After the meeting

So I went it to meet with the producer on a script I was writing for him. I thought I'd have to pitch it to him, but turns out, he actually wants to read another script of mine now. He thinks that one might be closer to being ready. I'm on a 3rd rewrite. So I should be happy right? For some reason I'm feeling kind of panicked over the whole thing. Maybe because this whole script has been sort of tricky. It's a comedy, so you'd think it would be easy. But I guess if comedies were easy, everyone would be writing them. I'm at the midpoint and solved a huge issue I had with it. Now, to write it. The easy part. Not!

My writer friend gave me advice to go in to the meeting with ideas to pitch. So luckily I brought in a couple ideas with me. If he hadn't told me I don't know if I would have known to do that. So if you have a meeting, always bring in other ideas! The producer is interested in a new idea of mine that I pitched. So who knows, could end up working with him on other ideas. That's what these meetings are all about. Working with people you want to work with. And so far, he seems willing to work with me. And definitely, I him.

So there you have it. Always bring in other ideas to any meeting. Now, to finish my rewrite. Wish me luck!

Pitch after the rewrite

So I have a meeting coming up with the producer I've been working with. It's very exciting because he's a big guy in the biz. But, preparing for a pitch isn't always my favorite thing. Not really sure why. So instead, I'll write my blog!

So, to get ready for this meeting. I wasn't really sure what to expect. It's a little different than what I've been through before, so I called a screenwriter friend with more experience than me and thank god I did. He told me things I was not prepared for! He let me know that since this is a rewrite of an idea he's read a first draft for and that he's busy, he may not have even read the rewrite. Wow. Not at all! So he said I have to basically pitch him the new draft! Okay, that was not what I thought was going to happen. Thank goodness my first meeting with him was rescheduled, so that gave me time to be ready for this meeting. He also said to go in with two new ideas to pitch, because you never know. Which I also wasn't expecting.

So I had to spend a lot of time rewriting my whole pitch on this story, since it's a page 1 rewrite. This is because his development guy gave me new notes, totally different than what the producer had me start with. I am loving this script even more now though, so that's good. It just meant a lot of work to get ready for the meeting.

So there you have it, if you're ever in this boat, which I hope you will be someday too, that's what you need to be ready for. I'll write you after my meeting and let you know if I learned anything once I'm actually in the meeting too. Okay, back to learning my pitch. Happy writing.

Is it going to come all together?

So I'm getting a short produced that I wrote. I'm producing it with one of the actresses who has produced shorts before. So I'm learning from her. I'm really excited to be learning the producing side, because as a writer, I get tired of waiting for other people to produce my stuff. So hopefully for future projects I can just go ahead and get it produced myself after this experience.

But in the mean time, our shoot date is fast approaching. We have the director attached. She's a talented director that has a Broadway play touring the country. She was referred to me from a talented and successful actor friend of mine. She really knows her stuff and I'm really excited to have her involved. We have all the actors, but we're still trying to get some of the crew. The clock is ticking and I'm really hoping it's like plays I was in when I was a child. Sure, the dress rehearsal might not have been so great. But wait till the actual night of, we'll knock it out of the park. Oh, I sure hope that's what's going to happen with this! Fingers crossed. I'll keep you updated.

Table read

So this past week the producer of my script had us do a table read. It's in need of some rewriting before it gets produced, since we started this script a long time ago. Things have changed a lot since we first wrote it, and all the rewrites over the years too. We're bringing in a new writer that I'm friends with who's very talented so I know he'll do a great job. So we cast actors, and we listened to them perform the script.

If you've never done a table read, get yourself some actors, or friends if you don't know any actors, writers work too. It's just really helpful to hear what scenes lag, what dialogue is too long or on the nose and what even works. I highly recommend it. But I also highly recommend not to be so critical of your writing like I was. I think we're all our own worst enemies. There's plenty of time to be criticized when it's an actual movie and in the theater, right? So why do it so early on? Try to enjoy the table read a bit more than I did. Let's just say I was so stressed that I almost had anxiety over it. And I'm probably one of the most calm people you'll ever meet. For some reason, all I could hear were the flaws. But that's what a table read is for, to find the flaws and fix them! When I told an actor that I was focusing on the flaws, she said, "Are you kidding? It's such a strong script." When I hear that, I remind myself I'm being too hard on myself. But it's so hard at the time. So hard!

Even afterwards everyone said how great the script was. But would anyone really say to my face, that sucked! Maybe, but I doubt it. But people liked it and I'm going to focus on that. And now my writer friend is going to take a pass at the notes we all had. And I'm so glad! I know he's going to get this script to the level that it needs to be for us to hopefully have a movie we can be proud of. Wow, a movie! This actually might get made after all these years! Fingers crossed!

Watch out for that tree!

So my friend sends me this story today, that was sent to her. We had been talking about focusing on the things you're grateful for, because if you do, then more of that comes into your life. Then she gets this story sent to her that says that exact thing. It's a story about a parachuter and as he's heading towards the ground, he sees a big tree right in his way, he keeps focusing on that huge tree, wishing he wouldn't hit it, but of course he lands right in the tree! The instructor tells him once he's on the ground, do you know why you landed in the tree? The guy answers, yes, it was right there, I was heading right for it! The instructor goes on to say, no, you were focusing on it, so that's why you hit it. If you focus on a tree, then yes, you'll land in it, there was plenty of open land for you, but you focused on the tree.

And the story goes on to say that this works for life too. So if you focus on all the lack of success or how hard it is for your writing career to take off, or all the contests you're not winning, and no director emails me back after my queries, well, guess what's going to happen? Yup! Exactly what you're focusing on!

So focus on your successes, no matter how small. And set your sights for what's on its way, things that you want to come into your life. Success! Eye that open land ahead of you instead of that big tree you're about to hit. Just remember, you're only getting snagged in your career if that's what you focus on. Happy landings!

It's your option

So, an indie director wants to option one of my feature comedies. Yay! That's a good thing. But reading the option, holy moly, not such a good thing. I felt like understanding Calculus in college was easier to do. So this is a post on how I handled my option, in case you get to this point in your career someday too.

First thing I did after trying to read it a few times and still not understanding 99% of it was I reached out to a few friends to see how much their entertainment lawyer would charge to read it. Oh, yeah, it was a LOT! Why didn't I go into law again? So that seemed like a dead-end. The option was not worth me paying for a high-paid lawyer. But I also wasn't willing to sign something I did not understand. It's 8 pages of a document that doesn't make sense to me. No way could I sign that without someone's help.

So I started asking around to some other writer and producer friends. One writer friend I asked, he's had some pretty nicely paid options, well, he reads his options himself and doesn't even use a lawyer. Hmm...interesting. Okay. He sent me a couple of his options to see if that would help make reading mine easier to understand. It didn't. It just confused me more. I did learn that there are so many ways to write an option by reading his. So some of his points weren't in mine, and visa versa.

So then I reached out to even a few more producer friends, and got names from them. But they were pretty sure their friends would charge a lot too, but not as much as the ones they use. Great, that didn't help. Luckily for me, I had written a writer friend just to say hi and see how things were in her career and mentioned this option dilemma I had. Her husband is a manager and she suggested he could rep me on the deal. So that meant I wouldn't pay him out of the option, but pay him a percentage once the funding is raised. And that would be perfect!

So he and I spoke after he read the option, we went over it in explicit detail. He made all of it make sense! Imagine that! He told me what parts we needed, what we could leave out, what wasn't right for what my script was. He's going to mark it up so that it works for my needs and send to the director. Voila! I'm so relieved I finally found someone to help me with the option, and that I didn't have to pay out of pocket up front for.

If you're ever in a similar situation, please cover your butt and find a way to get a lawyer or a manager to help you through your option. You never want to sign on that dotted line till you know what you're signing.

You can't rush your career

So this morning my son in middle school told me he just wants to skip middle school and go straight to high school and college. For him it's all about the hockey and he wants to go straight to where it's more competitive. I told him he can't do that, he has to learn what he needs to in middle school because each part builds to the next and if he went straight to high school, he'd never succeed. He needs all those steps that lead up to it.

And that made me think of our careers as writers. I think many times we just want that success, that brass ring. But are we really prepared? Each of these moments we've been in have been the steps we needed to be able to handle the real success we want. Think of it this way -- imagine your career as your schooling when you were a child. Your first draft of a script, was like kindergarten. It seemed brilliant when you first wrote it, but now you look back at it and it looks like a bad finger painting! Then you move on to maybe a second script, another class, each step teaching you something new. You're growing as a writer. Maybe you'll get a girlfriend or boyfriend along the way, bullied by someone insecure, asked to hang with the popular kids. But you need all those steps and those will be the moments that you'll remember. Till eventually you find yourself graduating and someone hires you! But that can't happen overnight.

So next time you look to rush things, just remember, you're still learning. Enjoy the lessons. They're there for a reason. And before long, you'll realize it's time to graduate and go out into the real world.