Remembering Rob Reiner

Some stories are too jolting, profoundly sad, pathetic, maddening, heart-sickening and wrong to go into detail about them.  And I won't, I'll just leave it to the news.  Instead, I'll pass along the one occasion I spent some time with Rob Reiner.

This is back at the very start of his directing career.  He didn't have a big production company yet, there was no Castle Rock Entertainment since there was no Stand by Me at this point. He'd directed This is Spinal Tap, and I think that he had directed The Sure Thing, but if so, it had only just been released.  But that's how early it was with his directing.  It was just him and his partner, Andrew Scheinman.  They had an office with a couple of rooms and a large meeting area.  And they were interviewing for a story editor to join them.  (That would be a person who reads screenplays, suggests what's worth it that the bosses should read, and helps with the process of developing the work.)  Somehow, I found out about this and got a meeting.

The initial contacts I had at the office were with Andrew Scheinman.  We talked a few times, and then he gave me a script to read and analyze to see how I responded to it and what my suggestions would be.  It went well enough that he said I should meet with Rob, and so a time was set.  

Not shockingly, when I showed up I was pretty nervous -- not just because I was going to be meeting with "Rob Reiner," or meeting with The Boss whoever it would have been, but above all the job sounded great, and I really wanted it.  The three of us sat in the meeting room, just a big open area, so it turned out not to be an imposing situation of coming into The Head Man's Office with him sitting behind a desk lording over his domain, with awards and photographs of famous celebrities lining the walls  Just basically three chairs facing one another in a big room.  They may have even just been card chairs.  Very low key.  And from the first, Rob was so pleasant that I was immediately put at my ease -- and within five minutes all thoughts of anxiety were gone, and it was just the three people having an enjoyable conversation. 

And most of the time, it was only the two of us, with Andrew Scheinman only chiming in on occasion, letting Rob get a feel for working with me.  And when I say it was more like an enjoyable conversation than an interview, that's because much of the time when Rob talked, it was telling fun, interesting stories. I wish I remember the details, but I don't -- it was 40 years ago.  The only story I do recall him telling is one he's since told on TV interviews, about him visiting the set of The Dick Van Dyke Show, which of course his father had created, having a crush on Mary Tyler Moore, patting her on the butt one day, and being reprimanded by his dad.

What I most remember is that this meeting wasn't just a brief meet-and-greet, but lasted three-quarters of an hour, and it was a joy.  He was so personable, so involving, so thoughtful and kind, nothing at all over-bearing, nothing pompous, everything very low-key.  Just a very enjoyable talk.  I left thinking less about what the job was and almost entirely that I really wanted to work with these guys, I really wanted to work with Rob Reiner.

A few days later, I checked back with Andrew Scheinman to find out any updates.  He didn't have a decision from Rob yet, but said that Rob had really liked talking with me, and it was down to two people -- me and a young woman.  I should call back in a few days.

And when I did call back, it was good news and bad news -- though mostly bad.  The good news is that they didn't hire the other person.  The bad news is that Rob had decided that they were much too small and didn't really need a story editor.  So, they weren't going to hire anybody.  

It was so disappointing, but the worst part was that I couldn't get overly upset because, unfortunately, I completely understood.  They were too small.  That's how early it really was in his directing career.  I could see why they thought they didn't need anyone.  (At least yet.)  But it was such a letdown -- not because I didn't get the job (though, of course, that was some of it) -- but because I'd had such a great time talking with Rob, and I liked Andrew, and I would have loved to have worked with them.

Then, not long after, they made Stand by Me.  And his directing career skyrocketed.  They formed Castle Rock Entertainment.  The company grew, and they not only needed a story editor but also a full staff.  And the company kept growing and making wonderful movies and TV series.

At that point, though, I'd moved on.  I'd optioned my first screenplay, joined the Writers Guild and worked on a variety of other films (still doing some on-set PR work), including eventually The Naked Gun movies, which is where I met the film's Associate Producer Michael Ewing, who years later became a successful producer and eventually optioned my current screenplay The Wild Roses, which...well, we'll see what happens next with it.  So, life takes you in all manner of different direction across a very winding path.

But...I loved meeting Rob Reiner and spending a wonderful 45 minutes with him, and still to this day have the fondest memories of it.  And it would have been a joy to have worked at his company, if he'd felt they needed a story editor.  Not because of the company -- because the company wasn't much of a company then, it would have been only three people -- but because of him.

Meeting someone once for 45 minutes doesn't mean you know them.  I did not know Rob Reiner.  I just know what he was like spending three-quarters of an hour talking with one another, under what could have been (and under most circumstances in Hollywood would have been) nerve-wracking conditions.  But was the exact opposite.  And what very little I do know of him -- which I haven't heard contradicted over the years (and putting aside all the great work he did for half a century) -- is that when our paths did cross, he was an extremely friendly, thoughtful, funny, interesting, involving, good man.  Who brought a great deal of joy to the world.  That will last.

And that's the story he gets today.