What not to do

I've talked a lot about what I've done well, or mostly in terms of getting jobs for companies. But I didn't get jobs for one reason or another. When I was doing a lot of work I began to get "meets" with producers at the various studios. I was really excited about meeting people who's names were on the big screen as producers. 

Me? Meeting those big guys and girls. I remember meeting Steve Tisch at Paramount where he made Forrest Gump for those who remember it. With Tom Hanks. And now I was going to meet Tisch myself. Just me and him.

Well, not quite me and him. His guy was there to take me to Tisch in his offices near Paramount. I drove in and parked my SUV in a special spot. After I entered his person walked me to his office.

We walked in and Tisch stood up from his desk in a huge desk and walked up to me, saying "Mr. Emperor of Mars". That was the screenplay that my agent had sent to him before. I sat down and we talked about half an hour, Tisch was very friendly and likeable. Then I left, confident I had a job. After a week, nothing happened. 

I began to learn that meeting and doing is not very often. In fact most of the time. But, hey, I got into the big boys offices. And big girls too. I had a meet with a woman director who came from TV and made a feature. I met her female assistant who talked with me for about 20 minutes until the woman director came into the room, we talked a little, us three and then I asked what she wanted. She looked coldly into my eyes and said "A 5 million opening."

So much for being friends.

I was learning that meeting isn't always a meeting.

I also had a meeting with two writers of whom I sort of knew and also didn't really like them. I knew that because I worked on a TV show bigger than their new series and didn't like me to be better than them.  They interviewed me, I showed them Emperor of Mars again and they said it wasn't very good.

Then they told me they were doing a 3 Musketeers version with, get this... they would talk like hipsters. It was an idiotic idea. And at that time, I just stood up and walked out. Maybe not a good thing but I knew they wouldn't use me. A few months later the series lasted two weeks. I smiled.

Okay, I'm saving the big one.

I had a meeting at Universal with two people working for Stephen Spielberg and I was excited. I drove in again, and parked in their parking lot. By this time I was pretty good in talking about my screenplays and felt confident.

We talked for almost an hour and I talked probably too much. But when I left I was full with lots of the things we talked about. But when I got home, my agent said they weren't able to work with me.

Ouch.

Yes, they didn't want to work with me because I was too hard to work with. This was the biggest hit at me I've ever seen. They were right. I was too hard to deal with, as I thought later.

I still remember that day. Killer.

A few years later I met one of them working with Spielberg's company and we talked a little more, he said the woman didn't quite like me and that she held the power. Goes to show you. Power is everything and it can go any direction.

A few years later I got a job on a series in Canada, I mentioned this some time back in the blog. I was to meet those two writers, one of which never wrote anything, but got a producer credit. We were at a hotel in Vancouver and they didn't seem to like me or my writing. They called me into one room and said I'm out. They read my script and didn't think it was good.

Well, I prepped to go back to LA next morning, the real writer of the two said they were taking me on for the season. As I mentioned before, it turned out that the studio in Toronto insisted on me. Or maybe they would have to pay me 4 months at $2000 wk.

It's interesting that I somehow made a batch of movies and series and stayed on the shows. Those above were pretty much the only ones.

But the worst one was in Spielberg's office with the two people would turn me down because I didn't want to change scenes because I taught I knew. I guess I didn't. It follows me for the rest of my life.

I could have written a screenplay from one of the most biggest directors there is. 



Director post was in Venice Beach. Not mine