Close!

My plan was to ask Theo Rossi if he would take a look at my television series concept. Theo, along with Kim Coates - both are actors on the hit show Sons of Anarchy - came to Northern New York recently. It was such a BIG event for this area, there was easily a thousand people who showed up to meet "Juice & Tig". Sure Viggo Mortensen spends summers in the area; he IS Aragorn from the LOTR trilogy.... but I don't even know if he rides a motorcycle. Horses, sure - don't forget Viggo also starred in Hidalgo - but I have yet to see him on two wheels.

But back to the visit by Theo & Kim. My job at the Harley-Davidson dealership, work that I love, paid me to organize & market their visit. That took a lot of writing and attention to detail - and, of course, the usual "What did I forget?" thoughts running through my head. Before their visit, I did research on both of their careers, and found out that Theo had started Dos Dudes Pictures with friends, so I emailed them about my concept/treatment. I hadn't heard a "Yes!", but on the flip side there wasn't a "No!" either. I printed out my Motorcycle Sisters treatment a few days before they arrived. Because both actors had been on a mini vacation prior to their visit, they were coming from different places. I kept hounding my boss with, "I volunteer to pick Theo up from the airport!!" to no avail.... Of course he wanted the honor and I don't blame him. I was left to wait until all of us were done working for the day before asking Theo to take a look at my idea.



The hour of arrival had come! We all road motorcycles to the dealership - we had loaned both guys and their manager bikes for the short jaunt (I rode my own of course!). Once we got there it was practically non-stop rush of fans to see them. Most were kind & respectful, some were trying to cut in line or used the whole, "I spend a lot of money here!" in attempts to make themselves important. It was exhilarating and exhausting all at the same time.

Afterwards most of the employees from the dealership, the boys and their manager all went to a locally owned restaurant to grab some grub and decompress a little bit. At first I was overwhelmed by these two Hollywood actors - even if they weren't television stars, I'm sure I'd enjoy hanging out with them, they were that down to earth. Kim & Theo are just regular guys who happen to have a job on television. They are stars with successful careers and they might be able to help me get my series going. Perhaps Theo & Dos Dudes would want to start developing it (fingers crossed!). Although, with all the stress and of the thousand or so people that we all had endured, we were finally relaxing and just 'being themselves'. Theo found out that the restaurant had NY Quick Draw Lottery and began teaching Kim how to play. I just couldn't interrupt that fun.

Some might say that I'm not really committed to seeing Motorcycle Sisters on the small screen. Because I didn't force my own agenda on our guests, I'm the one that's lacking courage and determination. That's all bullshit - bottom line is I didn't want to change the mood of the evening. We were all on a roll, having a good time - I didn't want to be selfish and change all that.

In the end I didn't leave Theo with my television series treatment, but hopefully I left him & Kim with the impression of someone who is hard working and likes to have fun. I certainly have a lot of great memories from that day!! And to top it all off, Dos Dudes still haven't said, "No!", so I'll be submitting my treatment to them soon. I'll also send a note apologizing for temporarily blinding Theo when I took his picture with my daughter!