According to this article in Variety, and this article in today's Reporter, Rhiannon Meier died in a car accident on Saturday.
I met Rhiannon when she was working at Blue Star. She took over the development position left vacant when Lauren Kisilevsky moved to Beacon. I pitched her a couple of horror projects. Nothing took, but she was cool and friendly and the door was wide open.
I had lunch with her in May '05. She was full of energy, very smart and bubbly and ambitious. She loved movies and loved what she was doing.
She loved a novel we have, THE FLY KING. Rhiannon couldn't get it set up at Blue Star without a screenwriter and a take, but she was absolutely interested, loved the novel and wanted to see it get done. We tried a few strategies but, again, it wasn't in the cards.
She said, "I totally want to work on a project with you! We just have to find the right one!" And she meant it. So I kept hunting and developing, sending her books and scripts.
Finally, in January '06, I got my hands on a Japanese horror video game called RULE OF ROSE. It hadn't been released in the U.S. yet, so I was a bit ahead of the curve. I pitched Rhiannon on doing a feature adaptation and she flipped for it.
I tracked down an executive who worked in licensing for Sony Computer Entertainment, the publisher. She happened to be in LA for E3. It seemed karmic. We set up a meeting with the executive at Blue Star's office.
She was just as optimistic, energetic, smart and fun in person. The meeting was fantastic. After it was done, we talked about hanging out sometime.
Over the next six months, Rhiannon and I tried to get RULE OF ROSE set up at Sony. We came up dry. It was disappointing, but you can't let stuff like that get to you. We just thought it wasn't meant to be on RULE OF ROSE. We'd keep looking and developing until we found the project we'd get set up together.
Meanwhile, we kept in touch. In June '07, I noticed a mention online that Rhiannon had a new gig, over at Red Wagon. I sent her an email congratulating her. She called me the next day and we caught up. She was just as happy and excited as I'd always known her. I told her I'd keep my eyes open for something that would fit with Red Wagon.
And this past Saturday some fuck killed her.
I was pretty rocked when Bob Clark died -- again, from a drunk driver who walked away from the wreck unscathed. But at least I could find solace in the fact that he'd lived a long and full life, that he'd have a lot of wonderful movies to leave behind as his epitaph.
This... just tears me in half.
My prayers go out to her family.
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16 comments:
hi mike,
i came upon this googling to see if any service/funeral arrangement notices had been posted online yet. this is kat; i used to work at blue star with rhiannon in 2005-2006 when you were looking to set up RULE OF ROSE. i helped her try and crack the story with you. in the year after i left blue star, rhiannon and i became better friends. although we hadn't been able to connect in person over the past few months, we finally had coffee with her on monday dec 3. it was great catching up. we had a small flurry of emails last week, which actually ended on friday, as she was leaving work i presume. she said that having coffee had been wonderful. i can't help but feel comforted by the fact that she died happy and full of hope that night. she had so many cool things on the horizon that she was so excited about - personally and professionally. while i lament the tragedy that someone so beloved and beautiful in every way was taken so untimely, with a life full of such potential ahead of her... i take comfort knowing how smiley, happy, and healthy she looked last monday. i don't understand the senselessness of the tragedy. but i take comfort thinking that perhaps this is not meant to be understood. rather, it is meant to be questioned. the best we can do then, is seek to understand the questions. it's a little zen logic, but it comforts me now. i hope it comforts you too. know that you are not alone with your torn-in-half feeling. i'll come back and post any arrangements if i find them.
cheers, kat
Hey Kat --
I sincerely appreciate your post, that was really cool of you. I'm sorry we didn't meet under happier circumstances.
I called Red Wagon to see if they had any particulars. I don't know anybody over there as well as I did Rhiannon, so I left word on their general.
But, before I called the general, I accidentally called Rhiannon's direct and got her voice mail. That was a punch in the gut.
I don't think there's any real sense to be had... This is just the world we live in.
Mike
PS -- Thanks for helping on RULE. I was convinced we had a movie there, and Rhiannon was the biggest supporter.
hey mike -
i'm glad i could reach out.
i was happy to help on ROSE. A) it was my job haha but B) it was a great idea and i loved it and so did rhiannon.
the guys at blue star said they'd keep me in the loop, and so have other industry execs. i heard something might take place wednesday - so i was looking to see if there was any confirmation of that online. (none yet that i could find). anyhow, i trust that i'll hear soon and when i do, i will inform you.
take care, kat
Yes, definitely let me know if you hear anything. Thanks, Kat!
I'm sorry for your loss. That really sucks. What else is there to say?
:(
-steve
Thanks, man.
I attended the memorial yesterday. It was very emotional. I split right after... I wanted to come back to the office and be by myself for a while, try to make some sense of it.
I served as a juror. Jose Luis Vargas was convicted today of 4 counts of Murder 2 and Gross Vehicular Manslaughter. It took only a few hours to deliberate. Next comes sentencing.
wow. i somehow must be subscribed to comments here because your remark - Juror - found its way to my email box and was really something that made my heart drop into my stomach. thank you for sharing, and for attempting to bring some justice to something which i guess will never really be just. in the sense that we think about it - you know, the balanced scales and all. but i appreciate the time and thoughts you and the other Jurors have put into this trial.
i think about my friend rhiannon often and the ways she touched my life, however briefly, and still miss her.
mike, thanks for leaving your blog up so these comments could find their way back. i hope this finds you well.
Kat, I was just as surprised as you to get this update in my email.
Anonymous... sincere thanks for the update. I feel bad for the guy's family, who have to go through this, but I'm glad we're seeing justice in the case.
hi mike, i was a friend of rhiannon while we were at stanford. i came across this post via google while looking for an update regarding the driver's case. thanks to the anonymous juror for the info. if you're interested, the DA's press release is available here: http://da.co.la.ca.us/mr/100809a.htm
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