I prefer Triscuits...

I'm still open to the high 6 figure deal for starters...

Ooo. I know I don't belong on this post but all I gotta say is that is awesome!

I wish you the best of luck.

Quoted from nawazm11 Ooo. I know I don't belong on this post but all I gotta say is that is awesome! I wish you the best of luck.

Thanks for the well wishes!
Apologies for missing this comment earlier.

Class Update:

Tomorrow I have another table pitching event.
It's being held at an indie production company's studio.
Several companies owned and operated by stars will be in attendance.
Reps for Morgan Freeman, Pierce Brosnan, David Duchovny  and others will be there.

This is the style of event I met the feature producer that got me working.
So, I'm hoping to connect with a similar caliber of talent.
Then after the Super Bowl, it's back to the spec grind.

Alffy, cross those gangsta fingers for me!

Regards,
E.D.

Good luck. Let us know how it all went.

Gabe

Hey Gabe,

Thanks for the well wishes.
It was a good day yesterday.
The event was held on a studio lot in Santa Monica.
Though the table pitching felt a little stilted overall.
Most of the attendees were opinionated newbies.

Professional highlights of the day:

Pierce Brosnan and David Duchovny's company requested Clone Wife.
Their development guy has a great shorthand for story construction.
I was practically tripping over myself trying to keep up with his brain.

Had lunch with Stuart Gordon, the brain trust behind "Re-Animator".
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002340/
We geeked out on Polanski and his horror techniques for twenty minutes.

Then I found a chance to mention a script I'm developing with a colleague.
He was immediately interested and asked me to send him more material.
So, it was doubly nice to be to get something out there for a colleague too.

After that chat, it made more sense to me that Gordon worked with William H. Macy.
They did a wonderfully creepy film together called, "Edmond".
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0443496/
Before that, they tried to get "House of Re-Animator" off the ground.

Back to the Macy connection...guess who's parking spot is right next to Gordon's...



Macy and Mamet go way back and Mamet wrote Edmond, which Gordon directed.
Makes you wonder if the whole deal was hatched in the parking lot!

And yeah, I totally stood in David Mamet's parking spot.!

Regards,
E.D.

Wow, sounds great, Brett.

Did you and Stuart Gordon have lunch together, or you and a bunch of others had lunch with him?

Were the "opinionated newbies" paying wannabe writers or the industry peeps hearing the pitches?

Best of luck!

Quoted from Dreamscale Wow, sounds great, Brett. Did you and Stuart Gordon have lunch together, or you and a bunch of others had lunch with him? Were the "opinionated newbies" paying wannabe writers or the industry peeps hearing the pitches? Best of luck!

Hey Jeff,

Sorry I missed this...

Stuart and I hung out in line at the commissary.
He heard table pitches at the studio where he keeps his offices.
It's why were able to get so many working pros in one place.

They don't have to drive, we come to them.

The newbies in question were paying people.
Our rep was running late, so to kill time, we practiced pitching.

Then this one guy was telling me how I should provide pitch feedback.
And taking my construstive criticism personally, etc.
And I was like, "Dude, I'm just constructively filling some time here."

Shusett came over and vouched for me, then said noobs apologized.
Then said noobs watched me work on Gordon in the lunch line.

Which led to the Planski chat over our paninis.
So, a slow start ended with a fun day.

Regards,
E.D.

CLASS UPDATE:

So, for the next three days I'm in producer and studio meetings.

http://www.sherwoodoakscollege.com/?p=57

This is a series of informal talks that breaks up into even smaller groups.
15 students. 23 producers and executives. All in 3 days.

Most of these companies are very open to new material.
But you can't directly solicit them, due to the nature of the business.
However, they do take all our prepared one sheets.
So, they all get a copy of the ZP and CW synops and posters.

And I heard from the last meet that a student got heat from Depp's company.
So, even the big boys will find a way to get to you, sans representation.
This is where no one can compare to Sherwood Oaks.
That proverbial hand off of the amateur one sheets to a VP or Development head.

Another cool thing is, I indirectly know one of the execs we're meeting.
He's read and loved coverage I wrote for a project he's developing with a colleague.
And insisted my take be worked into the actual script, which is going to CAA this week.

That whole ball got rolling last fall when I connected with another feature producer.
He works with this exec and trusts me to write the coverage for the studio.

It may all sound a tad convoluted, but consider this...

Damon Lindelof's coverage for the Alien prequel led to Prometheus!
The story goes, Scott was so knocked out by the coverage, it altered the tale.
Scott met Lindelof and then got hired to reshape the prequel.

So, that's why I do coverage when a feature producer requests it.
No one else in town was asking, so why not!?!?

Have a great week, guys!

Regards,
E.D.

P.S. And let me say for the record, I owe my coverage skills to SS!
       No way I'd be any good at it without all the awesome peer reviewing here.

E.D.

Wow! You sure are busy these days.

Keep up the great work and keep us filled in here when you can.

Your hard work appears to be paying off.

I cant imagine pitching something yet, sounds scary man lol

HGW

STATUS UPDATE:

In the interest of brevity, I'm going to update a lot of stuff here for now.
I gotta hop on a plane tomorrow morning and have lots to do before then...

And the reason I'm getting on this plane is the last Sherwood Oaks event.
But that's another story I'll touch on at end.

We met with a wide range of producers in the industry.
Their producer credits include...
The Godfather, John Carpenter's The Thing and Enter the Dragon to name a few.

It was invaluable to get these guys to talk openly for a hour and to do a Q&A too.
We topped it off an afternoon with the studio head of Mandalay Vision.

He talked with us for two hours and broke down financial models for us.
It was a great intro to the numbers that propel the film industry.

As with all Sherwood Oaks events, the guests take our leave behinds.
And yes, I did get a hit from a feature producer on one of mine...

But the real eye opener for me was something completely unexpected...
We go around the room to intro ourselves to a new guest speaker.
A few attendees were local and some had worked in town.

So, when it came to me, I decided to let the cat out of the bag about my job.
Suddenly, people looked at me differently, including the guests.
Turns out most of them knew the company I work for.

And that tidbit got other working pros paying to be there interested in me.
Long story short, I have some rather nifty updates on some projects.

LIE DETECTOR

I have a verbal agreement with a producer to make the short here in L.A.
She wants to direct though, but this is where it gets even better...
She will walk me through all the business end of being the lead producer.
So, she helps me be a proper producer, while she expands her skill set too.

She already has a DP in mind and it's a similar work dynamic.
He's a camera operator/tech on tentpole feature films...
But wants to break into proper cinematography.

And when I say tentpole, I'm not kidding around, campers.
His recent projects include Battleship & The Avengers.
And right now he's shooting that Will Smith flick, After Earth.

So with this trio, we have a great little engine for production...

She is a writer/producer that loves action... that wants to direct more.
He is a tech/operator that loves action... that wants to be a cinematographer.
And I am the writer... that wants to learn everything about production.

And we all have the skill sets to help the others expand their job titles.
Which means... before we even meet, we're all on the same page with our goals...

Making a killer calling card of an action/thriller short to further our careers!

It was a no brainer for me, so I said yes on the spot and she was thrilled.
She was sure that *I* wouldn't take a chance on *her*. LOL!

See how it all fits together?
With that common goal, I know we can pull together a top shelf production.
So she brings the DP in to make her look good.
And he brings in guys he knows from those shoots to round out the crew.
And I learn to foster the environment so we can all do the best jobs possible.

CLONE WIFE

I have a feature producer that wants to develop the script more.
We had a great chat for over an hour on how to do that.
He believes it can be a fine studio system project and wants to champion it.
So, I'll work on developing Clone Wife more this spring for his company.

In turn, he invited me to an industry screening of his new feature next week.
It's the day after I get back from this adventure I leave for tomorrow morning...

The Next Great Adventure...

I cant go into detail right now until everything is signed but...
I've somehow stumbled into being granted the life rights to an amazing true story.
And it's so inspiring and heartfelt, this story must be told to a wide audience.

I can't believe the Board of Directors signed off on all this in a matter of hours.
And then I'm booking a flight to attend a charity benefit for their founder.
What started out as a simple inquiry, blew up into all this last week.

When Babz says that controlling life rights is king, she's not joking...
If folks learn that you control an inspiring true life story...
They want to meet you, and it's not just about the project...

One producer took a meeting with me, without knowing anything else about me.
He told me, "I wanted to meet the man that's been trusted to tell that story."
It was something I hadn't even thought of, but it makes perfect sense.

I'll be less stingy with details when I return to L.A. next week, I promise.
So, between that and Lie Detector getting all puffy, I realized something...

"Oh sh*t. I'm a producer now."

So, I pick up my new business cards today and I fly in the morning!

Regards,
E.D.

Keeping it short and simple, CONGRATS! LOL.

Gabe

Very nice, Brett.  Very impressive as well.  Good luck and keep us posted.

Good times and good luck, Brett. Although, from the sound of things, it doesn't sound like you need it. Share the talent, damn you! Lol.

Just kidding. I hope things continue to go well.

Congrats, Brett. Good luck with it.