Flying High was a seminal film in my life. I hadn't given that much thought to how it was made but I'm glad I read this book. Some cool stuff:
* ZAZ made a living out of showbusiness quite quickly with their stage show - they put in a lot of work but it paid off for them quite quickly: the power of three people working for a common cause
* there was another key guy in the group who quit because they wouldn't let his girlfriend join
* it was still really really hard to raise finance for this despite Kentucky Fried Movie and hard to raise money for that
*they pay tribute to John Landis while also admitting there were lots of stuff they would've done differently on Kentucky Fried
* major studios didn't want to make it but minors did - Robert Rehme (an under appreciated head of production) wanted it for Avco Embassy but they had finance issues and AIP wanted it but then head of production Jere Henshaw wanted comedians not TV stars and ZAZ were willing to walk so good on them
*Paramount behaved magnificently it sounds - I know this is looking back at at a hit, but they did everything right: tested ZAZ but also backed them, assigned them a pro script editor who got it to work on the script, assigned them a pro producer who got it to work on the film (Howard Koch)... the crucial things was those executives got it... Michael Eisner also insisted in colour so it covered 70s disaster films.
*They pitched a sequel Airplane Meets the Godfather which Hayes visits Hegart's family and they're the mafia. That would've been fun.
There is a lot of love for Steven Stucker, whom the gang attribute much of the stage show's success to. Also affectionate comments about Robert Stack, Lloyd Bridges etc and appreciation for Hegarty and Hayes. I would've liked to have heard more about Lorna Patterson. No one talks about her much and she added a lot to the film.
There are quotes from famous people of today like Bill Hader about how much the movie means to them. I get why it's there ("you gotta get the kids") but it is annoying especially as they are the usual suspects (Judd Apatow, Adam Mackay, Maya Rudolph). Also Tim Allen almost wrecked the book for me with his stupid "couldn't say that now God I miss comedy" schtick.
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