Time Investments

I've not blogged much as I've been very focused on marketing myself. I figure for years people have hired me to make them look good, it was time to try to make myself look good. I cut a new demo reel - assembled my favorite movie clips and made a relatively involved website. I'm debating whether to switch my blogging efforts entirely over there or if I'll maintain a little bit of the anonymity factor so I can say things about people. :) If I switch I'll give any regular readers the address somehow. (The blog is using wordpress and not blogger as i wanted to control the system more.)

An agent from a large agency contacted me to write a pilot for his newest client. Sounds impressive? Well, let me restate it.

An agent's assistant from a large agency who is a friend asked me if I'd write something for his friend who he has taken on as his first client. Less impressive - the truth is somewhere in the middle. See? This is stuff I wouldn't write i a non-anonymous blog.

Anyway - so at first I was pretty unenthusiastic about the prospect, but then I emailed a TV writer friend about what the TV structure was. Outside of the 3 shows I watch on DVD, I do not see television at all. When she did that, I was pretty excited about the concept. It was so structured... 5 acts, all one length, each with about five beats, and each act ends with a twist. That just sounded fun to try, and very manageable, so in one morning I outlined the entire show. The agent couldn't believe the turnaround time. Since then I've done nothing on it because I've been so busy, but I have to be done with it by the 20th. Yikes. But I will - with a structure in place, the writing is pretty smooth sailing and, frankly, fun. But it really enthused me about writing again. I was having fun. If I wasn't, I wouldn't have put in the time.

There are so many times this issue comes up - what to invest your time in. Up until now I'd never thought time spent in marketing was worth it. Huge mistake. There is no point in having things to show if you have no format or venue to show them.

Was it worth the gamble to spend the time on the TV pilot? Never know, but since it was fun and therefore gave me energy, I would say yes. What is important is to look for the things which are draining energy and cut them off as soon as possible.

It also actually got me excited to write this new project I alluded to in my last post. I have 3 projects to finish before I can dive into that, but I plan to do that within a couple weeks with a finish date of January 1.

And other than that, I'm working on everything I laid out last time - including the prospectus.

The only other news I'll mention because it's a land of "could be." I got a call from a producer I'd had a 3 hour meeting with recently and it sounds like everyone is liking the project I pitched (already finished screenplay). They say they will have some clarity on it by the holidays. Could be - would be amazing, but I've learned to temper my enthusiasm.