There are indeed some interesting people here in the small village of Andover: like Robert Grasmere. You may have heard of Robert because of his role in the local Ragged Mountain Band. He co-produced and provided the video know-how for niece Lindsey Schust’s music video called Hippie Hill – a song about a local hangout “up Danbury way.”

An updated version of the video will be released shortly by Lindsey and her Ragged Mountain Band. The new CD/DVD will also feature Robert playing the harmonica as well as new songs written by Lindsey.

Robert is a fantastic musician and a great creative force. For his professional work, Robert is a Second Unit Director for major motion pictures. His last project was The Giver starring Meryl Streep and Jeff Bridges. He’s been associated with so many films and stars that, along with his scrapbook of personal show-biz photos, there are just too many to list.

In the credits at the end of a film, you’ll see an army of people who were involved: people with letters after their names (i.e. professional societies) and titles like “gaffer” and “best boy.” Well, Robert, who knows the software and technology, directs everybody involved in the second unit … involving visual effects.

Robert has worked with Angelina Jolie, Tom Cruise, and Arnold Schwarzenegger, dined opposite Cary Grant, and attended a barbecue with Brad Pitt. He’s worked with some of the biggest names in the directing and producing world like Philip Noyce and John Carpenter. Robert has worked in England, Thailand, Hungary, Kazakhstan, and Russia, and lived in South Africa for a year.

Robert’s roots in this area began in the early 1960s when his father brought the family to “summer” in the Little Lake Sunapee area. My sister recalls comparing them (all blondes and good looking) to the von Trapps from The Sound of Music.

Robert remembers, “When I was a boy, I told my friends that I wanted to make films in Hollywood, and they just laughed at me. That’s ridiculous – impossible.” It was seeing Disney’s The Parent Trap (with a young Hayley Mills) that really convinced Robert that making films was what he wanted to do. He has since worked for Disney Studios, by the way.

Robert became life-long friends with many of the young people here at the time, including early members of the fledgling rock group Aerosmith. He sat in with the group in the early days, playing harmonica and drums, and still remembers the early, unusual names for the band. As this interview was conducted, Robert and old friend Joe Perry (of Aerosmith fame) were texting about the practice that the Ragged Mountain Band was about to begin. Robert has also met Johnny Depp (who occasionally plays with Aerosmith – see YouTube for this).

Practically obsessed with film techniques, Robert started his education at Rutgers, then became a resident of New Hampshire and studied at the University of New Hampshire. “Those professors really taught me what photography was all about – lighting, and how to personalize your shots so they aren’t just mere photos,” he recalls.

He took summer courses at Hampshire College from Leacock and Pennebaker, “two of the most famous documentary film makers ever … truly amazing teachers.” And, during the summers, circa 1970, he worked as a laborer in Colorado.

He produced a documentary on a local New London personality named Oscar Colby: “I used way too much zoom and made a lot of mistakes. Still, I did the whole project, and the film got me into New York University.” He studied film at NYU, but left to hitchhike around South America during some turbulent times there.

While there, he made friends with Sergio, who would later be instrumental in his first job overseas. Returning to the states, Robert enrolled in the California Institute for the Arts but was called back to Colombia by Sergio. Concerned about leaving three days before graduation, Robert was prompted by Sergio: “Do want to study films or make films?”

Robert got the OK from his instructors, earned his Masters in film, and got his first paying job abroad. “At that time, there was a lot of danger in Colombia from FARC.”

Robert, early in his career, would moonlight as Actor Liaison (among other jobs) for celebrities like Loretta Lynn and Lynn Anderson. “I remember Ginger Rogers (Fred Astaire’s dance partner) had 12 pieces of pink luggage. But it was the pinch on my bottom that I remember most about her.”

He worked in New York, budgeting, organizing, and scheduling all aspects of television production with early TV journalist Eric Sevareid.

After his work with Sevareid, he was hired by an independent low-budget company that made slightly risque TV programs. “There was some nudity, but in an innocent kind of way … and it was pretty tame compared to what you see on HBO today.

“The producers sold the shows to the Playboy Channel at the beginning of the cable TV era. We did re-shoots for more nudity – which Playboy wanted. And over 100 episodes, I did everything from casting to scheduling, hiring the entire crew, and was head of production.

“There was a lot of video editing at that time … when early digital techniques were being added to 38mm film making, and I was sort of at the cutting edge of that technology.”

Robert moved on to bigger productions: “A friend called from Paramount to offer me my first big-budget picture called D.A.R.Y.L. a science-fiction film about artificial intelligence. Sometimes it would be big, corporate agencies that had the best digital equipment (like flight simulators at GE, from which I would get a security clearance). That film led to working with Arnold Schwarzenegger in The Running Man and later Predator 2.”

Robert really does know many of the celebrities in these films. For example, he was having a few beers with some old New London buds in Aspen, Colorado when Arnold Schwarzenegger just happened to walk by outside. Robert told his friends that he would go say hello, but they told him not to … thinking he really didn’t know Arnold.

Despite the fact that it was very cold, Robert went outside without his coat. Arnold recognized him and gave him a big hug and, playfully scolding him, wrapped Robert’s scarf around him. He’s had lunch with both Arnold and Maria, escorted Maria around the set, and met Arnold’s parents.

And, speaking of parents, he got his own parents, as extras, into a scene in Arnold’s The Running Man.

You might think that it’s only the stuntmen who get injured on film sets, but it’s happened several times to Robert. “I was working my way across a frozen river at a photo shoot when I slipped on the ice and dislocated my one of my shoulders. There was also the time, during the filming of The Mothman Prophecies, when I demonstrated the things I wanted the stuntmen to do, but slid into an iron railing and cracked a couple of ribs.”

When asked about his worst experiences, he said, “Well, getting dengue fever in Cambodia was really bad, but I think it was probably my getting very ill in Colombia, where the doctors quarantined the hospital thinking it was typhoid fever.

“A pilot was hired to fly me to Bogota. So we’re heading toward a mountain range, and I was really sick. Then I found out that the pilot had only 50 hours of flight time … besides being absolutely drunk.

“Dense clouds gathered, and we couldn’t see anything – just flying blind in the clouds in the middle of the Andes. And I thought, ‘Great. I’m not gonna die from typhoid. I’m going to crash into a mountain!’”

Having worked on several movies with Jon Carpenter (director), Prince of Darkness, a horror film featuring Alice Cooper, is one of Robert’s favorites. “I had an acting part in that one and had this great makeup, and was killed two times in the movie. I was in the TV ad, and it was like an early meme (i.e. national catchphrase): ‘I’ve got a message for you … and you’re not going to like it.’”

On Clear and Present Danger, with Harrison Ford: “That, I think, was the most fun movie I’ve made … so far. Really a lot a fun.”

2010’s Salt, starring Angelina Jolie, was considered by many to be a better action film than most James Bond movies. More than five companies were involved in the special effects, with Robert overseeing them all. Visit RobertGrasmere.com for an example of the White House scenes and some of his other work.

Currently, Robert just finished working on Warrior, a pilot for NBC. Besides second unit directing, visual effects, and cameo appearances, Robert also writes movies. He co-wrote the script for the film A Million to Juan starring Paul Rodriguez. And now he has a number of script projects that he wants to produce.

As far as advice to young people or lessons he’s learned about life, Robert says, “Just go for it!”

Robert, often with wife Jennifer, now travel between their home in California to New York City and places around the globe. Being tech savvy, he can live stream the cameras around his house in California from anywhere around the world. Robert and Jennifer now pay regular visits to his relatives here in Andover.

As for Lindsey’s work, her appearances in July (perhaps with Robert) will be on Friday, July 3, for the Andover Pre-Fourth of July party and on Saturday, July 25, for the Wilmot Farmers Market. Inquiries about her work and about appearances in August can be made by visiting www.MamaLele.com.

An audio version of this interview may be forthcoming that will be filled with more insight and detail, like Robert being dropped off by a Blackhawk helicopter in a foreign country. But that’s another story….