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This
week's answer:
Word
Waiting
I appreciate you contacting me,
Barnaby. It’s
not easy to wait for producers and “the word.” Or
even “a word.” Especially when you haven’t heard any
words for a long time.
You’re going to have to find a way to be
patient and not get too bent out of shape waiting for
word from a producer.
Because, not only can it take a long time
“between words,” but there can be many different
words.
You
can get word that the producer has decided to option
your script. You
can get word that the producer has decided on where
he’s going to go looking for the money for the script.
There can be word about attached actors, attached
directors (and the word is that, even though
actors and directors are attached, they still are often
known to "attach" themselves to attached or
unattached others). There can be word about
distributors, marketing, shooting dates, delays, and, of course, the dreaded
word: “rewrite.”
Or, even more dreaded, “rewrite without pay.” (I
know those are three words, but, when you hear them,
your mind sloshes the phrase together so it doesn’t
stay imprinted in your cranium too long and therefore
sounds like one word:
“rewritewithoutpay.”)
And, unfortunately, there can be the word,
“passing,” which often accompanies “we’ve” and
"decided" "to“ and “the” and “project.”
Definitely not words you were waiting for.
And could have waited for forever. (Isn't it
amazing how truly patient we can be when we set our
minds to it?) And “greenlight” is always a nice word to
receive from a producer (unless it’s in a sentence
similar to “I thought it was a green light, but it was
red, and I ran it and got a ticket that raised my
insurance premium, which I’m going to have to pay with
money that I was going to use to pay you for the option
for your script.)
You see. Some words are just
not waiting for.
There is a way to avoid the tension
that emanates from the aforementioned problem.
Here’s what you do:
Become a producer.
Then you can send yourself
scripts and immediately answer yourself.
Or, if you really get into the spirit of being a
producer, you can send word that you’re interested in your
scripts and then make yourself wait for weeks.
DcH
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