At the age of 11, Steve-Charles Jaffe was first introduced to cartoons by Gahan Wilson in a Playboy magazine his friend stole from his father as a celebration for his first communion.

Decades later, his fascination has turned into a documentary about the life of Mr. Wilson.

'Gahan Wilson: Born Dead, Still Weird' is a documentary about one of America's most celebrated artists. Mr. Wilson's cartoons have been featured in Playboy, The New Yorker, National Lampoon and Nickelodeon with his unique, recognisable style.

Arriving on the Island late Wednesday night, Mr. Jaffe has a long history of film making in Hollywood producing films including 'Ghost', 'Star Trek VI', 'The Day After' and 'Time After Time'. This is his first documentary.

The producer shot 175 hours of footage over the course of four years with his brother, Robert Jaffe and condensed it to the 98-minute version for theatres which he calls "a tribute piece".

Mr. Jaffe explained the fixation with Mr. Wilson began decades ago as he flipped through the pages of Playboy and bypassing the naked women to look at the cartoons.

"It was like walking into a visual candy store. This cartoonist and his work popped out at me", he said with a smile.

After years of being a huge fan of Mr. Wilson' work, it wasn't until the success of Ghost that Mr. Jaffe was finally able to meet his idol. He explained his assistant asked him if there was anyone he'd like to meet and Mr. Wilson was the first name out of his mouth.

Five minutes later, they were talking on the phone.

Mr. Jaffe said Mr. Wilson, whom he has become good friends with, was sceptical about the documentary idea at first but got excited when he saw how many people were willing to be featured on the film.

It features Steven Colbert, Hugh Hefner, Guillermo Del Toro, Randy Newman and many more. Another big fan of Mr. Wilson's is Al Gore even though he isn't a guest star. In addition to those featured in the film, Mr. Wilson is also interviewed.

Mr. Jaffe said he financed the film himself and did most of the work with some help from his brother. One of the hard parts for him was making a film about someone who is a good friend.

"You think you know someone until you start making a film about their life. After filming the movie and hearing his life story, I'm even more enamoured of him," he said.

The film maker said the beauty of the interviews with Mr. Wilson is that he admitted many things and told stories about his childhood that those closest to him didn't even know including his struggle with alcoholism.

In the film, there is a scene where Mr. Wilson goes back to his hometown of Evanston, Illinois and receives the key of the city from the mayor who is a 77-year-old African American woman. In exchange, he taught six art classes at an elementary school in the town.

Asked about the difference in filming this project and working in Hollywood, Mr. Jaffe said: "It couldn't be more different and couldn't be more exhilarating. I needed to recharge my creative batteries. It brought back the reason why I wanted to make movies in the first place."

He explained the reaction he has gotten from people has been overwhelming as everyone, including those featured in the film love it.

Mr. Jaffe told a story about a screening at the IFC Centre in New York where a mother and her two young sons were buying tickets for the film even though they had never heard of Mr. Wilson. At the end of the film, they were the first to tell him how great it was.

The documentary will soon be screened at Paramount as a fundraiser for the Children's Hospital Los Angeles where Mr. Jaffe's daughter's life was saved. He has also screened at Pixar and in San Francisco at George's Lucas' theatre.

The biggest lesson he learned during his film journey is: "If you want to do something, you have to keep doing it until someone accepts it. You stick with one thing until you get it," Mr. Jaffe noted.

"It's been like the greatest most difficult four years of my life."

** Gahan Wilson: Born Dead, Still Weird will be screened tomorrow at 6.30 p.m. at the BUEI auditorium.