It didn’t take long after meeting Matt Merz until I decided that I wanted him to be the Samuel Johnson to my Boswell. My first impression was not a good one. After getting to know him, most of that first image disappeared, but some did stay a bit. First impressions are important. Most of the time for me, I’m usually always right. Sometimes overtime I change my mind, but in the end I am usually right. With Merz, things are never black and white. Most of my first look at him changed, but not all.
It was on set of his first film: “OPERATION: Get Rid of Pinky”. This was back when I worked in film. I was a writer/actor/producer. I had just finished shooting my first film, which was a feature titled: “Today’s Special”. I’ve always been a writer. That’s how I got into film in the first place. But after working in film for a bit, I had to take up producing. It was the only way to protect “my babies”. Eventually, I ended up acting. Because I enjoyed acting. In many ways, it was very similar to writing. So I spent most of my time on Craigslist looking for gigs. One night, I had 3 responses for the same day. One was a short film, the other was a feature, and the last one was a poetry reading. The poetry reading was a hip hop and poetry event in a bad neighborhood. It was obvious that my work would not fit in well with the rest of the show, so I decided not to do that. I chose the short film instead of the feature for several reasons. One, because I got to use a gun. Two, because the feature film wanted me to do the “Thriller” dance. I am not a dancer. I’m too white for that. Three, because I saw the trailer for the feature film, and I was not impressed. The feature film was called: “OPERATION: Get Rid of Pinky”. Little did I know, the trailer I saw was for a short that was filmed years ago. The feature was MUCH better.
I showed up for the shoot of the short film. It was fun. I got to do a crazy action scene, and I met a hot actress. She turned out to be married. And eventually when I got a chance to see the film, I realized that it was shit. On top of that, I was pretty much cut out of the film. They weren’t able to get all the special effects done in time for the contest the film was for, so my death scene got cut out. All you saw was me running. A big blue blur.
This story picked up when I met two friends of mine for drinks: ShaunPaul Costello and Joe Garrifo. They are also film makers. We talked shop for a while. Eventually, I told them the whole story. They told me that the “Pinky guys” donated money for their film. They had good things to say about them, so I decided to contact the director and see if they still needed actors. I emailed the director, Matt Merz, and he told me to show up on set the following Sunday.
The location of the shoot was not a nice neighborhood. Eventually, after traveling through the neighborhood, I found the shoot. I hung out with a member of the crew who I met on the short film for a while until the director was available to talk to. I eventually approached Matt Merz.
“Hi, Matt,” I said. “My name is Bob Kaplan. We talked via email. You told me to show up on set today.”
“Did I?” he said.
I immediately got worried.
“Yeah. Well, do you need me?” I said.
“Yeah,” he said, and walked away.
Eventually, we did shoot my scene. I got covered in pink lemonade mix, I slammed the shit out of my head, and I had soda poured into my mouth to simulate an OD. I left set, and that was it.
Months later, I did a film with Matt’s partner: Chet Johnson. He recognized me from the “Pinky” set. We hung out on set for a few weeks, then eventually Chet told me that him and Matt wanted me to co-write and produce their next script: “Party Smashers”.
The rest is history. Me and Matt had our back and forth through out the project. It got a little hostile here and there. Overall we developed a great work relationship and friendship. Through time, I have been through a wild ride. I realized that Matt Merz is a character. At first, you don’t think that there is a whole lot to Merz, but once you get to know him, you find so much depth. That’s why this blog is going to be a hell of a journey. After first meeting Matt, I have: had plenty of hang overs, been in many sticky situations, almost drowned, met some of the most wild people, met some wild women, got lap dances, got my face sat on, got slapped, got hit, got bitched out, thought I was in love several times, got pissed off, grinded with girls, got drinks thrown on me, analyzed blood stains on a bed, got in a battle with an angry racist kick boxer, watched him hook up with a married woman while he was leaning against me, drank expensive drinks, and a whole lot more.
This blog, for me, is to be a modern day: “Life of Samuel Johnson” by James Boswell. I will write about many experiences I have shared with Matthew Merz, and also document new and old experiences as our work relationship and friendship moves forward.
I hope you enjoy reading these stories as much as me, Matt, Chet, and the rest of the gang enjoyed living them.
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