Posted on 07/06/2003 1:23:50 PM PDT by Mark
Film to trace life of Air Force One
Shooting will wrap with pavilion opening
By Joe Donatelli, Correspondent July 6, 2003
The inside of Air Force One's gas tank, says Joel Cohen, is covered with the signatures of the Boeing mechanics and engineers who built the aircraft. Signing the tank was their way of becoming part of history.
Cohen knows the feeling.
The Westlake Village filmmaker is making a documentary entitled "Air Force One: The Final Mission," which tells the story of Air Force One (Tail Number 27000) against the backdrop of its retirement in 2001 and recent move to the Ronald Reagan Library in Simi Valley.
A lifelong Democrat who said "my mother would've killed me if I voted Reagan," Cohen said he is honored to lead the bipartisan documentation of the life and retirement of the airplane made famous by President Reagan's historic journeys.
"This is for the children," Cohen said. "If that sounds trite, I'm sorry. President Reagan asked for this plane. He said, 'When you retire this plane can I have it?' He explained it would be a good idea for the children of this country to see what a powerful symbol could do."
When President Reagan fell ill, Mrs. Reagan took up her husband's cause. Her only stipulation regarding the project, Cohen said, was that it be made in such a way that children could understand. The documentary has her full blessings, said Reagan Chief of Staff Joanne Drake.
"She looks forward to seeing it when it's completed," Drake said. "We're all intrigued."
Cohen and a team from JC Distribution in Westlake Village have been filming for two years. They will wrap shooting next summer when the new Air Force One pavilion opens at the Reagan Library.
The filmmakers have become so attached to the airplane that they have taken to calling it "Lady Samantha," for its stoic ladylike manner.
"We thought we were doing a documentary, like so many documentaries you've seen before," Cohen said. "But this project has taken on a life of its own."
With complete access to the plane and the men and women who flew and worked aboard it, Cohen has mined a handful of rare behind-the-scenes stories, such as the autographed gas tank.
The documentary will feature interviews with the living, healthy presidents who flew aboard the plane -- Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, George Bush, Bill Clinton and Gorge W. Bush. Also featured are the pilots, stewards and mechanics who worked onboard.
The documentary will be divided into four segments: the plane's final flight and retirement on Sept. 8, 2001; its never before attempted deconstruction; its transport to the Reagan Library; and the building and dedication of its permanent home. Cohen said he has captivating footage, including the moment when the first bolt was loosened from the plane -- and then disappeared.
"We had been told how every bolt would be cataloged and put into a specific bag and organized, and the guy undid the first bolt -- where did it go?" Cohen said. "We finally found it. It was a very human moment, and it showed how no one had ever done this before."
In all, 10 people are producing the documentary, which has a budget of $350,000. Cohen is the writer and director, and his sons Larry and Michael are producers. Revenue from video, DVD and book sales will be split equally with the Reagan Foundation.
Cohen said JC Distribution is in discussions with all four networks and expects one of them to sign on within the next six weeks. The 11/2- to 2-hour-long special will most likely air next summer, after the official opening of the new Air Force One pavilion at the Reagan Library, he said.
News anchor Tom Brokaw and actors Tom Selleck and John Travolta have expressed interest in narrating, Cohen said.
The experience has been an eye-opener. The onetime actor, music manager and concert organizer never anticipated leading such a historic project. But thanks to connections with the Reagan family's staff, Cohen won the contract and has dedicated his life to all things Ronald Reagan and Air Force One.
"I never voted for President Reagan," Cohen said. "If I knew all the things about him then that I know now, I think I would have."
Copyright 2003, Ventura County Star. All Rights Reserved.
Which means he bought the liberal spin that RR was nothing more than a two bit "B" actor without a brain, who was bound to get us into WW III. All that liberal BS is finally coming home to roost.
Like so many life-long Democrats, they think it is the same party as long ago.
One guy told a rather touching tale of Richard Nixon's last flight on AF1.
He said that Nixon thanked each crewmember for their service to their country and had a photographer take a picture of the assembled crew with Mr. and Mrs. Nixon.
One of my fondest memories in life is casting my first Presidential ballot for Ronald Wilson Reagan at age 21. It was the first election I had ever voted in.
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