Passionate – about life, Theresa, his work, the people he worked with, his extended family and friends.
Driven – to enjoy what he was able to do, and making the best it could be.
Creative – the idea of taking basically nothing, maybe just an idea, and creating something that others would appreciate.
Principled – always do the right thing – always.
I want to tell you a story that I believe encapsulates all of these virtues and illustrates the Tom I knew and loved.
A few years back, Tom came to us and told us about an opportunity to produce a video about the death penalty in Texas. The client didn’t have a big budget, but it would be this little production – no more than 15 maybe 17 minutes, shoot in Houston, and we knock it out in no time. Tom really wanted to do this – that’s where the passion and the drive came. He wanted to create some thing that could be used for the greater good – that’s where the creativity and principle came in. After we messed with the budget for a few days, I showed it to Tom and asked "can you make this work?" Before I finished the sentence, he said yes! I don’t even think he looked at the paper – he wanted this project.
Now remember – it was only supposed to be a short video shot in Houston. Well - when Tom came back from shooting in San Antonio, and Austin (after they shot in Houston), I asked how things were going. I was assured everything was OK. The first rough cut of the “little video” was a mere 64 minutes. Just slightly longer than the original 15 – 17. Tom said “don’t worry, I have it under control”.
I can proudly tell you that there exists a 60 min, 30 min, 22 min. and I even think there is s 45 minute version of that video. Needless to say we didn’t make a dime on that project, but it really didn’t matter. It was the experience, the right thing to do. That video has been seen all over the world, and Tom and everyone who worked on it was unbelievably proud of it. In many ways Tom became the conscious of Gotham. Always pointing us to the right direction, making sure we saw the bigger picture.
Because of the type of work we do, traveling is part of the job. I have shared many flights with Tom - lots of early mornings, very late nights and long weekends. Sitting in the back of a dark ballroom at 2 o’clock in the morning, Tom and I would often try to solve the world’s problems, debate the Beatles Vs. Springsteen and why the Astros just couldn’t get over the hump. No matter how bizarre the situation we found ourselves in, Tom’s good spirits always lightened the load.
4:30 am in a hotel lobby – everyone’s dragging. Here comes Tom with his famous line -"what, and give up show business!"
On a shoot, trying to get the last 2 shots done and it starts to rain – "what, and give up show business!"
Client making changes to the script 5 minutes before the show – "what, and give up show business!"
These were the times that Tom was at his best. Always trying to make the situation better, lighten the load for everyone else and let everyone know we were in it together. It was just a few short years ago that we were going to be on show site in San Diego for Tom’s 50th birthday. I wanted to do some thing special, and finally came up with renting a sailboat. Of course, the client swamped us, and Tom was getting a bit anxious because he really wanted to go sailing. Finally, we get out of the convention center and go flying over to the dock. We were supposed to go out at about 1 pm. It was now 5 and they were getting ready to close. In all my years knowing Tom, I never saw him run – until that day. He went flying down the dock yelling – "we're here, we're here". Of course they had no idea who he was – but when you see a 6 foot 2 guy running at you yelling "we're here, we're here" you take notice.
Ok – so now we're on this beautiful 35’ sailboat heading out. Tom, the boat captain and me. We told the captain that it was Tom’s birthday and we were in town working and magically a cooler of beer suddenly appeared. After a few toasts, we were out in San Diego bay. The sun was slowly beginning to set, the breeze was kicking up, and we are just enjoying the ride. The next thing I know, the captain asks Tom if he has ever sailed before. Tom said no, and 10 seconds later the captain put Tom at the wheel. There’s Tom- wind in his hair, guiding that boat through the waves in the right direction. He was like a kid in a candy store – big eyes, bigger smile. Tom asked me to take some pictures of him quickly with his camera, because he thought he was only going to have the opportunity to sail the boat for a few minutes. 90 minutes later, Tom is still at the wheel, big smile, sparkle in his eyes, pointing it in the right direction. I don’t have a single copy of any of those pictures I took that day – I don’t need them. That moment – that picture will live on in my heart forever. I don’t need it on a piece of paper.
Now that you have that image in your mind – I have a challenge to each of you…. Whenever you think of Tom – only think of him doing something he loved, doing something special or surrounded by the special people in his life. Don’t think of him in the hospital or being ill. If you truly want to celebrate his life, then always remember to point yourself in the right direction and never ever give up show business!
(Note: I found this picture recently in Tom's office - Theresa)
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