Hollywood Update

One of my favorite quotes is from Basil King: "Be bold and mighty forces will come to your aid." I heard it in the movie, "Almost Famous" and I think about it every time something good seems to follow an unrelated move. That's why I sort of perked up when I got a call from the producer late last year saying he had pitched one of my scripts and gotten a great response. Now, we've both seen this particular number play though many times so I didn't get too excited, except to note that it was the day after I retired from my fallback banquet job. In my life, that amounts to being bold.

I also regretted that I hadn't added this chase scene towards the very end, but not enough to feel too badly about it. Let the process take its course and get back to me later. Wrong!

The producer called today and said he was out of Los Angeles and needed me to send a copy of the script to the new President and COO of the company that's interested. This is one good thing: My contact down there has great connections so we always get in at the top. The producer was really enthused and even gave me his shipping number, etc... We went over the details and I mentioned I would add the new scene. He completely trusted me on that which also shows how far we've come. I'm sending something he hasn't completely read first.

At this point I would normally begin a prolonged search to check the documentation. However, I also made another bold move recently: I sorted out the entire belongings of my life, which meant there was a nice little container with all the script contracts, etc...in it. 5 minutes later I had found the WGA certificate and I'm protected through 2011. I also realized that this is the contract where I'm a co-producer for points. It won't be a huge budget type thing if it is made at all, but could still turn into something great if it's a cult classic. By the way, if it does get made, it really should be a cult classic.

Of course, I'm getting way ahead of myself. I'll spend this weekend adding the scene - that should take around 45 minutes - and then ship it off Monday. Incidentally, this is the script that I winged on an electric typewriter in one shot over the course of 8 days. Yes, I had a scene outline but two-thirds of the way in, I winged an entire new character in real time. Yet, of all the scripts, this is the one the producer liked most and asked me to change the least. He also gave me thousands to option it.

So why am I blogging about it now instead of getting busy? That's easy. The process may be all you get. The chances that this will lead to something make the lottery look like a sure thing. So why not celebrate the calls, the emails, the twists and turns? That's why I got such a kick out of the Producers Guild Awards the guy took me to - meeting Tom Hanks, etc.. was something I could point to and say, "Okay, nothing ever really happened, but there was some cool stuff along the way."

Blogging about it is fun and you have to have fun. That's why it is so important to be entertaining during these phone calls. The producer and I occasionally get in a rhythm that sounds like a Woody Allen movie. I said something about Hollywood not buying my scripts, and he said, "You don't have to tell me, I've got a pile of them here." I said, "That's why they have to make this movie: You need the shelf space." It was a show-biz type moment and that's essential. You have to enjoy the process.