It was a cold, miserable rainy winter day and Buck was directing a feature at DragonFly, the little club on Santa Monica Boulevard. There was a strict 5 p.m. curfew on the shoot, because they had two hours to pack out before the club opened at 7.

At 3:30 or 4:00 an orgy scene started, across the stage and on the dance floor. I was pressed into service as an extra who got pushed out of the way as the orgy spread across the dance floor. I noticed a few interesting grace notes, like the female performer who was moaning and gasping when the camera was on her, but fell silent as soon as it moved away. Cameramen zipped from couple to couple, followed by C-light guys, grabbing shots and scenes where they could, punctuated by the occasional call "We need a camera over here NOW!" as a guy would slip over the edge into a pop.

At 4:45, the scene was almost finished, only one guy was left to do a pop and they could wrap for the day. He stood, naked, on the stage, a couple of female performers kneeling in front of him, he was stroking away, and it was not happening. Never mind a pop, the poor bastard was losing his erection.

This happens all the time, and usually it's no big deal, the company takes a break and, with the pressure off, the guy comes back good as new and they start again.

In this case, the company was facing down a 5 p.m. curfew. Pop or no pop, they would have to wrap in 10 minutes. Buck, nervous, was walking around telling guys to get their pants off, start jerking, we need this shot. Not jokingly, seriously.

The cameras were rolling in front of the guy as he kept stroking, now trying to get his erection back, the girls still kneeling in front of him just in case, a bunch of extras crowded near the stage. I was watching all this from across the room, because I figure the guy has enough pressure on him without seeing a reporter taking notes.

Suddenly, a voice comes out of the group of extras. "I'm ready, help me up!"

A hand reaches up out of the group. The techs grab it, pull the guy up on stage.

It's Buck. Naked, hard, stroking, he elbows the other guy out of the shot, gets into position, and blows across the face of the performer who was kneeling there waiting.

"Annnnnnnnnnnnd... cut!" he said, triumphantly, as everybody in the place burst into applause.

He looked around, grinning, and declared, "There's nothing I won't do to get this movie finished!"

It was one of my first On The Set pieces, and I was grateful him for giving me something good to write about. When I told him that, he thanked me for making him look good. So we both benefited from it.

Whenever we met after that, he would greet me warmly and we were always happy to see each other.

I'm going to miss him.