Okay, so last Thursday nite was the big teleconference. For the first time,
I’d be on the phone not just with the executive producer, but Dave, the
money man. Dave does this sort of thing all the time, finding financing for
independent films (among other things), and he has a boatload of high
profile entertainment clients to boot. Now, I know Joe knows this guy well,
but really, I’m preparing in my head for a blizzard of questions about our
business plan that are gonna punch holes in it like the broad side of a
battleship. I’m prepared for the negatives comin’ my way, because while the
struggles with the biz plan have been a hassle, Joe and I hadn’t hit any
truly rough water yet. This, of course, was where I expected it to happen.
Not that I thought we couldn’t paddle to shore and regroup there and begin
moving forward again, because I was confident we could. But if things were
going to blow up in our faces, even temporarily, this was where it was gonna
happen.
Happily, I came out of it without any shrapnel in my face. In fact, there
was no shrapnel to be avoided, because what Joe and I have, at present, is
pretty damned solid. We’ve been putting in the time, doing the research, did
our homework before even setting up the call. And, Joe’s been telling me for
several weeks, “Hey, if you have a problem, or have a question, just e-mail
Dave, he’ll help.” So that was good to know, but I still wanted to try and
get as much done as I could without having to go lookking for help right off
the bat. I’ve gotten help elsewhere, no doubt. But I wanted to be as ready
as I thought we could be for this call without previous hand-holding.
Things couldn’t have gone better. Even though we’re looking for a budget
that makes my eyes wanna pop out of my skull, it’s small potatoes in terms
of what Dave’s been involved with before. Biz plan-wise, we’re on pretty
solid footing. We still have the final projections to put together, but
really, our biz plan is, now that I’ve seen some others, pretty impressive.
By next week sometime, Dave should have everything he needs to wave under
the noses of investors, and from there, it’s only a matter of time.
Highlight of the call? As mentioned, Dave knows a ton of people in the
entertainment industry. He told me that he’d passed the script around to
some of those clients (including people involved w/the films The Woodsman
and One Hour Photo, w/Robin Williams). The feedback he reported to me? Well,
let’s just say it made for a great freaking night once I’d hung up the
phone. Somebody he knows who does a lot of writing for Universal had
positive things to say about it, too, and Dave himself, (who’s seen his
share of scripts), liked it quite a bit.
So, the numbers look good. People who don’t know me from a hole in the wall
have been very positive about my script. Dave already has some investors
interested who havven’t even seen the business plan. Joe’s working up
financial forecasts this afternoon. We’ve spoken to a producer from the show
Rescue Me who’s interested in joining the team. We’ve talked dollars and
cents with agents for two Oscar nominees (one has three nominations, one has
a pair). I’ve spoken with the rep for an Academy Award winner. I’ve also
dealt with the agents for several genre veterans, including Robert Englund
and Lance Henriksen. So far, no doors slammed in my face, and there’s a very
good possibility that one of my favorite actresses, for whom I wrote a
two-scene cameo, is going to be available in the time frame we want to
shoot.
Nobody here’s getting too excited about it, because of course, nothing’s
written in stone yet. Maybe we don’t get the amount of investors we need to
get the cast we want. Okay, so be it. Maybe we’re stuck doing a full union
shoot and it means even more money goes to fees and salaries for people we
wouldn’t necessarily hire if we were doing a totally non-union shoot. Okay,
I can live with that. The truth of it is, right now, I’m closer than I’ve
ever been with any project to actually seeing it come to fruition with the
money and talent behind it necessary to make a splash. A big splash. It
seems like every day, I’m on the phone or exchanging e-mail with
phenomenally talented people, getting prices and such, and having piece
after piece fall into place as snugly as Lincoln logs. And every day, every
mail and phone call, brings me that much closer to this actually happening.
Hearing that well-known industry professionals really dug my script had me
bouncing off the walls all night on Thursday, I can’t deny it. These are
guys who are getting paid, every day (and paid well), to do exactly what I
want to do. Make movies. In my case, scary movies. Ego boost? Without a
doubt. I don’t have much of an ego, but the occasional compliment or stroke
doesn’t go unnoticed. It caught me totally off guard, but certainly fired me
up as I went back to slogging through revenue reports, estimates and sought
out info on foreign home-market grosses for about 40 different films.
Ever been on a fishing trip? One of those commercial boats? You bring your
cooler and they supply bait and poles and you and about 25 buddies drink
beer and eat heroes and play liar’s poker and occasionally drop a line in
the water? You know the feeling you get when the mates start undoing the
ropes and freeing the cleats and the captain starts ‘er up and there’s that
brief pause where the boat’s free, and the engines are rumbling, right
before you leave the dock?
Feels like that around here every day the past couple of weeks. I’m not
quite sure every line’s been cast off, but I am sure the boat’s engines have
started and we’re just waiting to launch.
And I got a full cooler of cold drinks, hot heroes, irresistable bait, and
for the first time in years, the right group of guys to go fishin’ with.
* * * * * * * * * *
Stay up to date on everything goin’ on with the film, with my struggling
Giants, and other amusing stuff on Twitter:
http://www.twitter.com/josephmonks
…and everything Sight Unseen Pictures, where updates on the new flick will
be posted regularly:
http://www.twitter.com/sightunseenpics
* * * * * * * * * *
Currently listening to: Get You Closer by And One
