We're Halfway There! 2024 (Part One) in Review

Six months in, how has the year been treating us so far?

Well… as promised, the whole point of this Substack experiment is to get EVEN MORE in the weeds about work! A summary of what the heck has taken place in the first two quarters of 2024 feels like a perfectly appropriate place to start. 2023 was a doozy for Hollywood (mostly negative, but I did manage to make a movie) but at the very end of the year I managed to book my first writers’ room for TV, which started right as we went into 2024.

So… I ended up in the extremely enviable position of going from desparate for work to suddenly way too busy. I had a lot of hanging feature opportunities and pitches and assignments that I brought over from the previous year, and so I spent most of my breakfasts, lunches, and after work hours on all the other things you’ll see below. Unsustainable? Absolutely. But, after a year mostly spent on strike, it felt like it was worth really pushing myself to the limit to try to catch up.

JANUARY

The year starts with a general meeting with a very famous actor / producer. We have coffee, it’s a nice conversation, they’re very down to earth, two specific projects they want me to read and consider working on, and… none of that ever materializes, I never hear back from them or their team again. Weird!

Lunch with a director for a project I’m adapting based on a YA novella (see 2023). The goal is to quickly put together a pitch and get it to buyers because it seems like a straightforward adaptation and everyone is eager to get it moving.

Later that week we have a meeting with the producing team behind the project. Goes well and seems like we have a good plan, I just have to crack a solid take. Our director is bullish on shooting it at the end of the year! [Take all timelines with a grain of salt, folks]

General with a producer at an action / comedy outfit with some big broad movies. They have a concept I like that I agree to write a pitch for because it seems like a pretty straightforward, commercial concept. A week later I’ve written something up and we talk with this producer’s boss who likes where my head is at and has some more ideas to improve the pitch.

General with a director coming off their first feature who wants to talk about future projects. Goes well and I like them. But as I’m currently working and also trying to set up my own Directorial Debut (more on that in a future post, I promise)… if I’m doing the calculus of where does my limited time go, it feels like it’s really better served being poured back into my own directing ambitions rather than helping someone crack a second feature.

General with a producer at a big production company. Really like him. Something he’d wanted to schedule pre-strike but we finally made it happen. No specific thing for us to work on together, we’ll see if this ever circles back to pay off. [Kind of the usual story with generals]

Meeting with an animation company I’ve pitched to before, they have another project in development they want to hear my take on if it’s of interest. I read the materials and it very much is. Would love to work with them. Would love to know what my next feature gig is in general.

General with the president of a production company. She’d read a short story of mine that she’s not interested in (too niche) and is looking for bigger, broader ideas. She sort of soft pitches me something and we riff on it and I feel the excitement of “oh maybe this is something.” But when we’re off the call and I try to write up a pitch realize maybe it was just a good “Yes, and” conversation and in fact I’m not sure the premise sustains a feature film… I table it.

Pitch a Star Vehicle to the star (and his producing partners) which goes well, but I ultimately do not get the job. Producer calls me personally to tell me, which in any other business would be totally normal but in Hollywood is actually super considerate and special, and I file the producer away as Definitely Someone to Work With. On the call I tell him about another idea of mine and send him that script soon after.

FEBRUARY

Meetings with publicists to talk about what if anything to do with the upcoming release of Spaceman (now streaming on Netflix). Based on our conversations and their advice, decide to not go with hiring a publicist (for this one). I do a little bit of personal outreach to writers / publications to see if they’d like to talk with me, but I don’t do much beyond that.

Another call with the action comedy producer with his feedback on the latest version of the pitch I’ve sent him. Very close to something.

General meeting with a weird metaverse company that wants consultants and brand ambassadors. Don’t really understand their business model, what they’re selling, or how I can be helpful, so… this doesn’t really go anywhere.

General with a TV exec which feels like it goes fine but doesn’t particularly feel actionable.

Spaceman WGA Screening. Netflix sends me a link to preview the final final product before the Q&A at home.

Assemble some friends & family for a showtime at Netflix’s theater in the Palisades.

Spaceman Los Angeles premiere at The Egyptian Theater. I do the red carpet. Talk with Sandler. Weird time.

They don’t warn you you’ll have to do this when you write a movie that gets made.

MARCH

Pitch a movie I’d met about last year to a big toy company. This is something we’ve been talking about since October. They like the pitch. Their strategy would be to get their boss’s approval and then try to attach a key piece of talent (probably an actress, based on the idea) and then leverage having that person attached in order to get development money. Feels like a backwards way to do things to me, as the writer, since this would mean pitching the movie over and over again without getting paid, but… seems like the trend in Hollywood is for companies to do everything they can to push any risk off of themselves and back onto everyone else. So this is a great example of that. Frustrating after months of back and forth that this very big company doesn’t want to just make a decision either way.

Couple catch up meetings with old connections who have seen Spaceman and want to hear what I’m up to now.

Hour long call with my manager about… now what? We sort of run through everything I’m working on, run through what I should be focusing on, and he reminds me to chill out because I just had a movie premiere at number one on Netflix but… I’m an insane person and feel zero chill. Desperate to set up the next thing, so that when the room I’m in ends, I know what my next job is. Also desperate to set up my Directorial Debut. I recognize that this is all insane. But you have to be an insane person to work in this business.

General meeting with a producer who’s read my Directorial Debut and doesn’t want to produce it (it's too expensive for his mandate) but he’s confident that there’s a cool movie in here and volunteers to help however he can.

Pitch to animation company. They dig it, have notes, when I come back it will be to pitch to the big boss.

General with directing team trying to find a first feature. Same story as the director I met last month. Feels like I don’t have the time to engage on this, as it’s competing for my time on my own stuff. I do genuinely have no time, as all these development and assignment opps are things I’m doing while not in the room for the show I’m staffed on. Working through lunch once a week is manageable, every day… not so much.

Lunch with producer from that Star Vehicle (see January), who read my other spec and didn’t totally vibe with it, but did then read my Directorial Debut. That’s also a pass (for him it’s too small) but he also volunteers to help. He’s worked with a few actors I think may be good for it, so could be useful if/when we’re trying to cast it. Promising to be getting “No’s” at all, especially when they come with “but I still like the project.”

APRIL

General meeting with an actress I really admire. I don’t usually reach out to my agents to try to do these, especially if there isn’t something specific to talk about, but I saw they’d just moved to my agency and really think they’re incredible so took a shot. We have a really nice coffee, and hopefully someday we get to do something together. Who knows?

General meeting with a production company as a Writer/Director. They’ve read my Directorial Debut and it doesn’t seem like it’s for them, but this is the first time I’m going in person to a general and talking about not just what I want to write but what I want to make. Pretty cool! Feels like progress, and also like I know what I’m talking about!

Talk to producers of this short story adaptation I have been doing FOR YEARS about next steps. [I pitched this project in 2020 and started writing it in 2021. I do not take the blame for the speed at which this has moved] At the end of last year I threw them a curve ball, saying “I’d love to do a rewrite, but I’m pretty busy since this has taken so long, and I don’t know how much time I can give this now. But! I’d really put my all into it, and do it for free… IF I can direct the movie.” Which felt like a crazy ask, but they’re entertaining it. Over the last month I’ve assembled a comprehensive pitch, including a beautifully designed deck for the movie, and we end up talking through that and a bunch of their questions for nearly two hours. Feels like a really fruitful conversation that ends with “We’d be really interested in this version of putting the movie together.” COOL!

Call with agents & manager about Directorial Debut and what to do now that we’ve collected a few no’s from our small list of VIPs (Very Important Producers). What’s the next best step? We decide: more producers!

Call with agents and the producer of this Genre TV project I developed last year about securing the rights to the underlying IP. Originally I had a kind of handshake with the rights holder, but they recently changed representation and now we have to ask all over again. So I write a very nice letter explaining my enthusiasm for the underlying material and author and we send that out to ask. Fingers crossed.

Pitch an original action spec idea to a big shot action movie exec and he likes it. Is impressed that it’s a full fledged pitch. Wants me to come back and pitch to his boss.

Drinks with a writer pal I met last year to catch up, talk about the state of the biz (bad, weird) and OWA’s (bad, weird) and movies (good, we still love em). Nice to hang and hear someone else has my same philosophy about writing specs that are outside of what people think you can do so that you can then do whatever you want.

MAY

General meeting with the producing partner of a horror director I’d nearly done a film with that fell apart at the last minute. We’d love to find something to do together. I pitch him the Genre TV project and he’s potentially interested for them. Send them the materials ASAP.

General with an exec I went to college with??? He’s got a couple TV projects that sound cool to me. Fun and strange to re-meet people you knew from long ago and see how far you’ve both come.

General with the producing partner of a cool up and coming horror director.

Pitch the original action spec again. Big boss has some good insights to streamline and make it simpler. Maybe there’s a world where we could sell a pitch with an attachment? I talk with my manager who thinks we’d be better off trying to sell a spec, as it’s a genre I don’t have a track record in, and that may make buyers skittish. Whereas if it’s a spec there’s more evidence that the project is undeniable. Something to consider. Either way, next step is to send a written version of the pitch to the producer, with his notes addressed, and we can have another convo.

General with an exec for drinks.

JUNE

General with an exec that we’ve rescheduled a million times. We really hit it off. I mention a weird idea I’ve been obsessed with for a long time. He’s intrigued. I send him materials.

Final pitch to animation company big boss. Does not go great. I think the conversation between me and the execs steered my pitch in a direction that he did not anticipate. If I do get this assignment it will be despite my pitch.

Later that week the execs reach out to my manager and tell him that the big boss would like to talk to me again. My read was correct, he didn’t love the pitch, but he did like me, and wants to discuss. God only knows if this is promising. But at least it’s not dead. I’d assumed it was dead.

Practice pitch to the YA novella producers. Goes okay… but they also have a lot of feedback on how to re-tool it, and how to better pass the pitch between myself and the director (it takes a lot more coordination to have a team pitching than to just pitch the idea for the script). So this will require an overhaul.

Set another call with exec to talk about the Original Action Spec and next steps on it. Whether we do want to develop a script together or try to take it out as a pitch. TBD!

TV room ends. I go on vacation for a week. Then jump into helping my wife on a documentary shoot. Then get covid.

And… that’s January - June.

GENERAL MEETINGS: 18
PITCHES: 8*
PROJECTS I’M WORKING ON CURRENTLY: YA NOVELLA ADAPTATION / SHORT STORY ADAPTATION / TOY MOVIE / ANIMATED ASSIGNMENT / ORIGINAL ACTION SPEC / ACTION-COMEDY IDEA / TV SHOW I’M STAFFED ON
PROJECTS I’M TRYING TO PACKAGE / THAT ARE WAITING ON SOMEONE ELSE SOMEWHERE: DIRECTORIAL DEBUT, GENRE TV SHOW

* I’m counting each step of pitching on the same thing. If I practiced once with the execs before meeting the big boss, that’s two pitches.

WHAT’S THE TAKEAWAY FROM THE FIRST HALF OF 2024?

This has been an unsustainable way to live. I burnt myself out (and ended up getting sick)!

I was really hustling this winter because I was desperate post-strike to ensure I had at least one job lined up in the foreseeable future. And despite all that hustling, I still don’t really have anything concrete. There are still a lot of plates spinning (and a couple more pitches scheduled in the next week or two), but we’ll see!

One thing I noticed by virtue of having so little time available for extracurricular work is that as I had less time to talk to people, it seems like those conversations were more fruitful. As my pitches became looser and less developed, it actually feels like those were more effective and more interesting to producers and executives than when I’ve had all the time in the world and overprepared. Whether that means I’ve gotten better at pitching, or it really is about the attitude you come in with (which for me lately has been “let’s wrap this up I don’t have a lot of time”) something seems to be shifting where my pitches are landing more effectively.

Maybe seeming busy and exhausted is just a vibe people like? Hard to say!

Very eager to get into rewrites on the Short Story Adaptation knowing it now may be for me to direct (that work is next on the docket) and very eager to find the perfect producer partner for my Directorial Debut.

Anyway, that’s a TON of information. Is it at all interesting? Do we like this format? Does my work experience (where nobody wants to commit to anything right now) line up with yours?

Colby