The Making of Walk Proud

Working on film is mostly a joyous experience. However, sometimes one encounters experiences one could never imagine. Such was the case in the making of “Walk Proud”. Robbie Benson played my son, a loved and sheltered “good kid” who is tempted by peer pressure into joining a gang. Robbie, being the dedicated actor he is, did all his research and learnt the signs and secret codes of the gang he was joining, the Venice gang in this case.

One day, driving to a location through Santa Monica as he saw a group of young gangsters gathered in a corner, he flashed the V sign (for peace) at them. Little did he know that to the group, this was the sign of their arch enemies, the Venice gang.

Shots were fired,No one got hurt but the cast and crew got out of there like a bat out of hell.

When the movie premiered, shots rang through the theatre as opposing gangs were in attendance and started fighting it out. For that reason, the movie was pulled and can only be seen on DVD.

Sad, but true!