Producer Andrew Meyer lectures at Idyllwild Arts, rediscovers 80s hideaway cabin

Andrew Meyer recently visited the Idyllwild Arts Academy where he shared with students some of the knowledge he gained during his career as a film producer. The visit included a screening at the Rustic Theater of one of his better-known productions, The Breakfast Club, and a more personal quest; the search for the little cabin in Pine Cove that he owned in the 1980s.

Producing concerts in college lead Meyer to A&M records in the early 1970s. When A&M started a film division, he was chosen as president. In addition to The Breakfast Club, he was Executive Producer of films like, Fried Green Tomatoes, Birdy, Better Off Dead, and Bring On the Night, with Sting. He also served as president of Robert Redford’s Wildwood Productions and Norman Lear’s Act III Productions. His visit to Idyllwild Arts, at the invitation of Film and Media Chair Catalina Alcaraz-Guzman, was an extension of his career as an educator; for the last 20 years he has taught at Savannah College of Art and Design.

Alcaraz-Guzman, Film and Media Chair at IAA, has brought many accomplished film people to IAA, “There’s a whole generation of filmmakers out there, we have the privilege and the joy of being their students (Meyer) is very generous in imparting his knowledge to us.”

For Meyer, who will soon turn 75, this summer has been a time of reflection and return, and of intense work. For eight hours a day he worked on a project he began in his 20s, when he took a round-the-world “sabbatical” with a typewriter, planning on writing a book. The notes went into storage until this summer, when he undertook the process of writing a memoir, Walking in the Fast Lane. Meyer says he learned something about himself during this process: that he has always been a mentor and teacher, even when he was producing films. “A lot of my movies were with first time directors, that was a business move on my part, but in writing this book I realized that I’ve been a mentor both professionally and personally all my life.” Asked about the title, Meyer said “I couldn’t sprint at the pace of Hollywood, I’ve taken all these years to walk through creating content. In 5 years, I must have made four or five movies, I just couldn’t keep that up.” Meyer finds teaching a “better lifestyle, and I can still be creative. I’m actually negotiating some movie deals right now. I’m playing the long game. Everyone in Hollywood is sprinting.”

The search for his cabin was facilitated by host Alcaraz-Guzman and inspired by the presence on this trip of Meyer’s adult children, Jake and Becca, who wanted to catch a glimpse into their father’s past. He calls the cabin his “sanity retreat.” He would leave Hollywood late Friday, and drive back at 3 a.m. Monday to stay as long as possible, to get a full Saturday and Sunday. Over the years he would stay for the Christmas and New Years holidays. He remembers being snowed in, having to walk when the roads were impassable, and getting to know the Pine Cove “mini market” very well. He also remembered buying the Town Crier there. “In those days, that may have been the only thing I had to read.”

The search for the cabin took several hours and seemed to be ending in frustration. They reached a point of imagining that any similar cabin might be the one, or “close enough,” then reconciled themselves to failure. On the way back into town Meyer saw the sign “Overlook,” and that triggered a flood of memories. “It wasn’t ‘Rosebud,’ but it was pretty close.” The only real difference was the trim, now painted forest green. “The house was deserted, needed a coat of paint, and had some wood peeling from the walls. But overall, it looked pretty darn good! We walked onto the balcony and stared at the mountains and the sunset. It was quite the moment, I must confess, I got quite emotional standing there thinking back over all the wonderful times I spent in the house.’

Idyllwild itself looks much the same to Meyer, and many of the changes he noticed he thinks are for the better: “the food’s a lot better,” and the presence of more young people give the place a sense of new life.

Looking back at his films and the values he wished to impart on a new generation of film makers, Meyer said “l like to think my movies have certain lasting qualities. Having a story that people, forty years later, enjoy. You can’t put a price on that… I like a movie to be about something.”

Read Andrew Meyer’s Walking in the Fast Lane at the Kindle Book Store. Follow him at X as @andyhmeyer, on instagram as andyhmeyer839, or on Facebook at The Meyer Chronicles. Meyer is the subject of a documentary short by Kate Haley also called “Walking in the Fast Lane”, which can be seen on her website: https://roadrunner-turbot-dkax.squarespace.com/commercial/walkinginthefastlane