In my most recent post I wrote about how I seized an opportunity, got paid to write a script, and now that script was going to be shot. A director and producer had been hired. Casting was about to begin. I’ve been in show business for many years. I thought by now I had a good sense of when something was going to go and when it was not. I wrote that post certain that I would write more posts about how the filming went and when the project was going to be released.
But my instincts are not flawless. The project that I had been working on for the last ten months was shelved earlier this week. The production company decided not to go forward. The director who had already scouted locations and the producer who was in the process of hiring a crew were let go. It’s all over.
What happened?
The explanation that I and the producer and the director got from the production company was that it was a business decision. In simplest terms, the company no longer felt confident that they could make money off of the finished product, so they declined to spend the money necessary to bring it to fruition. This is a common occurrence in Hollywood. My project was not a feature film, but this kind of thing happens in the feature film world all the time. A studio develops an idea for a movie. Perhaps a producer brings the project to the studio or perhaps it’s the studio’s idea and the producer is hired later. A director is brought on board. Actors are cast. During the development process, many drafts of a script are written, usually by a number of writers. A budget is created. After months, perhaps even years of preparation, everything is ready to go. Sometimes the trucks have actually been loaded with the lighting and sound equipment and are ready to drive off the studio lot to the first location. And then suddenly, at the last possible moment, the studio pulls the plug.
I can tell you from first-hand experience that it is very disappointing when this happens. As the writer, you wonder if it was the script. Even when everyone tells you that the decision had nothing to do with your script, you worry that it did. You feel as if you have failed. You’re upset and confused. How come they loved the script last week, but this week they don’t want to make it? You have phone conversations with the director and the producer. Everyone feels defeated and discouraged. Everyone feel that the production company has made a poor decision. Perhaps a few of you vow to take the project somewhere else.
My late father worked in the aerospace industry. I remember that the company my father worked for would spend years developing a new air or space craft for the military, for NASA, or for the commercial airlines. My dad would bring home artist’s sketches of the futuristic new vehicle that the company was going to build. I might even see a mock-up of the new craft at the factory. Everyone was excited and filled with anticipation. And then, suddenly, unbelievably, the project would be cancelled. Perhaps the reason would be government cutbacks, or a downturn in the economy. It was always terribly disappointing.
What does one do when opportunity knocks, but then doesn’t turn into satisfaction and success?
I let myself be upset for a few days. Then, as the song goes, I pick myself up, dust myself off, and start all over again.
