On September 16, 2007, I boarded an Amtrak train to Baltimore, Maryland to see my Julie – and wound up inadvertently making two very good friends along the way.

Sitting in the café car drinking a beer and typing a column on my laptop, I met Dan and Guy, two guys who were doing the same thing I was – minus the laptop. After a few minutes of conversation from table to table – they invited me to sit with them – and that one event eight months ago led me to Columbia University this Monday Night to attend a movie premiere that they directed…

…let me elaborate.

I am a very social person. In other words – you can not put me in an enclosed space with other people and not expect me to interact with them. So when I saw that Dan, Guy and their friend Brian were having a good time at their table – I knew that I wanted a piece of that – so I turned on my “charm” (as many have called it) and opened a dialogue – and the rest is history.

After our initial meeting – and a few more rounds, I learned that they were movie directors who were working on a new film called, “A Free Radical,” which features a technique that they have invented called “D’Fermata.” They told me that it’s a 21st Century story telling technique that revives the ancient tradition of speaking through the dark. It slows down time, they said, with no images, only words. After a half-hour of talking through beers and fast cigarettes at each stop, I wrote a Penny entitled, I’ll Be Gone Five Hundred Miles When The Day Is Done. In it, I wrote about my experience on an Amtrak train for the very first time – and included my encounter with Dan, Guy and Brian. After reading it, they were very appreciative and said they would contact me and invite me to the screening of their movie. I was excited at the idea – and then many months went by and I never heard from them – and assumed that our meeting was a one time event through no fault of anyone’s, but simply due to circumstance…

…until I received this e-mail on April 7, 2008:

Hello Paul,
How is all and hope all is well.
Long time no talk. How is life? I do recall a great night last fall immortalized by your excellent Penny - I’ll Be Gone Five Hundred Miles When The Day Is Done - when we were fortunate enough to meet, guzzle several beers and roll along the Amtrak rails together.
Well, we read that penny. It is great and we have read several since then. And if I do recall, at the time we promised to invite you to the NYC premiere of the comedy we’d just finished shooting (A Free Radical).
And so, we’d be honored to invite you to a director’s screening at Columbia University of our trilogy of short films we’ve recently completed. Columbia invited us up & it should be a great show:
MON April 14 at 7:30 pm.
We should have 50 to 80 there (it will be an hour-long event). Afterwards, a composer of one of the film soundtracks will jam & then we will hit a nearby bar for a post-party. Those can get pretty wild. The post-party at the last screening in DC almost erupted into a bullfight! Film stirs people up!
Hope You Can Make It (And if you want to write something & we would love that - we should have some NYC press there - but we could give you some inside dope during the ranting and screaming at the after-party!)
Be Well & See You Soon,
DAN & GUY

I was so excited when I read the e-mail. Truthfully, only because I have met so many people over the years and been invited to so many events that never came to fruition – that I thought I would never hear from them again – but how happy I am to say I was wrong. I, of course, called them up and guaranteed that I would be there. So after work on Monday night, Julie and I headed up to Columbia – and wound up having a night I will never forget.

When we arrived, Dan and Guy both greeted me like an old friend they have not seen in years – even though I only met them once. After a few rounds of wine and cheese – and hearing the great music of “Uncle” Jim Berkley, who wrote the soundtrack for Moment Of Silence – which is one of their movies – their trilogy was played…

…and that is when I finally saw the true talent of these two men.

I won’t go into details about the movie now – as a review will be coming later, but I will say that I really enjoyed all three short films – and admire Dan and Guy’s dedication to their craft. As a writer who both sighs and smiles after one of my Pennies is written (or “born”) – I can understand how they felt watching their finished work – and admiring the “children” they just gave birth to.

After the screening, we headed to Radio Perfecto, a bar on 118th Street and Amsterdam Avenue for a few rounds. They mentioned to me at the bar that during the movies, they noticed that I took vigorous notes – which is true because I plan to write a review of all three films – which will no doubt be positive because I truly loved all three of them. We then discussed politics, life – and our friendship – which will no doubt be a long one.

At about 10:30pm, it was time for Julie and I to begin the long journey home – so we said goodbye to our former train-mates and new friends – and hello to a long and prosperous working and personal relationship – which will no doubt be one that will benefit all of us.

I don’t know when I will see Dan and Guy again, or when their movies will be available to the general public – although I know that they will be featured at the Cannes Film Festival. But I will tell you this, if these movies become available to the general public, and you do get a chance to see them – you won’t be disappointed – because those two men truly have an eye for direction – and three amazing movies under their belt…

…and to think – all I did was board a train.