I met Norton Wright

I met Norton Wright at ABC after he read my Secrets of the Salmon script and liked it enough to option it. The option expired but as with a lot of the good guys, he kept in touch and asked me if I had an "evergreen." That's code for a holiday movie, meaning that it could be played every Christmas forever, like an evergreen tree. I pitched A Town Called Nowhere which became the movie Hallmark bought under the title The Town Christmas Forgot.

Norton liked the idea and we set up a meeting at CBS with Katherine Petrie who had also read Emperor of Mars. She liked my work and me so it was a nice hour or so. Terms like "liking" are common in this business, as in one executive told my gent that "We like Jim."

Norton had been around longer than I had; he was the first person to be involved with Bonnie and Clyde. It was Norton who taught me to pitch well. I did a beat sheet and page that would later change as he began to organize everything deciding that he should do the pitch and I do the color like a football announcer. It was all gravy to me.

Norton created a series of cards that were meant to speed through the pitch, never let it wander away and watched the execs if they're bored. My job was when Norton might forget something or pause, that's when I would describe a character or funny thing. Finally we had it down as far as we could go.

This meant anticipating every possible question that Katherine would be asking. We had a good start as she liked both of us but we still had to make sure we covered every hole and every crack. 

We met Katherine at the CBS offices near Farmer's Market and I usually had black coffee just in case there's a momentary silence. We catch up with some mutual friends and then she leaned over and said those dreaded words, "So what do you have for us."

Norton stood up and was the pro I knew he would be, using his hands and eyes, visually telling the story. Now and then he'd toss something to me where I filled in a blank spot. Sort of like news anchors.

Katherine said she really liked it and that there should be a place for it, "a home" as execs always say. We wanted it's home at CBS. Then she asked us one question, the one that I had thought about but didn't really think it would matter.

Again, the one question I didn't prepare.

And that was; "How does the family change the town."

We stumbled around a bit and Katherine came up with an idea suggesting the family would do things individually inspire the town. That would become the idea we used and it didn't even come from me or Norton.

She smiled again and we were feeling good.

But a few days later she told us they were doing "bio-movies" like Hitler and Martin and Lewis and other historical movies. Ironically I used her idea to another company and they used it. You can find The Town Christmas Forgot for Hallmark

Katherine unfortunately left the business and I lost a fan (yet another agent term) and reflects the fact that deveopment execs never stay around very long. I don't mind the ones I didn't get along with but I miss the ones who liked me.

And Norton left the business also. And I still see him now and then. He paints flowers.

And my Christmas movie plays every year since 2010 at Christmas.