow and Hanoi.
People have often asked me how I come to think up my stories. In the case of 'Bite of the Lotus,' the inspiration came as I read an article about a plane that was called 'The Money Plane.'
The more I read, the more astonished I was that such a plane existed. Apparently, every Friday a plane left JFK airport for Moscow carrying several hundred million dollars worth of freshly minted bills bound for the Russian banks. The US Treasury had printed this cash and the whole thing was, as we Aussies say, 'fair dinkum.' Eighty per cent of the Russian banks were then, and most probably still are now, controlled by the Russian Mafya and they needed the US currency in order to operate. Someone explained to me that providing the dollars printed in the USA remained outside of America, there was no problem to the US economy – the money merely supported the dollar economy outside of the United States. The more I read of this story, the more astonished I became. The money arrived in an armoured van and was guarded by just three armed men.
I wondered why no one had thought of a heist? The reason was made clear in the last paragraph of the article – who was going to steal a hundred million dollars from the Russian Mafya? Didn't they enjoy living?
'Bite of the Lotus' was my most ambitious project to date, and I loved every moment writing it. As ever, my characters only traveled to countries I'd been to myself, and they ate only in the very restaurants I'd enjoyed great lunches or dinners. I believe very much in sound research, and I love to be transported in a novel to places I've never been to, and feel I'm actually there. I feel this is only
When Wendy had finished her edit I was again ready to approach Harper Collins for the distribution deal. I'd come to identify so greatly with my two central characters that when I wrote the final short chapter where they meet again and fall into each other's arms, I shed a few tears. To me it was like fa
rewelling great friends.