Star Trip - a new feature film

It began at a party. I met Chrome Cobra who knew I had some tie to Hollywood...he came up to me and asked me if I would produce his film. I told him that if he raised a few bucks I would be happy to help him. A few years later, he tapped me on the shoulder and we began filming. Many years after principal photography we are ready to release the film. What a mountain we have climbed and we see the view from the top and it looks good.

The principal photography period was one weird week in my life...a week that I will never forget. We descended upon a mansion in masse...the neighbors were unsuspecting that we were coming and loathe to find out that we were there. The entire time we filmed we had cast and crew eating, drinking, sleeping, and smokin’ up at the mansion. As I remember it, I was the only one that didn’t smoke pot because my drug of choice is alcohol that I drink very seldom. Each night I would grill salmon, sausage, burgers, hot dogs, chicken and a host of other dishes for the cast and crew and the entire time was a seven day party…with a few breaks for sleep and work. Those that worked on the film will look back with a smile at the fun that we had that week. Those that didn’t will curse us that we didn’t make them a part of this memorable fun time.

Chrome spent years hanging out with the rich and famous writing down what he saw. These notes became a screenplay that we handed off to actors that transformed it into an epic. The first cut of the film was unwatchable. We had an editor that didn’t understand the dynamic. It wasn’t until Chrome stepped in that this began to have some life breathed into it. Keep in mind this film doesn’t even remotely resemble the original screenplay…Chrome brought some new dimensions to the film that transform it into a Mad, Mad, Trip.

Weed smokin’ panty models descend upon a Malibu mansion at 2 AM for a photo shoot to promote a new panty line. The photo shoot includes a dimension of ass slapping to promote the panties. Famous filmmakers, the photographer, the sex starved maid, visiting police and the panty models give this film a large dose of authenticity. We read about it in the tabloids and until now this is as close as we can ever get. Now we become the fly on the wall watching all of the absurdity unfold. Chrome tells me that it happens that way behind the closed doors with the rich and famous. Former groupies tell me that he is right. They lived the rock’n’roll Hollywood of days gone by…up in Laurel Canyon in the 60’s. The former manager of the Monkees, Brendan Cahill, was a frequent visitor to the set. He made many comments about the late 60’s and how this film took him back in time. The original cut fell short…the Chrome Cobra version delivers. It rings true to the roots that created it. Those that haven’t lived the life can only imagine what goes on. Now they will not have to imagine.

“Star Trip” gives us that glimpse into reality for the rich and famous. Mostly the rich and famous have abandoned God and embraced humanism. They have come to believe their own press and they fabricate their own reality. They reach for what they have never had and turn to performance enhancers to heighten their experiences. Hunter S. Thompson understood the dynamic. If he were still alive we would have had him edit the film. Chrome Cobra or Hunter S. Thompson? The result would be the same. Shot just a few months after his death, if Hunter S. Thompson was reincarnated it would be in the form of this movie, “Star Trip”.