| I've always been known as the guy who makes funny videos -- but I've been makin' movies longer than you think. Like, we're talkin' 50 years here! Yep, it was about 1960 when I bought my first movie camera -- I was ready for America's Funniest Home Videos even then!! Actually, ABC DID have a summer program from 1962 -- 1964 called "Your Funny Funny Films" with host George Fenneman -- you'd enter by sending a postcard with a description of your film -- I did send in a postcard, but never heard from them! (1994 was my year of fame, as it turned out) I bought a Kodak movie camera in about 1960 for $15. Very simple camera. It took pretty good movies. I remember the joy of when I got my first film back -- a minor problem, I had not been able to afford to buy a projector, so, I'd have to hold the strips up to the light in the sunroom to look at this string of still pictures and pretend it was moving -- it was really difficult to entertain the relatives with my movies by passing around this film strip, but it wasn't for lack of trying! However, after a few months of diligent work at my dad's hardware store, I earned enough to buy an Argus projector -- which had a bulb that burned out every 10 films, but I survived! For you younger people, let me explain what film and video technology was like in the 60s. It was CRUDE. (Now that I think of it, it was CRUD) My movie camera had no light meter in it of any kind. It had a little wheel on front with different holes in it, "Sunny", "Hazy Sun", "Cloudy" and "Shade". To take movies indoors, I had this BIG four light bar -- each light was 300 watts -- that baby really lit up the place -- I'd aim this thing at grand-maw, and she'd squint and hold up her hands like the second coming had just taken place -- and everybody in the place got a tan whether they wanted one or not! Movie films were silent. Buying a film and having it developed was about five bucks, or basically, a buck a minute for a five minute film. Five minutes was all a camera could hold at one time. In the early 60s, I was a shy skinny nerdy lookin' guy who didn't exactly have any muscular development -- if it wasn't for my Adam's apple, I would have had no shape at all! I was the kind of guy who would have sand kicked in my face by bullies -- and the guys were even worse....(there's a joke in there, think about it) But I did more with my camera than take shots of the family during holidays and such, I MADE MOVIES WITH A STORY LINE IN THEM! Wow, what a concept! In 1964, I decided to make a horror-comedy, starring myself, of course! I was 17. I enlisted the help of my little brother and little sister on parts of this project, because you always need a cameraman, gaffer, floor director, lighting person and such. I was the director and star (by unamimous decision of myself). Of course, no movie is complete without a glamorous hot chick as a co-star, so I enlisted the help of "Cynthia". Let me explain Cynthia. She was a 15 year old "hot babe" who lived across the alley from our family in Northwest Denver at the time. She'd come over all the time to visit my brother and sister, and sometimes even me -- and she was "game" for anything -- if we had diabolical plans to creep out the neighbors with some dangerous stunt, by golly, she'd do it! If we were going to dynamite someone's garbage, hey, she'd be ready! And, in my case, having her wrapped up in toilet paper to play a mummy for my movie, hey, that was right up her alley! And, I figured, maybe she'd talk to ME more if I made her a star! So, using the basements of our two houses, we filmed this epic of a film called, "My Mummy Comes Home". Using my reel to reel tape recorder, it even had a soundtrack to it. Hit the start button below and see the results: |
| Now you know what I was doing 46 years ago! So what's happened since then? Well, through my college years I showed this epic to flim clubs and various gatherings, all to high acclaim -- at least people were entertained by this, even though it wouldn't win any awards for production values! Cynthia? Glad you asked. "Cindi" is a 61 year old grandmother and widow who lives in Iowa City. She must have found the Fountain of Youth, because she still has to use her ID to prove that she's over 21! Recent pictures of her are below. I talk to her on a regular basis via SKYPE. And guess what, SHE WANTS TO MAKE ANOTHER MOVIE WITH ME! We're making plans!! Is that a good movie ending or what?? |
| MY EARLY MOVIE CAREER AS A PRODUCER AND ACTOR |
| The reaction to this page is starting to come in: "THAT WAS REALLY GOOD FOR A KID TO PRODUCE. HEE HEE I STILL CAN SEE YOUR CHILDHOOD ACTIONS IN YOU TODAY." D.G. "I enjoyed "My Mummy Comes Home" very much. Since you produced and starred in this classic film in 1964, you must have shown it to me previously. I remember splicing bits of 8mm film together by hand to produce a consistent story line in my own productions." B.D. "Some things never change... Thank God! I really think you should have continued. Your name might have been Don M. Spillberg." F.S. (Note by Don: That's an interesting comparison -- Steven Spielberg is the same age as I am, and when he was in his teens, he borrowed his father's 8mm movie camera and was doing similar things!) |
