by Ursula Whitworth

I walk up to the old abandoned airport hangar. I enter from light to dark into an intense quiet. The air is thick with it and I wonder if I exhale it will be too loud. Cedar permeates the air. A log cabin has been build in the middle of the hangar and stands in stark contrast to the metal surrounding the set of Master of the Game. With only two days left to shoot, the crew is intensely concentrating as they film a man dressed in prison garb who is wiping blood off the cabin floor over and over again. His line consists of three words. He says them again and again with intensity while the crew waits and works in silence barely daring to breathe. At last the sound, the camera, and the actor come together in harmony and the shot is complete. Everybody breathes.

Producer Dirk Higcon is sitting before me, and, although he chooses his words carefully, I have the immediate impression that this is not something that comes naturally to him. He is laid back and, I am certain, more likely to speak his mind than not. In an industry where egos are the norm and artistic temperament dines parasitically on most creative projects, Dirk Higdon is a breath of fresh air. Raised in Jeffersonville, Indiana, Higdon began his career as an assistant working on such films as Mississippi Burning and Full Metal Jacket. However, his real break came first on a low budget feature called The Real Queen of Hearts Ain't Even Pretty. Soon after, he was hired as a production manager for Night Vision starring Fred "The Hammer" Williamson, who was also seen in Robert Altman's MASH. Later he was hired by John Scofield, who produced Enemy at the Gates, Jerry Maguire, and many other films. Higdon's recent films include Lone Star State of Mind and The New Guy which will debut this summer, followed by Master of the Game, Higdon's current project.

Master of the Game takes place in Nazi Germany. From a psychological standpoint, it explores the relationship between four German officers and a Jew. The film's screenwriter Hygar Actan says, "It is not enough to detail the atrocities that took place during this time. What I wanted is to explore and what the film portrays is the motivation behind the atrocities." Master of the Game seeks to touch on issues that few in the film industry have been able to effectively portray, and if successful it will open up new doors of understanding into the minds of those that lived the tragedy. Good luck guys! We'll be waiting.