Remembering Gene Ruggiero, Academy Award Winner, Friend, and Associate
Going through a few boxes in my storage I found my friend, Gene Ruggiero's interview and more. Gene and I met one day at the famous Jack in the Box on Sunset Blvd. and Cahuenga. I was living in the Old Richmond Hotel on the corner of Sunset and Cahuenga, upstairs, which had prior, in early Hollywood history, housed Charlie Chaplin and many more celebrities. Mae West and Marilyn were known to also stop by. At that time, these stars were struggling. Gene told me they sometimes lived on a few donuts at a time. This was before the famed Chaplin Stage was created. Gene told me how Chaplin actually accidentally stepped in the tobacco pit and everyone laughed. The spot I rented was a hole in the wall with a radiator that didn't work. They gave me the entire floor though and I used it to stage videos, have parties, do choreography with dancers, record music, and practice in. A famous photographer named, Herbie rented across the way. We did a slew of photos of me in that studio. He is particularly known for his photography of Stevie Nicks.
Gene and I would sit down together every morning and have our coffee. He would speak endlessly of his MGM early days, his work on many films, and about some of the relationships (or what went on behind the scenes). We got to work though on films, from budgeting various films, to trying to produce films. We joined forces on my screenplay, Diamonds are a Man's Best Friend. Other friends would join us who worked in various areas of the entertainment industry every morning. Gene Ruggiero was a very respectful person, never attempted to grope or demean my ambitions somehow. He was a completely trustworthy fellow and I appreciated this. We spent much time together, going to studios, meetings and our daily Jack in the Box chats.
Gene had a big dream of getting a new Hollywood Film Studio going and we got to the point of major financial players who were ready to fund, but it didn't go past that. He also had a slew of screenplays and projects we were running around to various studios for. Pertaining to Indy, I took the head of Entertainment at Bank of America to lunch with Gene and he put up a Standby letter of credit to fund any of our pictures. To make indy Hollywood films, you have to have another letter of credit which backs the entire costs perchance of default. That was the challenging aspect we both endured. One of the most memorable thing about Gene Ruggiero was our friendship, which I appreciated beyond measure. The climb was enjoyable in itself and his friendship more rare than a rare diamond.
At one point I was managed by a company called A.I.D.A. Management with Henry Jones at the helm. We produced a series of directories called the Platinum and Gold Directory series. I wore various hats, from editing to graphic artist, from an interview I conducted with Allen Blazek (Grammy Award Winner, "Hotel California" and more). A host of people were interviewed as well, including Gene Ruggiero.
First, here is a letter he wrote about me when I was being violently stalked by David Lee Roth who was passionately envious of my goals, my filmmaking attempts, and interfered with my safety, well-being by perpetrating countless crimes.
Here is the Platinum and Gold Henry Jones Interview
Henry is originally from Africa and had studied and lived in the UK. He then came to the USA to complete his pHd college degree at UCLA. I helped him write up & edit his final thesis to graduate. We became friends for awhile and he got me into the music studio to record part of an album, produced stage concerts locally for me with my band(s). Henry moved onto more politically-orientated ventures at some point. Enjoy Gene's interview.
