‘I don’t think there’s a day that’s gone by that I haven’t thought about Chris and how he’s made me consistently think about how lucky I am and to appreciate everything I have.’ These are the reflective words of Palisadian Paul Maibaum, who had the privilege of working with Christopher Reeve in what would unwittingly become Reeve’s final film project. Reeve, perhaps best known for his role as Superman, went into cardiac arrest Saturday, then fell into a coma and died Sunday at the age of 52. Doctors said he died of complications from an infection. After a horse jumping accident in May 1995 left him paralyzed from the neck down, Reeve became a strong advocate for both spinal cord and stem cell research and, in turn, was an inspiration to many. Primarily a veteran of the television industry, Maibaum works for Universal as a director of photography, a position that oversees all the components that appear on camera, ranging from production design to set decoration. Some of his TV credits include ‘Run of the House,’ ‘Lucky,’ ‘Dragnet,’ ‘Grounded for Life,’ ‘The Invisible Man’ and ‘Parker Lewis Can’t Lose.’ This past summer, Maibaum worked on the A&E television movie Reeve directed called ‘The Brooke Ellison Story.’ The docudrama is based on the real-life story of a girl, who at age 11 became quadriplegic after being hit by a car. The two-hour program chronicles Brooke’s incredible and inspiring journey from the fateful car crash to her graduation day at Harvard. Filmed in New Orleans from the end of June through July, the movie stars Lacey Chabert (‘Mean Girls’) as Brooke and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio (‘The Perfect Storm’) and John Slattery (‘Mona Lisa Smile’) as Brooke’s ever-supportive parents. Maibaum fondly recalls the first day he met Reeve on the set: ‘He got out of his big, black van with his driver, nurse and assistant and was adamant on negotiating everything on his own’getting himself into the building, into the elevator and up to the second floor. We exchanged hellos and he gave me a wink and said, ‘Thank you very much for coming’ with the most sincerity I’ve ever seen anybody have.’ This was the second TV movie Reeve had directed. In 1997, he directed an HBO movie called ‘In the Gloaming’ which dealt with the issue of AIDS. To accommodate Reeve’s arduous routine following his morning awakening, the production ran on a five-week, 9- to 10-hour-a-day timetable as opposed to the standard TV movie filming of four weeks, 12 to 14 hours a day. As a result of his injury, Reeve was unable to regulate his own body temperature and was regularly kept in an air-conditioned space. A room equipped with state-of-the-art cameras was also set up which allowed Reeve to view filming that took place in small spaces, such as a bathroom. In addition, a lipstick, or spy, camera was positioned (Continued on Page 6) on Reeve’s microphone so the actors could see a video image of him on the set. ”Although he was physically separated from the activity, he could always see what was going on and was always part of the production,’ says Maibaum, a director of photography for 13 years. ‘Directing really gave him all the control that he really didn’t have.’ Since the director, the assistant director and the director of photography are ‘the nexus’ of a TV movie, Maibaum collaborated very closely with Reeve. ‘Chris made me feel extremely welcome and that all my ideas were valid, even if they weren’t necessarily the ideas he was going to use. He was the kind of guy who pulled the best out of you.’ Reeve’s wife, Dana, and 12-year-old son, Will, both had small acting roles in the movie. One on-set memory that stood out for Maibaum was when Will was standing next to his father and playfully gave him ‘a big noogie.’ The real Brooke Ellison and her family also visited the set and even witnessed a few scenes. Maibaum says he believes the movie goes ‘beyond the level of your generic TV movie of a family crisis.’ ‘I’m not belittling those other movies dealing with important issues, but I think there’s something very different about this one because the guy at the helm knew intimately what it meant to be confined in a wheelchair, unable to breathe on his own or even turn his head to look at you. Because he was in the same condition [as Brooke], he was a stickler for the truth.’ Looking back, Maibaum says he saw no indication that Reeve’s health was waning in any way during filming. He says Reeve was consistently early on set, often stayed late to review the next day’s work and even met with crew members on weekends to discuss the production. On days off, Maibaum recalls seeing Reeve at a movie theater and touring the city’s French Quarter. ‘After a few hours with him, you pretty much forgot he was in a wheelchair,’ Maibaum says. ‘He was like any other creative mind and wheelchair or not, spinal cord injury or not, he could direct.’ The last correspondence Maibaum had with Reeve was through e-mail during the film’s post-production stage at the end of September. ‘He was telling me how much responsibility he thought I took for how good the show looked,’ Maibaum recounts. ‘I felt I had been overly complimented because it was his inspiration that made everyone rise to the occasion.’ Maibaum, who learned of Reeve’s sudden death in the newspaper Monday, says he was ‘shocked’ and ‘greatly saddened’ by the news. ‘I considered him a friend. He was more than someone I had worked with because he had touched me so much.’ Maibaum says he believes Reeve would want to be remembered for ‘being courageous, having a dream and keeping a sense of humor.’ ‘One of the things that kind of took the edge off the anguish off his passing for me was that he did get to see the film completed. He got to screen a DVD copy of it at his house with his family and friends.’ A self-proclaimed ‘townie,’ Maibaum grew up in Rustic Canyon and now lives with his wife Julie in the Marquez area. Their daughter Shanna is a freshman at San Diego State University. Maibaum is currently at work on a new NBC mid-season comedy ‘Crazy For You,’ which debuts in January. ‘The Brooke Ellison Story’ airs Monday, October 25 at 8 p.m. on A&E. For more information, log onto http://www.aetv.com and click on ‘The Brooke Ellison Story.’
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