Cannes - D. Edward Stanley and The Headhunter

While I was working on the film Leatherheads (George Clooney - December 2007 release) and working my way beck to contacts within the film industry, I received a call from a friend from San Francisco that I needed to talk to a business associate and mentor of hers, named D. Edward Stanley.

I was not really familiar with him or his name. She told me to go to his website, www.impellofilms.com and to look at some of the projects he was working on and to give him a call to introduce myself. I was somewhat busy with filming "Leatherheads" and in the midst of working on working on this blog, so I did not get a chance to call right away. David was heading out on a long motorcycle ride. About 10 days later, as I was sitting in Starbucks, I called him and spoke to him for about thirty minutes about film production and business plans, building teams and executioin of those plans.

David turned out to be one of the sharpest people I have spoken too. He also turned out to be the step brother of Elvis Presley and had actually grown up in Graceland since the age of four and being one of Elvis's bodyguards at age 16. He had just completed ab autobiographical movie called "Headhunter" which he was promoting at the May 2007 Cannes Film Festival. It was a movie about his life as Elvis' bodyguard and the experiences he encountered on tour with Elvis. D. Edward Stanley was "The Headhunter".

Elvis and me - 1st time - NBC Radio Summer of 77

Elvis was is an iconic figure who seems to somehow enter each person's life throught the sheer magnitude of his impact on our culture. My brush with Elvis up until this point happened on two different days.

I was working at WYNY FM (NBC - 30 Rock) as a summer intern. It was August 16th, 1977. The summer was about to end for me and a new team of people let by a young 23 year old Bob Pittman from WMAQ (Chicago) which was transformed into a country music station were hired to run WNBC Am working to being a long term transformation of WNBC AM which had some of the top disc jockeys in the world such as Cousin Brucie (a legend in NY in the 1960's and 70's) and Imus. Down the hall I heard shreeks and screems from down the hall near the studio "Elvis Died, Elvis is Dead". I remember a young disc jockey named Ellie sobbing and crying.

I ran outside my office and toward the studio and people were embracing each other, consoling each other.