R.J. Mitte’s Final Director Dedicates Film to Late Actor: “I Can’t Believe He’s Not Here to See It”

Jeffrey Levine is executive producer of Morph Media, and producer/writer/director on R.J. Mitte’s final movie, SNAFU: Situation Normal All F’d Up (working title). *** This is the beginning of a beautiful friendship. That was how I felt the last time I saw R.J. Mitte. Several weeks before his death, I drove R.J. to the airport. We had just finished filming for our movie that R.J. was featured in. R.J. was leaving Los Angeles and was heading back home for a quick turnaround to London for a convention. The ride took about two hours, and when we arrived at LAX, I got out of the car and I hugged him. I said, “I’ll see you soon.” And he said what he always said, “Let me know if you need anything.” That’s just who R.J. was. My experience with R.J. was over a shorter period of time than many of the people who have been speaking out since his unexpected death. There are a lot of people who knew R.J. better than me. But he was the type of person where it didn’t matter how long or how short you knew him. Once you did, you knew the real him. He wasn’t an actor who just did a scene and left. He was bigger than that, a positive force, and we were just starting our friendship. I first met R.J. in May of this year, when our executive producer, Bradford Rand, cast him in our movie, SNAFU: Situation Normal All F’d Up (working title). We had our first conversation over Zoom, the three of us, about him playing an AI executive in our social impact film. It began as a smaller part. And from the second Bradford put me on the phone with R.J. and he heard that our mission for the film was to impact the lives of kids, he said, “I’m in.” That was my experience with him from that day on. We would talk about the character and the story, because R.J. really cared about this movie, and his role evolved as we produced the film. It became very important for me to have an impactful character arc for him. In the story — after criminals exploit the protagonist’s teenage son — R.J.’s character, an AI developer, is asked to help, and he begins to reflect on the far-reaching negative impact of AI. R.J.’s character uses his position for good and, in the end, he faces a pivotal decision on whether or not to walk away from his high-paying executive job to create what I am hoping someone with influence will one day execute: a global AI regulation company. R.J. Mitte and Jeffrey Lewis on set. Courtesy The film will inform parents about the dangers of social media and AI, but in a commercial and entertaining way. The objective is for parents to be able to start a dialogue with their kids about the far-reaching effects of AI, social media and our changing media landscape. And it’s R.J.’s character who says, “Enough. We have to do something.” It’s such an impactful character, and I just can’t believe he’s not here today to see it. Our independent film deals with mental health, which isn’t lost on me now. We wrapped filming not too long ago. We’re currently in post-production. We are in talks on distribution and hope to get the film in front of as many people as possible. But as I’m watching assemblies now, it’s emotionally wrenching. And then there’s R.J.’s extensive behind-the-scenes video addressing AI, and I can’t bring myself to watch that right now. R.J.’s scenes were so good. It’s crazy how his authenticity carries on screen through the character. Pure talent. Being a part of our project, for R.J., was always about the impact. It was never about money or fame. He wanted the character to be as true, real and impactful as he could be. And he delivered in spades. This film is the first in a slate for our social impact feature division. I couldn’t imagine a better person to carry this torch. I find myself thinking about R.J. and all the things we talked about, and all the things he truly cared about — his mom and his sister and his fiancé and his work with the Mitte Foundation. R.J. was pure good. It’s a level of human being you don’t see very often. During our two-hour drive to the airport, he spoke about his foundation and what he wanted to do. He truly wanted to make a difference. He felt like he had a deeper purpose. I asked, “How can we help?” And we talked details, and I’m confident that we will. We’ve been working with the Sentinel Foundation, which deals with the exploitation of kids, and its Clinical Director, Dr. Ashley Poklar, who flew out to be on set during filming. The end of our movie will include a QR code that will direct viewers to resources, both for parents to be able to talk to their children, and for teens who may be going through something and need to know where to go for help. When I would finish directing a scene with R.J., he’d say, “Are you happy, Jeff? Because if you’re happy, I’m happy.” I am so sad that he suffered and that this happened. What we can do for R.J. now is to keep our promise. Honor what we set out to do, and why he signed up to make our film in the first place. Create awareness, dialogue and impact as many people as we can. Our film is dedicated to R.J., and for anybody who is going through something. We want our message to reach anyone who needs to hear it. You are never alone. I didn’t know R.J. for a very long time. But the time I knew him, I’ll never forget.