The Vanity Fair editor played by Isabella Rossellini mentions that Peter's interviewees will meet him at The Big Cup. Those interview scenes were filmed at the real Big Cup, a coffee shop in the Chelsea neighborhood (at 228 Eighth Avenue) that, before its 2005 closing, was a popular gathering for Chelsea's gay community.
The poem that Diana lovingly recites to Isabel when they are sitting on the steps near the end of the movie is from Edgar Allan Poe's "Annabel Lee," with Diana substituting "Isabel" for "Annabel." Eight lines are spoken from the poem, but not in order they were written: I was a child and she was a child, In this kingdom by the sea: But we loved with a love that was more than love - I and my Annabel Lee. For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams Of the beautiful Annabel Lee; And the stars never rise but I feel the bright eyes Of the beautiful Annabel Lee.
Ismail Merchant had died in London just days before the premiere of Heights, and only three weeks before Chris Terrio gave this interview. Here are Terrio's own memories about Merchant:
"Ismail was completely fearless. He really was maybe the only truly independent producer who wasn't in any way bound to anyone. Ismail didn't care about what the studios thought, he didn't care about what agents in Hollywood thought. If he wanted to make a film, he was going to make it. He would beg, borrow, and steal; he would get his dentist to invest; he would just make the movie. It still astounds me that he had the confidence to take ... I was almost 26 when he gave me this film ... he had seen some of my short films and read some of my writing; he had no idea, but he just thought 'I have a good feeling so I'm going to let him do this.' I don't know anyone else who would have done that."
"He wasn't just the producer who just sat up in the office writing checks. He was on set, he was cooking dinner for people, he really was a life force and would take the actors and the director and anyone involved with the film on as his family, as his adopted nieces and nephews and grand-kids. I don't think we'll ever recover from it. There's no replacement for Ismail."
"He wasn't just the producer who just sat up in the office writing checks. He was on set, he was cooking dinner for people, he really was a life force and would take the actors and the director and anyone involved with the film on as his family, as his adopted nieces and nephews and grand-kids. I don't think we'll ever recover from it. There's no replacement for Ismail."