Let us travel back to Hollywood in 2000. I met a fellow southerner who was managing acting talent. She would cook southern meals for us at her place while we played country music, drank too much Jack Daniels and pontificated on our outrageous dreams of fame and fortune. Her son became a friend of mine. He had written a short film called 1000 Words.

If I remember correctly, this is the second short film I did with Dustin and my second on-camera acting job. I had not yet shot the award winning indie film Don’t Let Go nor the Paramount picture Frailty. The first short film I did with Dustin was just a small part. For this one, he let me take the lead.

1000 Words is the story of a wealthy art collector, Mayfield, who employs me, Gabriel, as a sort of assistant around the office. Gabriel is about to be evicted from his apartment and can barely pay his bills. While he is always searching for supplemental jobs, working for Mayfield provides him with a sense of family. Gabriel is very close friends with Mayfield’s son, David. But when David dies in a car accident, it’s a loss Mayfield can barely cope with. Gabriel finds David’s watch, an heirloom given to him by his father Mayfield. When Gabriel goes to Mayfield to return the heirloom, he sees that the grief is too much for him to bare. It’s not long before Mayfield also passes. With no job and no way to avoid eviction, Gabriel receives a call from his past co-worker asking him to come to an art auction. When Gabriel reluctantly goes to the auction, he discovers that Mayfield had written Gabriel into the will, giving him the most expensive painting and forever settling his financial woes.

I’m not sure why I only had a selection of scenes from the short film, but there’s enough here for you to enjoy.

Those old days of struggling around Hollywood turn out to be some of the best memories.