From Glasgow to Hollywood

A graduate of Glasgow High School who found his life's calling in Hollywood has recently released his first fiction novel, and will be in Glasgow on Dec. 31 and Jan. 3 for two in person book signings.

Doug Stebleton recently completed "It's a Wonderful Time" with co-author Reinhard Denke.

The book tells the story of Evan West, who "lives, breathes and exists for everything film." West, who works in modern day Hollywood, is mysteriously transported from the present day back to 1946 Hollywood during the making of the movie "It's a Wonderful Life."

After a period of extreme confusion as to how he went back in history, West ends up becoming friends with the film's star, Jimmy Stewart, which leads to him working on the film as an assistant editor for Frank Capra.

Through this association, West fights to save the film from getting bastardized by a greedy studio mogul and ensures that this timeless classic is made as it should be - the movie Americans have come to know and love for over 70 years.

During his adventures in time, West meets a fellow time traveler, Dr. William Cooper, a brilliant scientist and time traveler who worked for Nikola Tesla and accidentally was propelled into 1946. Cooper recognizes West as a "fellow traveler" and tutors him on how to navigate 1946.

"It is definitely drama," Stebleton told The Courier last week. "There is some comedy, but it is not a comedic story. It has the tone of 'Back to the Future.' I love 'Back to The Future.' [The writers] did such a great job. They say it is almost the perfect script. I was trying to capture the tone of it."

While his love for the 1980s time traveling movie is profound, by far Stebleton's favorite movie has always been "It's a Wonderful Life," now reaching its 75th anniversary. His novel combines his love for both.

Stebleton has been toying with the idea of "Its a Wonderful Time" since about 2005, when he wrote it as a movie script with the intention of having it be made into a film, which would have cost about $20 million to complete. The movie version never panned out.

"Life goes by," Stebleton said. "The Bible says 'life is but a vapor,' and it really is. I am getting a little old, and I didn't know if I would ever get that movie made. But, I always liked that story and thought if I did it in a novel, I could do it way cheaper - maybe 10 or 15 grand."

Ready to tackle the project, Stebleton got to work with a co-author. Stebleton didn't like the direction the book was going in, and re-partnered with Reinhard Denke.

"That was a two year process," Stebleton said. "We finished in June, got everything done and put it out on Oct. 12."

The books are available for sale at 5th Avenue Pharmacy, located just inside the front entrance of Francis Mahon Deaconess Hospital, or the Pioneer Museum of Valley County. The book also is available online via Amazon or Barnes and Noble.

Heading to Hollywood

After graduating from high school in 1983, Stebleton hung around Glasgow for a year to decide what he wanted to do with his life.

"When you graduate, most of your friends go to college," he said. "For some reason, I don't know why, I just didn't want to go to college that first year. I thought I would take a break. At the time, my sister owned Sam's Supper Club. Now it is called Sam and Jeff's. My sister and Becky Erickson, the mayor, bought that when she was 26-years-old in 1978. They had if for about 30 years. I worked for the year I didn't go to school. I had already worked their for six years as a 'swamper.' That year I worked as a bartender."

During this period, Stebleton was inspired by his high school guitar teacher, Ronne "Bud" Herringer, to attend a music school - either Berklee College of Music in Boston, or Musicians Institute in Hollywood.

Having grown up in Glasgow, and experiencing the brutal winters here, Stebleton was not keen on living in frigid Massachusetts. And, a previous road trip to Los Angeles had left a lasting impression on him.

"I liked the idea" of moving to California, he said. "Living in Hollywood sounded kind of fun. August of '84 was when I drove out there. My roommate ended up being a guy from Helena who I didn't know. I drove to Helena and met him and his mom, and I followed them across country in a little Subaru BRAT. They are like an El Camino, but a midget version."

While attending musician's school, Stebleton got a sneak peak into his future, courtesy of a time traveling movie being made.

"I was going to the school from '84 to '85, and my roommate Mark, the guy from Helena, we all had a private teacher assigned to us in our class, so his private teacher was this guy named Paul Anderson. He got hired to teach Michael J. Fox for "Back to the Future.' He was in the band at the start ['The Pinheads'] when they were playing for Huey Lewis. The guy on the bass [in the movie scene] is his guitar teacher. I remember hearing about that [during filming]. Who knew it would go on to be such an iconic film?"

Starting at the bottom

Stebleton finished music school after one year.

"Then I had to decide whether I wanted to come back to Glasgow, or stay there," Stebleton said. "I decided to stay there. I got a job as a valet parker at The Beverly Hills Hotel. It was a very neat hotel, and very famous. As a valet parker, I was driving a lot of cool cars and meeting interesting people, other valets pursuing their dreams, or actors. I started to get a taste of some of the Hollywood people coming there for parties."

Not that Stebleton was invited to any of the parties, he said.

"'So and so wants the Chicago CD from his car, can you bring it up?' That was about as much contact as I had with them. But, it was a little taste to see the lifestyle of the rich and famous."

Also during this time, Stebleton became hotel driver for David Tebet, vice-president of talent relations for NBC. Tebet, who was living at the hotel, was responsible for the recruitment of Johnny Carson to The Tonight Show in 1962, and continued to work with Carson throughout the run of the show, which ended in the early 1990s.

"At the time I was working there, about nine months, I drove Tebet [to the TV studio] every day, Monday through Friday. That was kind of neat, because he would meet Ed McMahon on Monday mornings. I went from low man on the totem pole to driving a big executive, and got to see what his world was like."

Stebleton's slow climb up to the Hollywood ladder continued, thanks to chance and the right book.

"I ended up getting an internship with a lady who was having dinner in the Polo Lounge," he said. "She had a music publishing company. I was reading a book."

The music executive asked what Stebleton was reading. He replied it was a book about music publishing. She said she needed an intern.

"I was in the right place at the right time. I started working for her. I worked for her for a year at no pay, but she hired me and I worked for her for nine-and-a-half-years. I got a really good taste of the music business. She managed Eddie Murphy and was best friends with Ray Parker, Jr."

Parker, Jr., is an American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer and actor who wrote and performed the theme song to the 1984 film "Ghostbusters." Previously, Parker achieved a US top-10 hit in 1982 with "The Other Woman."

"Now, I wasn't parking cars," Stebleton said. "I was in meetings with these people and I was representing Ray for film and TV. I was slowly working my way up the rungs of the ladder, but it didn't happen in six months."

During his time with the company, Stebleton started to work creatively with the artists on the company roster.

"You are not on a level playing field, but a little better," he said. "On the music side, I am a song-writer, but since I have been around so many great songwriters there is really no need for me to write. I don't have the urge to write anymore. During those times, it was working with these songwriters and producers and taking their music, listening to 10 songs, and saying, 'out of these 10, these 7 are really good.' Then I would take them out and get them placed in a TV show or in a movie."

Because of his job, Stebleton "always had access to the movie studios, just dropping off CDs," he added. "But, while I was on the lots, I would roam around to see what was going on. I would see a sound stage open, 'might as well check that out.' I did that one time and they were doing 'The General's Daughter,' a John Travolta movie."

Stebleton said he used that personal insight into how the movie business operates to help bring realism to his book.

Stebleton intends for "It's a Wonderful Time" to be the first in a series about time-traveling adventures involving West.

For more information about Stebleton, his book or upcoming series, visit hollywoodtimetravel.com.