Okay, first off I gotta give a big shout out to the man, the myth, the greatest salesman in Hollywood, Ed Decter.  Ed and I go way back to my early days in Hollywood when I worked as his writer’s assistant.  Ed’s been working this town for years and has been killing it since day one.  To catch you up on his career, here’s the stuff he got made.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0214036/

And that’s not counting the hundreds of pilot scripts, feature scripts and other projects he sold but didn’t get green lit for production.

This past week as I’ve been twittering about, I’ve been working with Ed on a pitch.  Going into this, I thought I knew how to pitch a show.  Boy was I wrong.  Turns out I know how to create a show, create great characters, write a show, sell a story… all the things a writer needs, but pitching is something different.  As Ed said, “…more sizzle and very less steak.”  What that means is you shouldn’t bog down your pitch with the beats of the pilot episode.  It should be mostly about the characters and their relationships which in turn gives the network a good idea how the audience will identify with the characters and ultimately how the characters will interact, cause conflict and generate stories for the series.

I’ll share a tip with you that he shared with me.  It’s really something to write down so you can use it yourself on a pitch.  There’s a simple formula to follow when drawing up your pitch.  It should lay out as follows:  PREMISE/WORLD 10% CHARACTERS/FUN 60%, PILOT STORY 20%, FUTURE STORIES that reinforce CHARACTER 10%

To me that made things so damn clear on how to do it.  And within two more passes, I had an Ed approved pitch package.  We went in and killed it.  They loved the idea, loved the characters, the world, etc.  Now it’s time to wait and see if they want to buy it.  Yes, in Hollywood, as with everywhere, just because something loves something doesn’t mean they’re going to buy it.  The hard truth.  I mean, hell, I love that 50s Mercedes Benz 300sl with gullwing doors but it doesn’t mean I’m going to run out and buy it.

But in this case I’m feeling it’s at least a favorable shot at a sale.  We did the best we could and got a great reaction.  But they through in a twist.  Maybe it’s better animated.  Interesting.  Not sure if that improves our chances or not.  I guess it might.  There’s TWO ways they can buy the show.  Either live action, which they thought it might be too sci-fi for them, or as an animated series which would kick ass.  Honestly, I’m down for either one.  This show will kick ass if it gets made.  You just might be watching it in a more colorful world than our own.  Fingers crossed!

So, as I’ve been Tweeting about, I’ve got a big pitch coming up.  I’m totally stoked to be going into it having one of my mentors attached to it.  He’s been a great supporter of mine since I worked for him a million years ago and I’m forever thankful for all his help, including this pitch which he brought me into.

That said, there in lies the pressure.  I’ve been so fortunate to have him hook me up and put his faith in me on this and I damn well want to deliver.  Yesterday was a bit maddening and I stressed myself out to no end.  The good news is we had a great meeting with the producer on the project and came up with a lot of good stuff for the pitch.  After working those notes in and giving it a practice run, I can honestly say, I’m psyched for Monday.  Scared yes, scared shitless, no.  I know this show.  Just gotta practice pitching it some more so I can go off book.

The other part of the pressure is of course the make and break parts of the equation.  With my lady and myself out of work, we definitely could benefit from this thing getting bought.  A job for me, money coming in for us and a chance to take a breath for the first time since August of ‘08.  It’s been a long hard run and if they don’t bite on Monday, the run could continue.  Strangely, I’m prepared for that.  I’ve gotten used to the bad beats.  The one question in my mind continues to be, when will the bad luck end?  If ever there were a chance to stop it in its tracks, it’s this pitch.  With a great writer/director behind me, a big time producer at our side, and the material that seems almost tailored to the network’s needs, I think we’ve got a good shot.

Send good vibes, people.  This flailing writer’s looking for a break.

So the last year has definitely been filled with ups and downs for this writer.  For a long time opportunities were few and far between.  Then there was a spike of a few shows hiring.  I even got called in for a meeting on one of the three.  I didn’t get the gig, but still it was nice to have my work appreciated enough for them to call me in.  Since then it’s actually not been that bad; it’s been pitching season.  I’ve gone out on a couple of pitches over the last six months and there looks to be a few more in my future.  Some went well, with great results that ended up with the money falling through.  Others went well, but the show just wasn’t right for the network.  And as I spoke of recently, some went very well, but due to mothers writing letters, were never going to get off the ground.  But it did lead to some other possibilities.

And that’s kind of the point of this entry.  It’s really hard out there in Hollywood these days and as bummed out as you can by not getting a gig or not selling a show, if you can turn it into another meeting or it inspires another idea, then you gotta walk away with that as a positive.  I’m not trying to be all self-help here.  It’s just as artists we thrive on opportunities to be creative and even more when we have the opportunity to show off our skills.  And that’s why I’m enjoying pitching.  Nothings sold yet, but one pitch last week turned into them asking me to come up with angles on a show they wanted to do but were “having trouble breaking.”  Another past pitch turned into a great relationship with a super nice guy who’s also a big director and now wants to develop a show with me.  So it’s not all bad, even if the bank account’s going down.  Getting out and being creative with my peers is definitely just what the doctor ordered.  Try it yourself and maybe you’ll not only get a boost with your writing, but you might even find that big idea that’ll sell.

One thing you have to deal with when being an out of work writer is keeping your chops fresh.  Obviously I write every day whether it’s something like this blog, or coming up with show ideas, working on a screenplay or whatever.  But if you’re a writer of any kind you also need to keep your pitching skills intact.  The only way to really do this that I’ve discovered is taking some type of a performance class.  Whether it’s an improv, voice over or acting class, it’ll all help you feel more comfortable when you get up in front of executives who can make or break your career.  For me, as of late, it’s been a stand up comedy class.  I know, I know.  A class for stand up?

I started doing it because The Ellen DeGeneres Show was looking for writers and after submitting myself for it, they emailed me back wanting me to write three three minute monologues for Ellen as a sample of what you could do if they hired you.  I had no idea how to write stand up.  And rather than try and figure it out and look bad, I decided I’d learn from someone who’s done it and taught it successfully to a lotta comics.

The class has been good.  And for more reasons than one.  Sure it’s helped me keep my nerves in check when performing (or some might say pitching) material.  But it’s also done something else.  It’s helped me keep another necessary set of chops fresh… the writer’s room joke pitching chops.  It really is a necessity that tends to atrophy over time.

The point of this whole blog today is that if you’re a writer of any facet, and you’ve locked yourself in your apartment to write the next best thing, get your ass out into the world and do shit that’ll make you a better writer… or at least keep you as good of a writer as you currently are.

Thanks, overbearing moms of America. Had a great pitch yesterday, but looks like it won’t even get a chance at being sold thanks to you moms. Networks actually take your letters seriously. Hey, moms, how ’bout you find another hobby instead of hawking TV? I’m glad you’re supervising what your kid sees, but do you really think preventing a show from showing something like wrestling is going to stop your kid from going out in the backyard to wrestle with his friends? Yeah, me neither. So next time, instead of writing a letter, just turn the TV off or have your kid watch something else. Don’t ruin TV for the rest of us.

Long story short, I was told about an open writing assignment by my manager some months back.  Director (let’s call him T.M.) had aquired the shopping rights to a Korean film called “Ssaum-ui gisul”.  I went in with my pitch and he dug it.  We went to the Korean production company that owns it and pitched it and they loved it.  So some two months later I finished a draft.  T.M. loved it.  Huzzah!  Had a great meeting with him today and he had just a few notes so once it’s polished, we’ll be going back to the parent company for approval.  Once that’s done, we’re off to secure talent or hell just take it out to studios.  Exciting stuff.

But more to the point of my subject line…  This was the first time I was challenged with adapting something.  For the most part it’s just like re-writing any other work where the storyline has been established by someone else.  All you can really do is ask the producer and director exactly what they’re looking to do with what they have.  In this case it was to take a small Asian movie and turn it into a big studio picture, deepen the characters, find more humor and make it palatable for the American audience.  So off you go to the original script.  Then you read it, you note it, you find what works and doesn’t work with their guidelines.  Simple, right?  In theory.  But it also has to be good.  Thankfully I was able to do both.  I’ll update you when the next draft is done and it goes back to the parent company.  Fingers crossed people!

It seems like every day I hear bad news from someone about something. For a place that was supposed to be recession/depression proof, this town sure sucks ass these days. Everyone I know is either unemployed or making a hell of a lot less than they used to. I mean, what the hell’s happening? There’s more channels to choose from than ever. Like a thousand of them. Which of course means there’s more programming than ever. So where the hell are all the jobs? It’s not like all these channels fill their time with re-runs of “Charles In Charge” for pete’s sake. But every day executives and writers and directors and actors and crewpeople find themselves fighting over less less jobs. Anyone wanna take a swing at what the dilly is?