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Hello, my name is Larry N. Sapp II. I am
the creator, sole proprietor and author of Abilities United
Productions and all material contained here on this website except
where noted. The following is a brief biography of my life and
specifically how it applies to my work in film and here with
Abilities United Productions. Although that does encompass a large
percentage of my life and therefore this bio may seem more than
brief. Then again those who know me also know I do tend to talk a
lot and hopefully none of what you read below will also be
considered rambling!
I grew up in Southern California and
have always loved movies. As a kid I remember watching movies
on my television even if I had seen them a few times already.
Martin and Lewis movies were some of my favorites because in part
they were funny but mainly because Dean was the
smoothest, coolest, looked great, sang even better and
always got the girl! Speaking of
smooth, looking good and singing great, despite the lack of
story I often enjoyed Elvis movies too! Frankie and Johnny I probably watched more
as a kid than any other Elvis film.
Watching in the comfort of home is
one thing, but the theatre is the best place to see a movie. If you
were alone or with others sharing popcorn, candy, hot dogs,
soft drinks, it is more of an experience then just watching a
movie. From a young age being with family to growing older and
meeting friends to having dates, going to the theatre is always
special. I just love the look and feel of the big
screen. Of course as I grew older my idols began
to include Steve McQueen, Paul Newman and Robert
Redford. Some of my fondest memories were when Mom would drop
my sister and I off at the theatre to see a matinee double feature.
I'll never forget the afternoon we saw The Sting and Smokey and the Bandit back to
back. In my later teens my sister and I often interacted
repeating dialogue from our favorite movies. "She's not outside
eating chicken that's for sure."
I loved the story telling and
escaping into the ever-changing world created on the Silver
Screen even if it were for only 90-120 minutes at a time. This has
never changed. In fact that remains true today and if
there is ever a time when a couple of weeks go by and I haven't been
to the theatre, I feel it and when I get there I really feel
it. That is what makes me happy even if the film isn't what I
hoped it to be!
In the early 80's I graduated from high school
and enjoyed life to the fullest even though there was little in way
of direction! I must say here that the first time I was ever
mesmerized by a movie, it was when I was introduced to Robert De
Niro and James Woods in the masterpiece by Sergio Leone, Once Upon A Time In America.
By the late 80's I had left the climate
control comfort of Southern California and relocated to Dallas,
Texas. Within a year my life began to get some direction and because
of my love for rock music and especially of that time (Whitesnake remains my favorite all-time
band! Go David Coverdale, you Rock Loud, Hard and with Style! --
click on banner below for info on the new Live DVD and CD combo
package and where you can buy yours! - It is the BEST live DVD you
will ever seen - artistically and technically speaking. I love it!)
It was at this time that I found the Art
Institute opening my horizons in the Music and Video Business
curriculum. Although my initial intentions, because of my
love of rock music, was to become a music producer. Of
course nothing less then a very famous and successful music
producer. I was going to be the next Robert "Mutt" Lange, but I
found my affections being drawn to video production as I wrote,
directed, edited and produced music videos for local garage bands
for school assignments. Here I was able to participate in my own
story telling, although it was limited to only three and a half to
four minutes of the song and I lost valuable story telling time by
being forced to add those shots of the band!
Finally it all made sense and I knew what I was
meant to do and knew that I had to learn film. Movies, modern day
storytelling done in the theatre on the big screen. I had to
move away from Hollywood to realize what I wanted to do? But there
was more to learn and although I wasn't aware of it then the
definition of what I was meant to do still had to be refined. After
school I found only temporary freelance work as a video camera
operator, production assistant or sales accountant in video
production. The dreams of becoming a film director and independent
producer slowly faded as the video jobs wore thin and I had to
secure full time employment outside of the production industry to
pay the bills.
A couple of years later, in 1994, I
had been promoted from courier to manager of two Dallas overnight
delivery offices after less then a year of working for the company.
Despite my success there was a huge void in my life. I had been
working so many hours and for so many weeks that my personal life
was nearly non-existent. On a day off, I finally got to get
back to where I am most comfortable - the local cinema theatre!
I went to see this movie that just came out. I
didn't know any of the background or history of this film like I
used to before seeing any film. Obviously I have been working a
lot lately! So I went anyway and I couldn't believe what I
experienced that day. From the opening scene through the ending
credits, "Pulp Fiction" blew me away and I was reminded of
what story telling was all about! I loved it so much I forced my
three brothers and three or four friends to go see it the very next
day! I know what was in that briefcase of Marsellus that Vincent and
Jules were sent to retreive and glowed when it was opened but
never revealed - that was Tarantino's genius, lightning in a bottle
and lightening is what struck me! I won't go into all the reason's
why I feel that way because it would take too long as I could
lecture an entire class about it!
More important that film had
re-opened my eyes to realize that my dreams, hopes and desires
to direct, write, produce stories on video and/or film was more than
just a desire, it was a need from within and it still had
not been fulfilled. It is like oxygen and because I
wasn't doing it or even around it any more I felt like I was
suffocating. Determined to tell stories longer then the
length of a music video, I immediately began to write a
short film that I planned to save money for and produce
myself. Now my heros evolved to those whom I admired before but
suddenly I had a understanding of more, Steven Spielberg, Martin
Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, Sergio Leone, Brian DePalma, Stanley
Kubrick and classics like Alfred Hitchcock, Frank Capra, John
Huston, John Ford and this new kid on the block, Quentitn
Tarantino! I knew what drove them to do what they did because
deep down in my very soul I felt it! I began writing and
storyboarding a short film about a man who is running through the
streets of Dallas on a cold and rainy night from a stranger that
when he finally catches him it is revealed that it is himself and
once he forces himself to look at himself and
therefore the reasons why he is running from himself -
shown in B&W flashbacks - he is freed and the running stops
as he falls to the wet ground and his chaser holds him in comfort
and understanding. Then he picks himself up and walks off
into a warm and dry sunrise. Not a sunset but a new day, a
new beginning for the rest of his life. That was
going to be my first masterpiece!
Finally I once again felt alive
and with a purpose and although I was working 12-16 hours a day
at the overnight delivery company, I had to spend hours involved in
the development of my own short film
production. Determined and promising myself to be true to
myself as a storyteller, I quit that management position
and became a local courier company's independent contract
courier driver so I could earn enough to pay the bills
and work only 8 hours a day so I could
devote more time to work on my film production. Due to the
events that followed, the production was
never completed.
On April 1, 1995 I had a
terrible accident that changed my life forever. I became a survivor
of a spinal cord injury that left me paralyzed from the mid-back
down. Almost two months later, while I was still recovering, I
watched the television news report that Christopher Reeve had
suffered a similar fate. Although the results of his injury were
much more severe and debilitating than
mine, I felt an immediate connection with him. With his fame brought
focus to those of us in wheelchairs and specifically those with a
disability in the entertainment industry. It saddens me that I
never got a chance to meet Mr. Reeve but nevertheless he continues
to inspire me today.
Fortunately for me I have
complete use of my upper body including my arms and hands that
provide me with complete personal
independence and the ability to create and produce the films and
projects that will break the stereotypes of characters with a
disability.
During my rehabilitation, the
remaining months of 1995, I had discovered a real need to wed the
video, television, and film production community
with the disabled community. Both in the crew used in the
production and as topics and features of the programs. My accident had depleted all of
my savings, put me into debt and due to the fact I had changed jobs
just a couple of months before, I also didn't have any medical or
disability insurance. Still I was determined to make the most of the
second chance I had at this life and that meant
living my dreams.
Armed with my video and
business skills I developed several programs that included; disabled
rehabilitation training videos that focused on the skills needed by
the newly injuried survivors of a spinal cord injury as well as the physical therapists to give them
additional understanding of their veyr important role. I also
developed videos that celebrate the varied lifestyles that included
the career highlights, family life and
activities of the citizens of the world with disabilities, and a
newsmagazine television show that was devoted to the now more than
54 million Americans with physical disabilities.
Most recently I have also developed, "Independent Travels" a television
program that explores the accessible areas and activities of
travelers with disabilities. To learn more follow the links
to Television in
this website.
Meanwhile, back in the late '90's I was studying and
enjoying films that featured characters with disabilities
that led me to frustration over the common stereotypes being
portrayed. Although they are good movies, some even great movies,
most seem to be required to either be surrounded by world events
(such as returning from war), i.e; The Men, Coming
Home, Born on the Fourth of
July, or to exploit the
trauma of first becoming disabled, i.e.: The Waterdance, Passion Fish and in the undeniable style of George
Romero, Monkey
Shines, or be predictably
inspirational i.e.: The Other Side of the
Mountain, My Left Foot to qualify as worthy dramas by Hollywood.
Don't get me wrong, the films I listed are
fantastic films, with remarkable performances but they all seemed to
fall into that pattern. I wanted to see a paraplegic in just a role
when it wasn't about his/her disability. Clearly there is a need for
new, innovative and fresh scripts produced into movies and
television programs that feature characters with disabilities where
their disability struggles are not the plot but are a part of them
as a person, like sex, race or creed. Christopher Reeve's fantastic
1998 portrayal in the modern update of the classic Rear Window (which I still have recorded on
vhs from the original airing on television) is a wonderful example.
And in one of Christopher Reeve's last roles before his paralyzing
accident, he did another amazing performance portraying a paralyzed
cop in Above Suspicion.
Although the character's state of mind was more paralyzing then his
physicality as the twist at the end proved, the plot was more
about him as a person, bent on revenge, rather than his trauma of
dealing with his disability. Another film I must mention is the one
based on the novel and screenplay written by Stephen
King and starred Corey Haim as a paraplegic kid in the Silver Bullet.
My scripts and projects primarily focus with those with a
spinal cord injury like myself and they are focused more on the
person and the story then the disability being the plot. Also as I
have been describing I am speaking of featured roles. There are a
handful of wonderfully portrayed supporting roles that I think also
either followed the stereotype or did actually move beyond it where
they were more about the person and the disability was secondary.
The latter brings another great actor named Christopher, Christopher
Walken as "The Man with the Plan" in Things to Do in Denver When You're
Dead. I loved
that character primarily becasue speaking of breaking the
stereotype he was a villian instead of the typical good guy who
has overcome terrible odds! Not to mention how great it was
portrayed by Walken!
So
with a need for more stories to be told that featured
characters with a disability, my education needed to expand from the
video writing and production to screenwriting and film production. I
joined the Dallas Screenwriters Association and submerged myself in
seminars, books, reading and studying scripts from their library,
participated in individual classes, attended lectures and joined
writing groups. All provided great knowledge of screenwriting
but my real education followed in writing and rewriting my first
script, "Forever Yours" more than a dozen times.
"Forever Yours" is a romantic drama with
some comedic moments that features a paraplegic man who's a very
successful entrepreneur and must swallow his pride to accept help
from the love of his life, as he learns "no man is an island." I
envisioned this script in the style of good-hearted fun, along
the feel of My Best Friend's
Wedding and certainly with the focus being on his
relationship and fear of commitment and not his disability. Although
I had successfully pitched this script to several independent
producers and production companies, none acquired the rights. I
suspect it is because characters with disabilities do spark
interests but "Forever Yours" does not follow the stereotypical
characters with a disability befitting a "worthy drama" of Hollywood
standards. They are programmed to think the character with a
disability has to have a strong character arch in overcoming his
disability and dealing with society as a disabled person. Instead
this main character's arch is to overcome his fear of losing his
independence, one that is magnified as a person with a disability
before loosing the woman of his dreams. Meanwhile he has to
meet her parents who know nothing of his disability (a taste of Guess Who's Coming to Dinner and Meet the Parents) He is also trying
to prepare to merge his company with another without losing the
employees that helped him become a success. In the midst of all of
this is a blast from both his and his girlfriend's past when their
former girlfriend/boyfirend enter the mix. Although there are
elements of the main character's disability, because they cannot be
ignored, they make up a part of who he is and the psychological make
up but it is not the basis of the plot. To me this is refreshing and
is a romantic drama/comedy whose main character happens to be a
person with a disability.
Meanwhile, I applied the same intensity I had with learning
the art of screenwriting to other aspects of filmmaking. My
self-education of becoming a film director was and never will be
hampered. I will overcome rejections and combat
any and all lack of knowledge with continuous learning of what I
need to become and remain a successful film director and
producer in pursuit of changing Hollywood's perceptions of
Characters with a Disability. I feel this goes beyond just
Hollywood's perceptions and can touch those who watch my films as
described in more detail below.
My
latest feature length script, "London
Time," is an intriguing mix of murder mystery, love story and
personal accomplishments, as a series of homicides finds paralyzed
Detective London reunited both professionally and personally with
Marci Waters to catch a fired Studio Executive before he murders
another film critic in his vengeful goal to control all
entertainment press and blackmail the entire film
industry.
"London Time" is the script that is a prime example of
breaking the Hollywood stereotypes of characters with a disability.
The main character, Detective London, is featured in a story that is
more about him as a person, a cop, a man, a lover, a widower and
father with personal struggles over the loss of his family, the
pressures of his job and not about the physical hardships of a
paralyzed person in a wheelchair. In fact, with minimum changes the
character could easily become transformed into an able bodied person
from the story's point of view. The disability is not the focus but
a by-product of the story and character. Like life for all of us,
it's just his lot in life to deal with.
I
liken the focus of my filmmaking to that of the black stereotypes
being broken in the 1960's and '70's. When I hear individuals
like Oprah, Halle Berry, and Denzel Washington speak about the first
time they saw movies that featured strong characters of
African-American decent and how wonderful it was to see someone
on the big screen not being portrayed in the same stereotypes as had
been the case up until then. Before Sidney Poitier did many of his
significant films in the 1960's and '70's black characters were
rarely the featured character and when they were it was in a
stereotypical role of a servant or at best as a second or third
class citizen. I can identify and relate whenever I see someone
in a wheelchair on the big screen, on the Silver Screen. I feel
recognized. I feel visable even when it is in a stereotypical role.
I even enjoy those with other disabilities. My new
favorite Super Hero is Daredevil and it has
nothing to do with the fact that it stars Jennifer Garner (okay
maybe a little bit - LOL) but it is about the fact that he has
a sight disability. And even though it is based on a
comic, Hollywood has brought that character to live action
status. A real live person -- of fiction but you know what I mean! I
feel I too can be like the character on the Silver Screen. Here
a person with a disability is a Super Hero and on top of that he
gets the girl - well maybe not in the end but he did capture
her heart and got to kiss her and not just any girl but
Jennifer Garner (did I already mention the significance of that - oh
well, despite being a man with a disability I am just like
all the other red-blooded hetrosexual American males! And
no worries Mrs. Affleck, or for that matter, Mr. Affleck too, I am
not a stalker or worse, paparazzi. Truth be told I will be
the first to admit that although Jennifer is an undeniable beauty, I
am infatuated with her characters, Sydney Bristow and Elektra
Natchios) Oh, and there are other stars in this movie too! Aside for
the wonderful portrayal of this Super Hero with a disability by Ben
Affleck, I also credit the director, producer and casting
directors who got it right with all of the other
castings - all together make this movie come
alive!
Back
to the subject - I do think that entertainment and especially film
has a way of assisting in helping society break stereotypes and even
prejudices. In a theatre watching a film is where one can see other
points of view, even their own without the risk of being directly
involved. As an example I honestly think that films like "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" did
help in society's view and treatment of black Americans. More
recently and as another example I think films like "Philadelphia" helped to brake the stereotypes and
prejudices of homosexuals and those with AIDS. Let me add that
I do not think these films single handedly broke stereotypes or
prejudices but I do beleive they played a significant role in
society's views on those minorities and I hope to participate in
doing the same for those in the largest and fastest growing
minority, those with a disability.
Okay off my soapbox -
for the moment! Currently, I am taking the next step in my
storytelling and breaking the Hollywood stereotypes of characters
with a disability by directing and producing my short
film, Glacial Breeze. Here I
believe this story will show a little of what it is like to be a
single person with a disability and how others view people with a
disability. Universally it speaks about and asks the question will
that person who initially saw you and desired you still feel the
same way when they see the whole you? Or when you see the whole of
them? I love this story and cannot wait to "tell it" on film.
For more info follow the link or go to Short Films.
With this project as well as with all of
them, I hope it might help all of those who watch my films or at the
very least one person to re-evaluate how they think of and interact
with persons with a disability. See them as
people first, as productive, active individuals of society and
not as second or third class citizens with really good
parking! And of course first and foremost I hope it reaches the main
goal to tell a good story and entertain.
Until then I will see you on the set
or at the movies! And thanks for stopping by and checking
out Abilities United and reading through how I got to this point
here in my abridged Bio!
Larry
N. Sapp II
Thank
you for stopping by and feel free to send me any comments, questions or Abilities you'd like to submit
in helping to break down the Hollywood
Stereotypes of characters with a disability.
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