An amusing anecdote

Last night I and two other “Treme” producers dined in Studio City with filmmaker Anthony Hemingway.

I’ve known Anthony going back 10 years, when he was a first A.D. on “The Corner.”

Now he’s editing “Red Tails,” a feature film about the Tuskegee Airmen that he directed for George Lucas.

Anyway... at dinner, Anthony Hemingway related a story that should amuse any fan of “The Wire.”

He was in Washington, D.C., for Inauguration Day. And he was sitting with actor Andre Royo (“Bubbles”) and Royo’s family, about six rows back, as Barack and Michelle Obama made their way along a rope line, shaking hands.

Knowing that Obama was an avowed “Wire” fan, Hemingway urged Royo to stand up and draw Obama’s attention. Royo was reluctant, but eventually he did stand up... just when Obama was directly down front.

As Hemingway tells it, Andre Royo’s rising brought Barack Obama’s eyes up. Then Obama pointed at him and said: “You’re my dude from ‘The Wire.’ ”

“It made Andre’s life,” Hemingway told us with a laugh. Royo’s daughter was like, “Daddy, the president knows who you are!”

CORRECTION (08/17/09): I messed up this story, y’all. This incident actually took place in Prague last April... during President Obama’s visit to the Czech Republic. Hemingway and Royo were in Prague shooting “Red Tails.”

I apologize for the mistake.