Richard Donner

 I was very fortunate enough to have met director Richard Donner many moons ago.

And he is exactly who you think he is.

Fun loving silly goofball. Everyone's grandpa (at this point).

His laugh was infectious and his sense of humor beyond anything I've ever seen in a man who made some great cinema.

I suppose you can sort of tell by the vamping Martin Riggs and Roger Murtaugh do in the "Lethal Weapon" series. That is almost always Mr. Donner sitting back and watching Mel Gibson and Danny Glover banter and wise-crack. He's said on a few occasions how he's ruined takes by his boisterous laughter.

And folks...that is all what it is about.

Fun.

I can imagine, and I really hope to be some day, that guy who makes movies with this much joy. Not that moviemaking requires that fun, but the silliness he brought to movies is SO joyful. I can only assume a set run by Mr. Donner was all kinds of pranks and laughs.

Much like my dream is to only make movies with people I care about and whom I care about, I certainly think he imbued his cast and crew with the same lightheartedness that permeates through his films.

That isn't to say he wasn't serious when it was warranted. I suspect he just wanted people to be at ease. Because set work is long hours, a ton of commitment and chaos. He probably saw himself as a ringleader to a circus.

I truly am going to miss his style of filmmaking. I don't think anyone today has his sense of lightness I think movies desperately need. I wish I had gotten to ask him more questions. He was VERY wise in filmmaking and incredibly astute when it came to story construction. And had an instinct to it, YOU CANNOT teach.

I miss him already.