Reading that production for a film called The Double McGuffin was
coming to Charleston, Anderson's mother alerted him to the news, sup-
plying a phone number she found in the newspaper. He connected with
the extra casting director and landed a job assisting her, then went on to
serve as a set production assistant.
Through connections he made on McGuffin, Anderson went on to
work as a production assistant on The Brink's Job, which lead to Willie and
Phil and Urban Cowboy. In 1979 he decided to relocate to Los Angeles.
Having worked almost nonstop for the previous four years, he had
already amassed more than 700 production days, allowing him to join
the Directors Guild.
Anderson's first job as second assistant director was on the Oliver
Stone directed picture, The Hand. Over the next few years, he continued
to work as a second AD on a variety of features and television series.
He met his wife, a former casting director, on a film set. They married in
1982 and had a daughter in 1985, after which Anderson focused on
working as a first AD on television series, allowing him to stay in town
until she was older. In the mid-1990s, he returned to features, working as
an AD on Beverly Hills Cop III with director John Landis.
Through friends Barrie Osborne and Marty Ewing, whom Anderson
had met on previous productions, he was introduced to John Woo in
1996. Hitting it off, the two began a successful working relationship on
the movie Face/Off, which continued onto Mission: Impossible II, and
Wind Talkers.
"John is one of the humblest
and [most] creative guys you
could ever want to work with.
He's got a great heart . . . We
have the same belief of making
good moral films that tell a
story.
"He listens to a lot of music.
You could take one of John's
movies and remove the dia-
logue, put music to the picture,
and still understand the story."
Between working on fea-
tures, Anderson returns to television, where he has worked on The Client,
Pasadena, and Birds of Prey. He is currently working with Woo on Men
of Destiny.
"My philosophy
in life is: treat other
people the way you
want to be treated.
That has stood very
well for me."--Arthur Anderson
"It's all about attitude. You have to
go with a positive attitude--the `Can-do'
attitude."--Arthur Anderson
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