Coke Sams (left) and Clarke Gallivan, Photographed in Sams’ writing house
First, let's address the topic of utmost concern: The vaginas have been sent to Los Angeles. Had Coke Sams and Clarke Gallivan never entered a creative partnership, that sentence might never have been uttered.
A lot more wouldn't have happened, either, in a collaboration that's extended from the birth of Nashville's modern-day film and TV industry to the indie-film and digital eras. Their work together predates the Ernest movies that made Sams' career (and gave Nashville its first taste of home-grown theatrical success). It will continue after the closing of Ruckus Films, the all-purpose production company they shared with award-winning talents such as directors Wes Edwards, David McClister and Roger Pistole.
"What defined Ruckus was the music video and commercial work and the TV work — that was the day-to-day," says Gallivan, who's known Sams since the late 1970s when Gallivan was an assistant to famed Nashville photographer and raconteur Slick Lawson. "I've produced probably, I don't know, hundreds of music videos, and I just decided I didn't have any new enthusiasm to bring to that."
"The four of us have gotten long in the tooth," Sams says of Ruckus, whose partners include Gallivan, cinematographer Jim May and business manager Jana Laiolo. "It felt like the world has changed so much, that a company like this may or may not not be the best thing anymore — that if someone were to start fresh, it might not look like this."
"Like this," at the moment, is the stage of the Darkhorse Theater on Charlotte, which houses Ruckus headquarters. Gallivan and Sams are the picture of propriety, even seated at a picnic table on a set meant to serve as a prison yard. In recent years, they've produced faith-based films that received national distribution, most recently the musical drama The Identical with Ray Liotta and Ashley Judd. They also produced Nashville director Steve Taylor's well-received features Blue Like Jazz and The Second Chance, which also got nationwide release.
But there's a penis-shaped pogo stick in their closet. More accurately, the prop resides with Bruce Arntson — the star and co-writer of their 1999 feature Existo, which Sams directed and Gallivan produced. That sci-fi political-satire musical — picture a cross between Bulworth and Cafe Flesh — represented an unprecedented mobilization of the city's film, TV and theater communities. It also proved Sams and Gallivan's ability to shift from work-for-hire to zany creative projects, in the long tradition of Music Row bohemians and rule-breakers like Jack Clement.
Their working relationship is reflected in the name of their next venture: Right Brain/Left Brain Entertainment. Sams peppers a conversation with dry-witted asides and quips, while Gallivan, his longtime producer and whipcracker, gently nudges the afternoon back on track. Among their projects: Son of Ernest — an idea that prompted some eye-rolling, until we heard the letter-perfect lead attached to the project. (We're sworn to secrecy — although our query whether the script was being offered to Daniel Day-Lewis wasn't met with the "no" we expected.)
There's also one more dream project on Sams' wish list.
"If I could have one more break, I would love to do the Doyle and Debbie movie," says Sams, referring to the hit mock-country act featuring his Existo castmates Arntson and Jenny Littleton.
As for the vaginas? The Existo props were shipped out west to former Nashvillian Loree Gold for her one-woman show Snatched. But surely we could get a quick photo with the pogo penis ...
"I'm really not sure we should ... " Gallivan trails off, laughing.
More From the 2016 People Issue
The Celebrity Chef: Maneet Chauhan / The Gold Medalist: Scott Hamilton / The Perception Changer: Kent Wallace / The Blogger: Melissa Watkins / The Biker Chaplain: Allen Tanner / The Man: Charles Kaster / The Islamic Leader: Rashed Fakhruddin / The Tubatroll: Joe Hunter / The Dog: Doug the Pug / The Emancipator Impersonator: Dennis Boggs / The Booker: Kathryn Edwards / The Right Brain/Left Brain: Coke Sams and Clarke Gallivan / The Professional Ass-Kicker: Eric Young / The Watcher: Debbie Field
