Blog-fession

Well, it's been 140 days since my last blog. So much has happened. And, now as the strike is quickly coming to an end I will use this time to update the blog and bring myself right up to the current moment! I've actually been meaning to create a record of all the incredible meetings I had last year for my own sense of history/journey and this is a great place to do it.

As of Sept 17 there were two producers interested in the pilot (I'll call it K4P). Both would've been amazing and I was incredibly excited. Ultimately Producer #1 was waiting for his overall deal to close at Giant Network so that he could buy my show. In the meantime Producer #2 took K4P to her Massive Nework who passed because they already had something similar in production. That left Producuer #1...who was still waiting. So, in his infinite generosity he gave his blessing for me to shop the pilot to other producers, just in case his deal didn't close in time he didn't want me to miss an opportunity to sell my show! I know, what an amazing guy right? He could easily have just sat on it and been a greedy jerk but that's not how he rolls. So, the game was on and my agents sent K4P to a several producers that were still looking for comedies. The season was winding down and not everyone was still looking for shows, but we still got some fantastic nibbles.

My first official meeting was with Producers #3a & 3b. I had never heard of them but they're a pod on Bohemith Network Lot. This being my first meeting my agent told me to prepare by having my show fully flushed out in terms of character arcs, future episode ideas, etc. So I spent five or six days working on my K4P pitch and on Sept 18th at 3:30 I had my first meeting. I was incredibly nervous. They had a cute comfortable office and they were very complimentary about the script. They told me they read a lot of specs but have very few meetings. I was flattered but tried to play it cool. We talked about how the show came to be, my background, how I got with my agent, etc. All in all it was a solid meeting. Nothing earth shattering. Probably, if you had sat in on it you'd have thought: 'well, that went just fine'. You wouldn't have run to your car pumping your fists in the air screaming "Amanda for president!" but you wouldn't have cringed either.

But here's what was so amazing about that meeting. It was an absolute turning point. And probably if I were to smoke a bowl and THEN tell you about this meeting I'd probably say that I think these producers and I had made a divine pact pre-birth (I know, but I'm stoned in this version so bare with me) that on Sept 18 they would help me see myself for the first time. I can't tell you how proud I was of myself that day. I pitched that show like a pro. Not a wanna-be, or a waitress who was pretending to be, but a real live professional writer who believed in herself and her project. I was answering questions about the show that I didn't even know I knew the answer to, I was making stuff up and cracking jokes and having fun and SELLING MY SHOW!!! It was so amazing. I was so proud of my work. I had no idea how good it would feel to have people respond to something that I had created. I felt like I'd made it. Even if they didn't buy my show just that I got a meeting was fantastic! I know it's sappy but I cried on my way home thinking about where I was just one year ago, about how much doubt I had that I would ever make it in this business.

I talked to my agents that night and they said that Producers #3a/b were currently working on another project so their finances were tied up but if circumstances allowed they would want to move forward with mine as well. Not the same as "They lost their minds and will kill themselves if they don't get your show." But I was still thrilled. And, I had ANOTHER MEETING the following week. Oh, you're gonna love this story. It's so delicious you might die.

Till tomorrow...

WORDS I WISH I HAD WRITTEN: “Maturity includes the recognition that no one is going to see anything in us that we don't see in ourselves. Stop waiting for a producer. Produce yourself.” (Marianne Williamson)