If you have seen the film and wondered about this title...
In 2006 a nice d00d created a message board for We Are The Strange... really cheerful and helpful guy... I met a lot of people there that I'm still friends with today... Agent M had lots of great promotional ideas that he emailed me and I did my best to implement the ones I could... I was really grateful for his help and it created a little community around the film that wouldn't have been there otherwise...
The only way I could thank him for his help back then was to offer up an autographed WATS DVD that I would mail him when they were out... So over time those WATS boards died down... When I look back I'm pretty sure I mailed him his autographed DVD... but I can't really remember as things got so crazy with travelling and speaking events and all sorts of stuff...
Fast forward to Early 2012... I receive and email from Agent M's email address but its not from him... its his mom... she goes on to tell me that all the while he was running those WATS message boards he was dying of leukemia... His real name was Mike....he was young... she thought he had told me about his condition but he hadn't.... she told me that working with me had "meant a lot to him" and that it gave him "some happiness"... I remember telling Agent M about my "next movie" and he was excited to see it... sadly it wasn't finished in time for him to see... so I did all I could...all a deadbeat artist could do... I dedicated my new film to him... in his memory...
It haunts me that I can't remember if I sent him his autographed DVD... it really upsets me... so all I could do was create that title card... I hope it makes you happy Mike.
AGENT M - RIP
I was wondering who Agent M was when I saw that title card. A fitting tribute, m dot. I think you and your first film gave him some hope. I'm glad you both crossed paths with each other.
ReplyDeleteMe too. How many of us will EVER have a film dedicated to them?
DeleteIt's ok if you didn't. You still gave him something that mattered to him.
ReplyDeleteYou should send the film to his mom. Regardless of her taste in films (and the subject matter of the film itself), I imagine she would gladly watch it knowing her sons liking for you.
I'll watched HSM the other day, I enjoyed it very much. Congrats on the feat. I'll be purchasing a copy when I'm done raising funds for my current project.
<3
I enjoyed HSM on it's own merit although anime is not something I go out of my way to watch. The mood set by the film, which was complemented by the score, haunted me for some time after.
DeleteWATS affected me in a different way, I had nightmares. To have the talent to make films that can do this is a rare gift.
It's always the strongest that never complain. What a guy.
ReplyDeleteMichael didn't waste his energy complaining or crying about his disease, he used it to fight it. He counseled other leukemia patients online and at the hospital to do the same.
DeleteThat's a tragic story.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad WATS gave him hope and happiness in his final hours.
It is "tragic." He was diagnosed at 20, celebrated his 21st birthday getting a stem cell transplant, and gone at 23.
DeleteToT
ReplyDeleteHEH?
DeleteAgent M was a nice guy. I'm sorry to hear that. Don't beat yourself up dood. I'm sure you sent him one!
ReplyDeleteHe was and he did. Thank you, Andrew.
DeleteIt really sucks to lose people. Even if you didnt really know them that well. I'm not gonna say "i understand" or anything like that. We all handle this sort of thing differently... This Agent M sounded like an awesome guy who apparently would much rather keep on kickin' as usual than worry about his condition.
ReplyDeleteAnd what Stephen Scott Day mentioned sounds like a good idea. Just having the dedication is reason enough for her to respect it, and you. Regardless of taste.
He was "awesome." When his blood tests came back in the emergency room, "more water than blood" to quote Michael, the doctor asked if he felt faint. Michael said he felt "FINE" and asked if he could go to school the next day because he had a paper due. He was working on his Masters and continued to attend school when he could.
Deletehey, he's immortalized in a film, what could be better than that?
ReplyDeleteI'd rather have Michael here still, that would be better, but what you wrote comforted me. I know he would be very pleased about the thought of being immortal. When he was 7 he said to the mother of my young cousin who passed away suddenly, "As long as you keep him in your heart and mind he will always be with you." He is in mine...ALWAYS.
DeleteThank you, Yo.
That was the perfect thing to do for him :)
ReplyDeleteIt surely was :)
DeleteMichael’s (Agent M) brother and I watched HSM and found it very moving. Mdot did send him an autographed copy of WATS. All your comments comforted me. I almost feel that you all knew him. He fought his disease with almost “superhuman strength,” according to his doctors, but the complications of it proved to be too much to overcome. I know Michael would have enjoyed this film and thank Mdot for the dedication.
ReplyDelete