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Remembering Ted Demme Today

On Jan. 13, 2002, film director and producer Ted Demme passed away at age 38. Hard to believe its been 20 years. I’ve written about him on here quite a bit because the first film I ever worked on was Ted’s film Monument Ave (I was a Location Intern) and I later was an intern at Ted’s production company Spanky Pictures in NYC.

Me with Ted in 1998

I worked on Monument Ave in 1997 and was an intern at Spanky in 1998. By Jan. 2002, I was now working in NYC, but Ted and Spanky Pictures had relocated to L.A. a few years earlier. I heard about his death on the radio while at work. A number of family and friends reached out to me that day.

In such a short time, Ted directed so much great work. Here are Ted Demme DVDs and blu-rays in my movie collection:

Pictured here are Who’s the Man?, The Ref, Beautiful Girls, the Denis Leary Ultimate Collection (Ted directed both comedy specials on there), Monument Ave, Rounders (Ted and Spanky produced this film directed by John Dahl), Life, Blow and A Decade Under the Influence (co-directed by Richard LaGravenese). He had such a diverse filmography, similar to his uncle Jonathan Demme who did both narrative and documentary/performance films. I encourage you to watch some of Ted’s films even if you already have seen some of them!

#ted demme #on this day in history #movie collection #spanky pictures #who's the man?#the ref #beautiful girls #denis leary #monument ave #rounders #life #blow #A Decade Under The Influence #jonathan demme #john dahl #film geek #2002

🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

#FUCK 12 #Richmond #VA #Monument Ave

Mayor of Richmond, VA, Levar Stoney discussing the possible/eventual removal of the Confederate monuments (of which we have A LOT)

8/16/2017

#confederacy #richmond #monument ave #monuments #hell yes

感謝祭に日曜 Easter Sunday

#shiba #shibe #sheeb #rescue dog #japanese dog #richmond #byrd park #monument ave

Rounders & Monument Ave Turn 20

In the Summer of 1998 I scored a Summer internship at Spanky Pictures in NYC. It was the film production company headed by the late great Ted Demme and his producing partner Joel Stillerman. A year earlier I had been a location intern on their film Monument Ave, which Ted directed. During the time I was at Spanky, they had a first-look deal with New Line and Ted was very prolific as well. The internship in their production office was one of my favorite jobs I’ve ever had in the film industry...and ironically I wasn’t an actual employee of the company. Ted, Joel, development executive Tracy Falco and the entire team were so cool and really made me feel like I was a part of things. I got to sit in on staff meetings, read scripts they had in development and help out wherever needed. Being at Spanky spoiled me for any other job in the industry because I thought all producers were going to be as cool as Ted and Joel (not always the case).

Ted Demme and me at Spanky Pictures, Summer 1998

Some of the projects they had in development at the time included Tumbleweeds (released in 1999 featuring an Oscar nominated Janet McTeer), A Lesson Before Dying (a 1999 HBO TV-movie that won the Spanky team a well deserved Emmy Award), and Blow (released in 2001 and considered by many to be among Johnny Depp’s best performances).

But the big excitement in the air during the time I was at Spanky was that (1) Monument Ave, which premiered at Sundance a few months earlier, was going to be released by Lions Gate in September, and (2) Rounders, which they finished filming and was now in post-production, was going to be released in September by Miramax.

9/11/1998: Rounders opens

One of the great poker movies of all time was released in Sept. 1998. It was filmed in the Winter of 1997-98. The film was directed by John Dahl, a modern film noir vet. They had cast Matt Damon just before Good Will Hunting and he was now a star. When it was released it did modest business, but over time it became a cult film. The genius in this movie is that it doesn’t wait for the audience to catch on to poker, you either have to keep up with the game or be left behind. I especially loved both Martin Landau and Ed Norton in it. I saw it opening night and cheered for my pals at Spanky in the credits. To this day it is one of my favorite movies of 1998 (up there for Spanky’s other 1998 release Monument Ave)!

9/25/1998: Monument Ave opens

In Sept. 1998, the first movie I ever worked on was released. In April - May 1997, I was a Location Intern on the production of Spanky’s film Monument Ave, which was filmed in Boston. I had never worked on a movie before, so the whole entire experience was super exciting to me at the time. The fact that it was directed by Ted, who I was a fan of, and starred Denis Leary, who I was also a fan of, made it more exciting. On set I mostly ran errands, hung up and took down location signs and did whatever I could to help out the Location team. I’ve written about this film many times and how it was one of my favorite experiences on a movie set, but what was really exciting was seeing it on the big screen. In June 1998 shortly after I began my internship at Spanky, they let me go to a press screening to see Monument Ave. I was truly blown away. It was a gritty Boston crime movie that hearkened back to the 70s. But the bigger surprise for me was watching the closing credits. I was only in the Locations dept. a few days a week, so I was told I would not be in the closing credits. As I watched the credits and recognized many of the names, there it was “Location Intern: Eric Green”. I was so proud to see my name in the credits and to be a part of this great film, I actually shed a tear. I profusely thanked everyone at Spanky the next day!

Me at the Monument Ave premiere at Boston Film Festival in Sept. 1998

In Sept. 1998, Monument Ave was the Opening Night film at the Boston Film Festival. I attended with a group of friends and briefly caught up with some of the crew in the audience. Later in the month when Lions Gate released it, I took my Mom to see it opening night in Chestnut Hill and she took a picture of my name in the credits. That same weekend I saw it again in Waltham with a friend of mine. A few months later I saw it at a second run theater in Arlington with another friend who hadn’t seen it. Someone at Spanky Pictures joked that I should get some sort of compensation from Lions Gate for paying to see it that many times in the movie theater! I likely helped the film’s box office ($333,760 domestic gross). Looking back, even without my involvement it’s one of the best movies of 1998 and possibly Ted Demme’s best film (with a filmography that includes Beautiful Girls, The Ref, Blow and A Decade Under the Influence - that’s saying something!).

My ticket stubs from Rounders and Monument Ave

I look back at my brief but influential time at Spanky Pictures with tremendous pride and fondness. In the years that followed, Spanky closed their NYC office and re-located to L.A. Sadly Ted passed away in Jan. 2002. Everyone I’ve met in this industry has nothing but wonderful things to say about Spanky Pictures and their films. As I write this I have a framed Monument Ave poster on my office wall. I raise a glass to both Rounders and Monument Ave, two fantastic films that I still love 20 years later!