Filmography

Starring

Delaney Steele, Kibbie Ruth, Kerianne Steele, Jim Granucci

Synopsis

Fly By Night is based on a true story that happened sometime in 1993. It was in the newspaper.

We begin with Helen Markenson (Delaney Steele). She has recently been terminated from a position as a stewardess with a major airline company. She is desperately trying to find new work in a very oversaturated market. As the opening credits draw to an end, Helen is reading her mail. She has received a letter from a company known as Shuttle America, offering her a position as a flight attendant if she completes their training course. In order to do so, she must pay a nominal training fee of $3000. She makes a phone call and arranges to pay so that she can get into the first session and start work again soon.

When the day comes that she is supposed to begin training, Helen goes to the specified address and finds only an open field. She has been duped. She certainly cannot afford to lose $3000 at this point in her life. She is really depressed, and goes home to eat some ice cream in front of the television. Immediately, an ad for Emily Tinson (Kibbie Ruth), a prosecuting attorney for hire, comes on the TV. Helen realizes that perhaps this is the avenue she should pursue. She calls and schedules a free consultation with Ms. Tinson.

That afternoon, once Helen has explained her story to Ms. Tinson, the attorney decides to call an old friend at the F.B.I. and ask for some help in tracking down the culprit responsible for the cruel Shuttle America scheme. Lauren MacNamara (Kerianne Steele) is sent from the F.B.I. to help out. She hears Helen's story and wild suggestions, and begins checking into any possible leads, beginning with the alias on the letter, "Max Handen." She traces Helen's canceled check and also searches for his reservation at many international airlines, to see if the suspect is leaving the country. She comes up empty-handed.

In the meantime, the criminal is arranging with his conniving assistant (Jameson Simmons) to split up the cash they have raked in with their scam and leave the country.

Agent MacNamara reports back to Helen and Emily with the facts she has uncovered: "Max"'s true identity, his criminal record, and the truth about his bank account. She suggests that since he cleared out the account, he is planning to leave. The ladies decide to check the International Airport again with his many known aliases - and quickly, since they know he is on the move. Unfortunately, he is not flying under any of the aliases Agent MacNamara has uncovered. They decide to check smaller independent airports, starting with the San Carlos airport nearby. There, they find Roland Belden (alias "Max Handen") (Jim Granucci) attempting to board a flight. He is shot in the leg and apprehended while trying to flee.

Justice is served.

Production Notes

Another landmark feature, Fly By Night was the first movie to have a fully planned, typed script. (Notice, I didn't say anything about the actors memorizing it!)

The story was based on an article in our local paper (the reputable "Florida Times-Union") where I began searching for ideas on the advice of William Froug (native Ponte Vedran and acclaimed screenwriter) and his book, Screenwriting Tricks of the Trade. It was fun trying to visualize elements of the news story that you could dramatize and explore. A very quick script to write.

A hilarious anecdote from the pre-production preparation for Fly By Night: In my attempt to track down props for Ms. MacNamara to carry with her as a law enforcer, I was calling all of Jacksonville's local toy stores, trying to locate the most realistic handcuffs possible on short notice. The woman at Toys 'R' Us on Southside Boulevard was able to locate a pair that sounded pretty good, but I had to confirm that it was exactly what I was looking for before I committed to drive across town, so I grilled her a little bit. "Do they look realistic?" I asked. "Are they metal or plastic?" "Oh they're real real," came the response, "they're all metal and all." Stifling a giggle (I'm quite a fan of bizarre syntax), I checked again, "Really? Are they gold or silver?" "Oh, they're sill-vur," she replied. Definitely worth a half-hour drive.

The three-day production went really well. Everyone was so committed to the project and helped a great deal to try and get it put together as smoothly as possible, juggling schedules and locations and availabilities all over the place. An individual scene took longer to shoot that it would have in any of the preceding films, because I was desperately trying to cover the scenes more carefully than I was used to, in order to achieve a more "professional" look. Fortunately, everyone cooperated incredibly and, ultimately we ended up with a spectacular collaboration.

A collection of outtakes has also survived from this film, which attests to the fact that even in a production that was tight on time, we managed to have a lot of fun (and screw up a lot!). We really had to work fast, because Delaney was working and preparing to leave for college, while Kerianne was taking classes, Kibbie was teaching, moving her office, compiling mailings for her Pastoral Center for Abuse Prevention, and running a family, and Jim was working and leading his own life. Besides that, we had to drive all over - the airports (two!), offices, buildings for exterior shots, parking garages, and an open field. Everyone was very generous and helpful to get it all accomplished. Then, I flew back to Florida on a Thursday, rested for a couple of days and unpacked, then sat down Saturday night at about 9:00 or 9:30p.m., and edited Fly By Night through to 10:00a.m. Sunday. Right after sunrise, I took a nap for about half an hour before assembling the closing credits. (Keep in mind that twelve hours included a number of restarts when, as a perfectionist, I decided to redo large parts of the editing.)

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