Thoom! Thoom! Thoom!
Somewhere beneath the ensorcelled hills that surround the
hamlet of Hollywood, hammers of ancient power pound virgin steel on battered
anvils.
Thoom! Thoom! Thoom!
Fairy-fueled forges breathe billows of black, filling
caverns with a cancerous cast thicker than the alliterations in this sentence.
Thoom! Thoom! Thoom!
Fat, meaty hands grip hammer and tong, bringing form to
molten metal. A miracle wrought from fire, sweat, and dreams.
Thoom! Thoom! Thoom!
This is the Great Smithy of Hollywood... where ideas are
hammered until turned to treasure, or shattered to tears.
While I have never personally been to Hollywood, I have
heard the distant thunder of her forge. For close to a decade I have been
pitching projects, scalping scripts, and dabbling in dreams.
I must confess, I have thus far failed to meet hammer to
anvil. And yet, I have felt the withering heat of that infernal furnace...
often little more than a passing flash... but occasionally a sustained flood of
fire.
And like all fire, the Hollywood heat can be soothing or
painful. Most often both at once.
For example, I recently signed a management contract with
Kevin Cleary of Pooka Entertainment. As my manager, Kevin advises me on what
projects I should develop, helps me polish my scripts, and most importantly,
pitches my projects on my behalf.
In other words, he takes the heat from the forge so I can
stay back here in Michigan and shovel snow off my sidewalk.
Signing with Kevin has probably been one of the most
exciting developments in my writing career. Sure, being a published author is
cool. Signing books at Book Expo America in NYC was a high point. And being
called a M*ther F*cker by Ted Nugent is something I’ll probably have
carved on my tombstone. But having a manager out in Hollywood is just about the
most educational and inspiring thing that can happen to an author.
Kevin has been at this for quite a while. So, whenever I
speak with Kevin on the phone, he always has some new insight or anecdote to
share. Every conversation is like taking an Honors Course in Hollywood 101. He
knows when the forge is hot, when it’s cooling down, and when to strike the
hammer.
Most importantly, he knows how to get pitch meetings. Since
signing with Kevin, he’s pitched my work to Fox, LionsGate, Cartoon Network,
and others. These aren’t phone interviews, mind you. They are in-person
pitches. Kevin is right in the heart of the forge on these.
One of the most exciting developments happened a few months
ago. After pitching a series I had been developing, Kevin received an email
from a development executive at Fox. “We’re definitely intrigued by this one, and have just sort of been
mulling about it.”
Wow. Fox. Was.
Mulling. My. Work.
I had to read the
email a few times over, and then confirm with Kevin whether or not this was a
good thing. Kevin assured me that it was indeed a good thing. However, as with
all steel that reaches the forge, a few things needed to be hammered out.
First of all, there
was a re-write. The exec wanted more character development for the heroine and
more motivation for the villain. No problem, as far as I was concerned. These
were valid concerns, and I immediately knew how to fix them. In fact, within a
day I had a revised script implementing her suggestions. So Kevin immediately
fired off an email with the revisions.
Then came the
waiting.
Thoom! Thoom!
Thoom!
Standing before the
forge. Heat blasting my face. So intense that my sweat evaporates before it can
even leak from my pores.
Thoom! Thoom! Thoom!
Then finally, word from the smithy.
A pass.
I’m dejected. But Kevin is upbeat.
“Why?” I ask. “She turned us down.”
He tells me that the executive’s initial reaction is
encouraging. He has pitched projects to her in the past that got rejected
immediately. The fact that she took time on this one and had such a positive
initial reaction is a good sign.
In fact, he already has pitch meetings set up with LionsGate
and other studios.
And so, the steel that Fox shattered is gathered up to be
re-forged.
Thoom! Thoom! Thoom!
And again the waiting. Will LionsGate’s hammer once more
shatter the steel... or seal the deal?
I may not know for weeks or months.
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