For the Love of Money

  I thought about all of that and said, “Damn!” I still hadn’t hooked up with a new lawyer yet. I was itching to call Yolanda back to tell you the truth, but I didn’t want to be the one who took the first step to mending our soiled relationship, because I was not the one with the big ego who had ended it. So I got Kendra in on the deal to call Yolanda up as a peacemaker and let her know how disappointed I was that we had split, because it was still a black sister thing that we needed to work out and keep together.

  In the meantime, Jonathan Abner called me with ideas for directors. He mentioned a young Latin guy named Poncho Morales, who he had been interested in for a while, and several other young, and relatively cheap directors. I had watched a couple of music videos directed by Poncho myself, and I liked the images that he brought across the camera. His pacing was right on, and he never went overboard with close-ups or color filters. His camera work looked lively, but still human, and very easy on the eyes. Other directors with music video history got too caught up with the tricks of the camera and ended up creating long flashy videos instead of stable films. I didn’t want that tricky camera shit in my movie. I wanted to be the one doing the tricks!

  However, Jonathan hadn’t made up his mind on who to go with, and I was getting tired of all the damn talk and no action, so I tracked down Poncho Morales myself. He was shooting on a set at Redondo Beach for a five-member, white-boy pop group. It seemed like white-boy singing groups were popping up everywhere, New Kids on the Block all over again.

  “Excuse me, this is a restricted area,” I was told by a blonde production assistant. I had already slipped by the security men.

  I put on my little Puerto Rican accent and said, “Jus’ tell Eddie his cousin is hea’ to see ’im from New Yawk.” (I had done some research on Poncho. He was from Spanish Harlem and his first name was Eduardo. He was inspired as a kid to pursue a career in Hollywood because of the television show CHiPs.)

  Since the production assistant was white, I felt safe with my Puerto Rican accent, but had she been a Latina, I wouldn’t even have tried that shit. Some fast Spanish would have busted my groove with the quickness, but this white girl didn’t know what the hell was going on.

  “Oh, well, what’s your name?” she asked me.

  “Nina.”

  “Okay, well, I’ll get his attention for you as soon as I can.”

  I was close enough to see Poncho, but I didn’t want to yell anything out at him on account that he didn’t know who the hell I was. I had to get close enough to him to hand him a fresh copy of my script and explain my game plan to him.

  Poncho began to make a move toward his small trailer with no security surrounding him, and I stepped right past the PA and made my move.

  “Wait a minute,” she complained, trying to block me.

  I pushed her out of my way and said real fast, “Look, I don’t have any time for this. He know’s I’m hea’ already.” I actually made it to the director’s trailer and let myself in. Talk about being pressed!

  Poncho looked at me while zipping up his pants from his private restroom and said, “Who the hell are you?” He was olive-toned, with deep, dark eyes, dark hair, and built like a swimmer, slim but muscular. He was gorgeous!

  I said, “I’m your best opportunity to make a name for yourself in Hollywood films,” and handed him a copy of my screenplay.

  He looked at the title and nodded. He said, “This is pretty good, I’ve read some of it.”

  “Why not direct it then?” I asked him.

  He shook his head and said, “Not enough money. If they’re only offering me three hundred thousand, I’ll just keep doing videos; they’re a lot less work for about the same amount of money.” He was already heading back out the door.

  “What if I could get you more?”

  The PA barged in and said, “I tried to stop her.”

  Poncho waved her off and showed her back out. He asked me, “Who’s starring in it?”

  I smiled at him. “I am.”

  He paused, and studied me as if he was sizing me up for the camera. He asked, “How much more could you get me?”

  I blurted out, “How about five hundred thousand?” I was willing to pay him the extra two hundred thousand myself if I had to. I just wanted to get the film rolling.

  He said, “They’re not gonna give me that. I’ve already talked to those people. I don’t think they respect me that much. That’s why I can’t do your movie.”

  “Who’s your agent?”

  He looked at me and frowned. “Why?” He was interested, he just needed me to convince him and show him the money. He was standing his professional ground, and I respected that.

  I said, “Sometimes your agent can be in the way. You get a more respected agent, and you get to push things through.”

  “What if I don’t have an agent?” he asked me.

  The PA stuck her head back in the trailer and said, “Poncho, everyone is ready and waiting for you.”

  He waved her off a second time for me. “I’ll be there.”

  I said, “If you don’t have an agent, then that’s your problem. You can end up doing videos for the rest of your life unless you get one.” I was bluffing, but it sounded good. Agents were getting more powerful as the Hollywood stakes continued to increase. I couldn’t have gotten the bigger and better deals myself without Susan.

  “Who is your agent?” Poncho asked me.

  I smiled. “Now we’re talking. You’re reading my mind. Let’s trade phone numbers and talk about it.”

  He nodded and gave me one of his cards. I wrote my number down on the title page of the script.

  “Poncho, this is gold. Don’t lose it,” I told him of the screenplay and of my home phone number.

  He smiled at me and said, “We’ll see,” and we walked out together.

  The PA looked at me with the nasty names all over her face. I just smiled at her.

  “Thank you,” I told her.

  “Yeah,” she said with a huff and rolled her eyes.

  Poncho said, “We’ll talk,” as he headed back to work.

  “We sure will,” I told him.

  I got back to my car and called Susan at her office from my brand-new cell phone. Once business started to get too hot and heavy, a cell phone became a necessity.

  “Hey, what’s going on?” she asked me. “I have a meeting with Wide Vision for early next week to go over the deal.”

  I asked, “Have you ever heard of Eduardo ‘Poncho’ Morales, the music video director?”

  “Yeah, I’ve heard of him, but I don’t know that much about him. I hear he’s good.”

  “And he’s also without an agent.”

  Susan paused. “Okay.”

  “And Wide Vision wants to sign him.”

  “All right.”

  “But they’re not offering him enough money.”

  “Which is?”

  “He wants five hundred thousand, but they’re only offering him three hundred, and I want him.”

  “Three hundred thousand?” Susan responded. “Oh, they can do much better than that. They’re not that small.”

  “So, you’ll do his deal then?” I asked her.

  “I can’t just take him on as a client, but I can try to include him as a package deal and see how that goes.”

  “Whatever,” I told her, “and then you can see if you’ll take him on after that.”

  “I can’t promise anything.”

  But I can, I told myself. If Susan couldn’t get the deal done, I would just have to count eight hundred thousand for my purse instead of a million, so that I could pay Poncho and get the green light rolling forward.

  Next I called Jonathan at his office to let him know what my plans were.

  “Jonathan, this is Tracy.”

  He was excited to hear from me. “Hey, Tracy, hold on a minute. Let me shake this other line.”

  Who would have thought that I could have Hollywood players sweating me as hard as the boys in the ’h
ood. I smiled about that before Jonathan came back on the line.

  “Yeah, Tracy, what can I do for you?”

  I asked, “Once we get the deal signed and the director on board, we’ll finally have the green light for this movie?”

  “Hopefully, yeah,” he told me.

  “Okay, well, I would like to work with Poncho Morales on this.”

  “I would too, but he turned us down already.”

  I said, “He didn’t turn me down.”

  “Oh, so, you know him?”

  “I know him now.”

  Jonathan paused. “Oh, really.”

  I smiled and said, “I don’t know him like that, so don’t even think about it. I just dropped by his trailer a few minutes ago where he’s shooting a video at Redondo Beach.”

  “Good move. So, what did he say?”

  I cut straight through the chase. “He said he wasn’t offered enough.”

  Jonathan responded, “Well, we are trying to keep this budget pretty low.”

  “How low is low?”

  “Under ten million.”

  I said, “We can do that. You can get the writer, the lead star,and the director for under two million.”

  He laughed and said, “And what are we going to pay everyone else?”

  I joked, “They can eat cake,” and laughed. “No, I’m sure we can work it all out, I’m just ready to get this damn thing going, and Poncho is a good guy, he just doesn’t want to come out naked on this deal. He already told me he likes the script.”

  Jonathan chuckled and said, “Well, you’re just trying to do everything. Now you’re jumping in on my job. I better get you this go-ahead before you end up replacing me.”

  I said, “That’s what I’m gonna have to do next, if you’re planning on keeping me waiting. April is right around the corner, and I’d like to get this done on time. I’m a Virgo,” I tossed in there just for the hell of it.

  “Oh yeah, well guess what other Virgo likes to stay on schedule?” he asked me.

  “When’s your birthday?”

  “August twenty-seventh.”

  “Get out of here! I’m September sixth.”

  We just laughed with each other being silly.

  Jonathan finally asked, “So, Tracy, when are we gonna go ahead and do lunch?”

  I looked at the phone and shook my head. Those white producers wanted to fuck me something bad!

  I said, “Jonathan, the only thing that I’m hungry for right now is to make my damn film Led Astray. Now are we on the same page or what? Because I’m not fucking anybody until I can fuck the camera.”

  Jonathan laughed and said, “Okay, okay. If you bring Poncho in and he agrees to everything, then we’ll work out the deal. Now is there anything else that you want? Wow!”

  I took a deep breath and answered, “A new damn car.” I was still driving my Toyota.

  “Oh, you’ll be able to take care of that,” he told me. “If you keep up this kind of urgency throughout your career, you’ll end up driving red Lamborghinis.”

  I said, “That’s not my style. I don’t want a car that’s sexier than me. That would be overkill.”

  He laughed again. “Boy, is it gonna be fun making a movie with you.”

  I said, “Yeah, just don’t bullshit me. Because you know how us Virgos can get when we’ve been fucked over.”

  “Ain’t it the truth?” he commented. “Well, don’t worry, Tracy. I’m on your side, and we’ll get this thing done.”

  It was well after three o’clock, so I hung up with Jonathan and called Kendra at home.

  “Hey, girl, it’s Tracy.”

  Kendra said, “Oh, I talked to Yolanda and she said that maybe she did go a bit overboard with you, but that you didn’t have to say ‘F her’ either.”

  I smiled. Kendra didn’t curse. She said she wanted to be as clean-mouthed as she could because she didn’t want anything to slip out in the heat of the moment with her students.

  I asked, “Did she say she would apologize to me?”

  Kendra said, “You know what,both of you need to apologize, because you’re both acting childish.”

  “Well,she’s older than us,” I commented.

  “So what? You two just need to sit down somewhere and work out your differences.”

  “At your house?” I asked her.

  “Wherever.”

  “Well, let’s make it at your house then for this Friday.”

  Kendra paused and asked, “Why did I let you drag me into this? What if I have something to do on Friday?”

  “Come on, Kendra, it’ll only take a half an hour.”

  “A half hour that could be done on your own time.”

  “Pleeease,” I begged her.

  Kendra broke out laughing. “Now you’re going back to your Flyy Girl days, always expecting to get what you want.”

  “I don’t get everything I want,” I told her.

  “Yeah, well, I’ll call Yolanda up again and see. But if she can’t make it, or she wants me to convince her to do it, then you’re on your own, because this is not my business.”

  “Thank you so much,” I told her, grinning.

  “Yeah, whatever.”

  I hung up the phone with Kendra and took a breath. I told myself, “I’m gonna make this movie! These people don’t know who the hell they’re dealing with. You don’t fuck with me like that! Only Victor can do that and get away with it ...until I find out a way to get his ass back too!”

  $ $ $

  When Yolanda and I met at Kendra’s house that Friday, we were both walking on eggshells.

  She said, “Tracy, I don’t appreciate being cursed out, because all I’ve been trying to do is give you good advice.”

  I said, “Yolanda, I don’t mind your advice, but I do mind how you choose to give it to me. I believe I deserve more respect than some little girl off the street.”

  She nodded and said, “I agree. You’ve proven that you know what you’re doing.”

  I said, “Whether I know what I’m doing or not, Yolanda, there are certain ways in which we talk to people, especially while you’re in business together.”

  She said, “And that includes not cursing people out and hanging up on them.”

  I nodded, “I agree with that as well.”

  However, we both stopped short of apologizing. Kendra caught on to that and started laughing.

  “You two need to quit,” she told us. “Are both of your egos that big? My God!”

  We laughed it off, but we still hesitated to say the words.

  Finally, I said, “Okay, okay, I’ll say it.”

  Yolanda said, “No, I’ll go first.”

  Kendra said, “Who cares who goes first, just get it over with.”

  Yolanda said, “Tracy ...I apologize,” as if it was killing her.

  We all broke out laughing before I did my part.

  “I apologize for cursing you out and hanging up the phone on you.”

  Kendra said, “Thank you! Gosh!”

  After that, we gradually began to talk about my new movie Led Astray, and every other sister film, or the lack thereof, until late at night. I guess Kendra didn’t have any plans for that Friday night after all.

  $ $ $

  By mid March, the miracle finally happened. Wide Vision Films had given us the green light to begin production for Led Astray, beginning on Monday, April 5th, 1999. They also began to cast the other actors, who were mostly white. However, that was the reality of the power structure of Hollywood. I wasn’t blind to that fact, and I planned to present an honest picture.

  I signed for a one-million-dollar split between my screenplay and my leading role, and five percent of the gross profits, including rights for cable, network, video, and overseas. They wouldn’t give us the ten percent, so we compromised. Susan also worked Poncho’s deal, getting his five hundred thousand to direct. We maintained a budget of eight million dollars, and I had no more mouth when I showed the paperwork to Yolanda. She was just hap
py to be my lawyer again.

  I called my girl Raheema in New Jersey to give her the news, but she wasn’t in, so I left her a message on her answering service:

  “This is Tracy, and I’m smiling right now because I finally got my movie deal done. Led Astray. We start shooting early next month, and we’re looking for an early release for year 2000. I just love how that sounds, and I didn’t have to screw anybody to get it, but I do have to do some of that in the movie. But it won’t be real, you know, just camera angles.

  “Anyway, I’ll tell you all about it when we catch up to each other,” I said.

  I hung up the phone and began talking to myself. I said, “Here I am trying to sit and write a poem about how I’m feeling right now, but I’m too damn happy to write anything. Ain’t that a blizzard? When I’m mad or sad, I can think of a million things to write, almost immediately, but now that I’m happy, all I can do is sit here smile and look silly.”

  Genesis

  In the Old Testament

  God said,

  “Let there be light,”

  and there was light.

  Not saying that I’m God,

  but He did

  make us in His image,

  so why not we,

  in the New Testament,

  make light

  in images of our own?

  Copyright © 1993 by Tracy Ellison

  May 2000

  The writer-director (or director-writer, as I called him) for Road Kill, was a curly-haired Greek American named Paully Silarus, and he was obviously pissed off that I had tampered with his project and got the green light on my revised screenplay instead of his original. I don’t believe he wanted a black woman in the role either, but tough cookie; I was a bigger draw than he was. Deal with it! If he was that pissed off about it, then he should have taken his check and walked. I wouldn’t have walked away if the same thing had happened to my vision in Led Astray, so I felt for the guy, I really did. Nevertheless, he wasn’t trying to get along with me. He had a mean streak from hell and he was making the set miserable for everyone. It was already as hot as an oven out there in Nevada. He needed to gather his emotions somewhere and cool his hot behind down!

  “CUT! We need more anger, Alexis! You want to kill this guy, remember!” he screamed at me.