I was walking on a Palm Springs golf course picking lemons with my young son when I first spoke to Jim Wynorski. Nine months later I was producing the Indiana portion of a made for SYFY movie of the week. Based on Jim’s endorsement I was hired as a line producer for one of his films. I was underground in a cavern while Jim was lining up shots and directing LA based actors as the novice Indiana crew was mired in mud, unbelievable humidity and bewilderment. Jim moved the cameras and actors with amazing speed and prowess. Challenges abounded given the environment and the reactivity of the people around, Jim was often frustrated by the limitations that the physical environment that an underground set imposed.

In the end though he got it done. In six days he shot over 47 minutes of finished film on 35mm.

Four years later I was in a similar situation. We were shooting additional footage for another SYFY feature film. By the this time I had been somewhat schooled in the Wynorski mode of operation. In one day of shooting, Jim directed 23 pages of a script with 246 setups. Most features are lucky to shoot 8 pages in a day with maybe 65 setups. Those 23 pages were well shot and passed the scrutiny of a major network.

Most of Jim’s films are made on budgets that would pale in comparison to Michael Bay’s craft services budget. Miserly producers (I count myself as one) ask Wynorski to make films under impossible conditions and for impossible budgets. He takes a lot of hits from many an uneducated reviewer but in the end he delivers like “the postman” a term he often applies to competent actors on his set.

To watch Jim, to see him pull inspiration from over 50 plus years of ardent movie going is a joy. With the exploitation encyclopedia that is his mind lies all the secrets and celebrations of a cinematic form that is sometimes derided, sometimes ignored and unfortunately forgotten.

During the shooting of his film Ablaze, he was told the location he was using would no longer be available to him in an hour. He had several pages to shoot, he quickly recalled a sequence from Edgar Ulmer’s 1951 classic “The Man From Planet X” and deftly re-purposed it for his own use.

I have witnessed his re-invention time and time again. The adroit celebration of classic B cinema through its recycling in a modern context. He is a key link to a method of film-making and a body of cinema that should not be forgotten. In fact many should look towards Jim as a source of education in how to make films effectively and economically.

When we were shooting Gila, we were juggling over 30 period cars, a cast of 38 , over 42 locations on a 15 day schedule. Near the end of the production schedule we had a large dance sequence. It was a page right out of American Graffiti. Bobby Soxers, a hot rock and band and a lot of fun. It had to look big and fluid.

We had a small budget and none of that budget was dedicated to extras. We advertised extensively for extras on craiglist, local papers and we were hoping that hundreds of eager faces would descend on us and give this scene the production value it deserved. 25 showed up.

As a writer on the film, as well as the producer this scene was important to me. He tried to talk me out of it and was unsuccessful. I wanted, needed my American Grafitti moment in Gila.

I saw him run reels in his head, recalling the years he sat in the Cove Theatre in Glen Cove Long Island transfixed on the screen. After a period of meditation on his part, channeling the B movies made by Jacques Tourneur, Sid Pink, Ib Melchior, Edward Cahn and Herbert Strock . Quietly he arose from his chair and deftly crafted a scene that looked like he was dealing with at least 300 people dancing in a high school gym. It was to say the least….masterful.

Jim’s contribution to cinema of today is not insignificant. I have previously written of the impact Chopping Mall has had in shaping the video rental industry. The legacy of B cinemas lives within the memories gracing the imagination of Jim Wynorski’s. Any true student of cinema will gain much if they take another look at Wynorski’s work and judge it by both its tradition and its constraints.

At the end of the day with B Movies, whether they were made in 1942 or in 2012, it’s really just about fun and if Wynorski is one thing….it’s fun. Thanks Jim.