We're often quick to share our victories and slow when it comes to the defeats.The whole purpose of this blog is to be transparent about my journey as I exchange the pulpit for the screen, a journey fraught with difficulty, sorrow, challenge, triumph, excitement and joy in the hopes that said transparency might 'speak' into your life, your journey, your difficulties, sorrows, challenges, triumphs, excitements and joys.
So lemme' tell you about my pitch meeting today.
I didn't sleep well last night, as is typically the case when I've got an important meeting. My Executive Producer picked me up and we got downtown on time--no problem. We met with the team at the post-production facility to make sure everything was working and seamless. No problem there either.
The network bosses arrived ten minutes late (which is 'on time' in our industry) settled in, got a quick tour, and we rolled the 8-minute reel we'd assembled. It seemed to connect with them.
Then one of the executives started with her questions.
And I knew, almost right away, that I'd failed to 'make the connection' in the way I was hoping.
Her eyes weren't alight, she wasn't 'vibing' with me. I could've called it there and gone home. I didn't though. We retired to the boardroom where I had a bunch of snazzy folios done and a cheese plate and some fruit and ice water and...
Network bosses who didn't appear to be feeling the love.
It's hard, this business of peddling dreams.
So, we saw it all the way through, talked it around, shook hands, walked down to the car and my Executive Producer hit me with it...
"Well, that went great didn't it?" (!)
And he laughed, and I sat there for the next forty-five minutes, deeply glum and feeling like I suck, have no talent and am in the wrong business.
It took me 'till about 4:30pm today to shake it off.
Then things got worse, as staff issues reared their ugly head, and I got the first edit of the new shows we just shot in the new studio, and though they look great, there are audio problems.
Audio problems.
Sigh. Sigh. Siiiiigggghhhh...
And so here I sit with the wife, having drowned some sorrow in pralines and cream ice cream with a starbucks oat fudge bar split in two and some egg nog with a wee touch 'o rum in it and the Bears are playing the Saints and we keep reminding ourselves that we need to "Keep Moving Forward..."
We toasted to that.
Keep Moving Forward.
'Cause not every pitch, not ever sermon, not every idea, not every relationship is going to be a slam dunk.
But those who keep at it and keep at it and keep it generally turn out okay.
Here's hopin'...
T
ps: plus COREY FELDMAN is the feature guest on my show this Sunday night and THAT'S pretty cool regardless of how crappy my pitch was...
1 comment:
I just went through something that, although not as big in scale, definitely resulted in a similar feeling of, "I suck". I have a thriller script that was basically guaranteed to be optioned. I hadn't yet learned that there are no guarantees in this business. I'd heard that, sure -- I just hadn't learned it yet.
I was really psyched that 2008 was going to be the year that I took that first step toward becoming a professional screenwriter. Well, the option just fell through, and furthermore, the guy who's probably the best professional screenwriter I know just read that script and told me it needs a huge rewrite. After going over it with him, I tend to agree. It sucks, because I went from having one script that I was sure was solid and was about to be optioned, to having nothing solid, no interest in the script, and a hell of a lot more work to do.
But, it is what it is. I'm still writing, and still working as hard as ever. It'll all come together at some point, because it has to. There's no other option.
Post a Comment