This particular thread is well-titled: "Other Productions," and I'd like to address a growing issue within this Forum and Cooper World in general as more producers call more people looking for a cool angle on DB Cooper.
There are two aspects to this issue, and they seems to related. One is the Morality of Hollywood, if there is just a thing. Perhaps we should be looking at the absence of ethical integrity in Hollywood, and why none of it seems to exist. For me, and my observation of others, is that the allure of fame and celebrity status is too intoxicating. I'm a junkie in that regard, although I like to think I'm in recovery. The thrill of sitting in front of a camera, mic'd up is sublime. Spending two hours on Skype calls with a team of producers (re: cute babes from Hollywood) being asked what I know about DBC and what I think might make a good TV show is nearly beyond my ability to control myself.
Now, many others are being exposed to the same intoxicants, and here is the second play: For those who read this Forum, participated in the DZ, or just read my book - well, you certainly know much of what I know about Norjak. Some of you even have a ton o' phone numbers for Cooper Principals since many of those contact numbers I got from you!
I sense a shift is happening. Hollywood is beginning to shop around for its best informational deals. What can we get for free, seems to be the modus operandi. And then they clamp down on the giver by insisting on a non-disclosure, confidentiality agreement. Maybe if you insist, you'll get a birthday cake.
I've begun to push back against "Hollywood," my general term to include all the producers around the world - in London, NYC, Japan, and elsewhere. I want to be paid for my time and knowledge. In that regard I'm getting like Himmelsbach.
Further, I insist on fill accreditation.
Plus, I won't sign any boiler-plate non-disclosure agreements without a detailed discussion of what I can do, what I can say, and where I will say it. I insist that my private communications are just that: private. My phone calls and emails are off-limits, and what I say and communicate is my business, not anyone else's. As for posting here, the Mountain News, or writing about in books and magazines elsewhere, well, I do recognize that certain boundaries have to be drawn to protect everyone's proprietary interests, but it is clearly a murky business. As I have written elsewhere, it's a question of fairness. I don't want to steal or dampen anyone's thunder. But I do feel it is reasonable to expect an investigative reporter of Norjak to talk about DB Cooper projects in development in general terms. We've just got to find a way to do that reasonably.
So, I'm putting my foot down. Since no one is willing to send me cash, or guaranteeing screen time and promotion of my book, I'm not talking. I'm not sharing my rolodex, I'm not outlining strategies to talk with Tina, Alice, Flo, Rataczak, Andy, Curtis, et. al. I'm not Skypeing without a check for $75/hour. Prepaid.
But others might. So be it.
In the meantime, I'm working on the 3rd Edition, and my intention is to make it worthy of a Pulitzer Prize. I want to see DB Cooper and the FBI placed in book stores, especially the Hudson News airport kiosks, standing right next to David McCullough's The Wright Brothers.
So, don't cry for me Argentina, I'm setting my sights on a loftier goal.
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