mkillentv

This was the final CBS Schoolbreak special I would work on. I had worked on my first in 1987 and had learned the genre well by this time. David Eagle was a great producer and this was my fourth project with him. It also gave me the chance to work with producer Arnold (Rescue 911) Shapiro.

The concept was simple but effective. Four kids with four stories. We took the four areas kids commonly get in trouble with guns and told each story twice, once where a gun was used and once where the teen chose not to use a gun. It was an exciting idea and I'm proud of the resulting film.

We filmed this on Super 16 in LA in the fall of 1993 with a tight budget. Despite the serious subject we all had a wonderful time making this ambitious project.

The reward for our hard work was having the project bumped up to prime time and shown on both CBS and Fox simultaneously. We were later nominated for a Prime Time Emmy and I was very excited when we won in September, 1994.

I had already moved to Nashville, Tennessee to pursue a song writing career when the awards were held in Pasadena so the win was a wonderful close to my "Hollywood" days. I'll never forget standing with my fellow producers on stage and unable to form a cohesive sentence!

But this project is not about me or our Emmy Award. I hope that somewhere at least one kid saw our film and changed his or her mind about using a gun. I may never know but just the thought makes me smile every time I think about the days we all worked so hard on this film.

Michael Killen

My wife at the time was an actress and I accompanied her to the audition for this film. She didn't make the cut but someone spotted me in the parking lot waiting for her and asked if I'd like a small non-speaking part. Now I was working as a producer in Hollywood at the time and thought it might be fun to do a bit on camera. So I said yes. That's me driving the van with the funny nose and glasses early on in the film. Of course, I'm not really driving and the crash was fake. It makes me laugh to see myself as I had absolutely no desire to be a film actor. And my bit in this movie confirms it! It was a first and last for me. But I'm glad I did it!

I was pleased to be the Associate Producer on this, my third CBS Schoolbreak special with Helios Productions. Having the opportunity to work with the amazing Whoopi Goldberg on this film was a thrill and the whole cast and crew gave their all to pull this period piece off on the slim budget CBS provided.

Set in the early 1960's in the south, the story of a group of young African Americans who stage a sit in at a drugstore lunch counter was intense and all of us were dedicated to getting it right.

Our director, Helaine Head, was the perfect choice for crafting this project and I have seldom worked with a more down to earth and gracious actress than Whoopi Goldberg. She was a top feature film actress at the time and we were incredibly blessed to have her in this film. She never complained once and her presence on the set put us all at ease when the schedule got tight and the hours got long. I will never forget her dedication and spirit.

The film was shot mostly in San Pedro, CA in a very authentic looking drugstore that still had a lunch counter. It was very cold that November and we all scrambled to keep warm as we shot mostly after hours. I remember craft service brewing a lot of coffee! We shot on super 16 and transferred to beta SP. We did the off line on one of the first non-linear MAC based systems which really sped up post.

I loved the final film and I wish it was available on DVD as its message most certainly is just as powerful today as it was when we made it. My thanks to execs Brad Wigor and Joe Maurer for having me along on this one.

Michael Killen, Associate Producer