Hey batter batter batter.

photo credit: Life of Sport

This is something Doc and I are learning. It’s actually a fantastic feeling, this building up of experience and laying of a foundation. We’ve now had 5 pitch meetings. Each different, each a learning opportunity. Today we had a meeting at a fairly big production company, and I personally felt like we pitched our best so far. I think we’ve built up a “muscle memory,” where we can feel the conversation better and hit the parts that need to be hit, without even needing to think about it too much.

We also had our first bit of “constructive criticism” come our way, through our agents, via one of the producers we pitched last week. This producer loved us, thought we were very smart, but felt like we were still “feeling our way” through the story, and hadn’t quite arrived on a perspective that we were committed to through and through.

Hmmm.... this was... puzzling.

photo credit: Cara Photography

We were originally a little puzzled by this feedback – we had thought that meeting had gone very well. And we had additionally thought that by accepting that the story could go in a couple different directions, that we were showing that we could be collaborative.

(And, in actuality, that meeting had gone very well – this producer just wanted to help us out by letting us know what small piece had given him pause – precisely because he liked us and wanted us to succeed.)

So even though we were originally confused by this note, we decided to try our best to apply it. And so today, we purposely were very confident in our choices, and wanted to portray that we were committed to them and passionate about them. For instance, there had been a standing question in our meetings whether our show would be hopping geographically all over the place based on the mission, or would have more of a set location. We’d been talking previously that “we could take that in a number of ways,” and then discussed the merits of each. We realized that this approach was probably what the producer was talking about.

This time, when the question was posed, we literally said, “We love the idea of having each season set in a different ‘hot spot’ location; so one season could be in El Paso, and then the next would be in Atlanta. We’re excited about the kind of stories we could tell using that structure.”

And the producer caught wind of that excitement and literally said, “Oh, yes, I like that a lot.” No longer are we going to be saying things like “or, you know, we could hop all over the country, if that’s the best way to tell the story.” We realized that that does make it sound like we haven’t made a decision yet. In the same way, we’re no longer saying that it could be a network show, or shaded to become a paid cable show. We’ll present a united, confident front full of decisions and opinions and passion (because really – they know things can change if they have to anyway!)

I do think that this was a lesson Doc and I had to learn because of the difference between collaboration and pitching. We’re much more used to the first, where saying things like, “What if we tried it this way…?” or “You know what might be cool, if we did this instead…” is generally better for the creative process than absolutes and decrees. Because the creative collaborative process is like sketching and molding, especially early on, where you don’t want to get rid of all the raw material right away.

But pitching is different. You’ve got to paint a complex picture in a short amount of time, and really have to fix a compelling world and cast of characters in peoples’ minds – so they can see the conflict, the stories, and the show. You really don’t have a lot of time for “What if’s” and “And we could try’s” and “Wouldn’t it be cool if’s” in this arena. All these theoreticals really just muddy the waters and become unwieldy. You’re lucky if you can paint one world – why try to paint many of them?

Lesson learned! And our pitch was much stronger for it.

The producer today even said, in the context of what their production company does with the writers that they work with, that they help their writers practice and refine their pitch. But then she stopped herself and said, “But your pitch was great, it doesn’t need any refinement or practice.”

Specifically, Rebohoth Beach.

Even more specifically. Nicola’s Pizza, and their delicious calzone, the Nic-co-bolis.

What are the chances?

I mean, really?

But here I am, with two straight execs who’d grown up in DC, and Washingtonians generally summer in Rehoboth. And then there’s me, visiting every year with my family since i was knee high. And so, an instant bond is made.

A curious, unexpected one. But one I’ll certainly take.

Another excellent meeting today. And we got to have the meeting in Walden Media’s offices. I’m a huge fan of their work, and I got to walk past a huge prop from their upcoming Narnia movie to get to our meeting spot. And I just want to savor that this is part of my job at this point. It’s excellent.

We certainly felt like we made a connection with the exec we met with today, and would love to work with her at some point.

All in all, a very good day. I actually was fortunate enough to be a part of 3 good meetings today. One, with Doc and my feature agent at UTA, to get that part of our career moving along. One, with a woman I’ve been working with on the online consulting side, so the bills can be paid while I continue to lay the foundation on our writing career. And then the meeting with the exec.

Good times.

It’s not a locked up lot or anything. In fact, it shares space with a gas station. And it had tons of spaces.

On Sunday, I returned to finish the transaction. When I entered the office, the attendant was visibly annoyed with me. I played oblivious, as I often do when people try to non-verbally communicate with me. (I think people should say what’s bothering them if it’s so important.)

Finally, he said, “So, this is the car that was in the lot overnight, huh?” And I said, “Yes, I didn’t want to make my wife drive me out today.”

And then he laid down the stupidest idea I’ve ever heard.

“Well, you’re lucky you’re here now. Another 10 minutes and I was going to call a tow truck to get it out of here.”

“It” being their car, and “here” being their parking lot.

“You can’t just go dropping off cars after hours, you know.”

Well, don’t worry, Hertz. I won’t be picking up or dropping off cars from you for a very long time.

And this past week, I have to admit it’s been kind of stressful trying to find the right car. Having to figure out whether we’d go with a car loan for something a little more expensive, or try to swing paying for it with cash using what we got from the sale of the Prius plus some more that we’d recently gotten from a tax return. It seemed like a bunch of balls in the air, and I wasn’t sure which one to catch first.

Plus, we had a ticking clock, where we had rented a replacement car for a week, and I didn’t want to spend any more cash for any more time.

I watched as car after car that I thought was the one fell away. One was in terrible condition. One was sold out from under me. Another was just sold before I was able to get in touch with the person.

But then, the perfect car showed up. It’s a Saab 93 Turbo convertible.

And I still can’t believe I’m driving it – because it seems like far too nice a car for how much we spent. I mean, seriously, we’ve ended up spending 2k less than we would have if we’d repaired the Prius battery, and we have a really nice convertible with 30K less miles.

Driving down PCH in a convertible is nothing short of exhilaring. It’s a really zippy car, just such great control and pickup. I feel like I’m on the Autobahn or something. Lyric agrees.

Lyric agrees it's a ton of fun!

We were somehow able to find it for nearly $2500 less than it should be, according to it’s Blue Book value, and it’s in beautiful condition.

And now, in the course of a week, we’ve stumbled across both a beautiful living upgrade, and a fantastic car upgrade. And we are definitely thankful.

We bought it in Silverlake, up near Pasadena, and I immediately had the chance to test it out on the freeway. Because of absolutely zero blind spots and the pep of the acceleration, it made driving so much fun.

And then we all dropped off our rental car. (Goodbye Kia!) And headed up into Malibu. I don’t know exactly why it is, but all four of us love driving in a convertible. Add in the Pacific on your left, and mountains on your right, and you’ve got a recipe for a very fun day.

Now I’m wondering why exactly I haven’t been driving like this for the past 3 years.

We’re moving.

We’ll still be in Topanga, and we’re not really moving all that far. In fact, we’ll be closer to PCH, which is a real plus.

But it all started yesterday, when Darby kind of got fed up with the… smell. We had begrudgingly dealt with the methane/natural gas/dead rat cocktail that at times would waft through the air. The dead, still air that couldn’t be moved because our main windows don’t open. But as we’ve experienced something of a heat wave this past weak, that smell was growing unbearable.

And then Darby smelled something new, a different, pungent, addition to the smell palette. And that was enough.

She declared that was going to start packing just so “we’d be ready to go when the time comes.” Not looking forward to a house filled with towers of boxes, I asked her to please hold off a little bit.

And then I checked craigslist, more symbolically than anything. Because I’d been checking lately, and found nothing.

And I found this:

This charming 2 bedroom house has a high-end kitchen with caesarstone countertops and stainless steel appliances, a spacious bathroom with frameless glass shower and granite countertops, vaulted ceilings, hardwood floors, surround sound stereo, sky lights, gas fire place, covered patio, large outdoor decks, water fountains, washer/dryer, 1.5 car garage, and new hot tub. Water, trash, electric, Fios internet and digital TV package included. Please tell me a little bit about yourself and your housing needs.

I replied, and reached Ted, a very friendly fellow screenwriter. Darby, myself, and Lyric and Ollie stopped by and checked it out. And we loved it.

So much stone and wood and trees, it reminds us of our home back in Maryland. And no smell. That’s a big plus.

And Ted really liked us, and was willing to knock $100 off the rent and give us a 6 month lease. (Ted also loves playing basketball, and has a friend who has a court in Topanga. I’m excited about this.) There you have it. We’re moving in 9/1.

Crazy, I know.

So we are bidding a sad farewell to Lorettaville very soon.

PS. The pitch went very well today too. It’s a lot of fun connecting with people on a creative level. I truly hope one of these connections actually bites and buys, but even if they don’t, I know we’re laying the groundwork we need. And the good news is that both Doc and I are finding that we really really genuinely enjoy these meetings.

PPS. Darby, Lyric, Ollie and I drove 90 minutes to buy a car today, and then when we got there (there being Chino, California) the thing was a piece of junk, unfortunately. Pictures on the internet can lie, apparently. Going to try a different one tomorrow. We’ve decided to forego any car loan and thus give up the idea of Mini. We’re going back to our roots, staying on the less expensive side, and getting another VW Cabrio.

PPPS. Really hoping the heat wave breaks tomorrow, but one nice thing about a heat wave here – we can drive 10 minutes and the temperature will drop 25 degrees. Literally 98 degrees in the canyon and 73 degrees on the beach. As you can imagine, we’re spending about 10 hours a day on the beach these days.

Me: “I thought that went really well.”

Doc: “Me too. It was great.”

Me: “I don’t think they’re going to buy the pitch, though.”

Doc: “Oh God, no.”

First of all, I think we could have been David Chase pitching the Sopranos and that particular exec wouldn’t have bought the pitch. He didn’t feel like he was in a buying mode. Doc and I had a theory, actually, that some of these earlier meetings are truly warm-ups. Pre-season. People who want to meet us because they like the writing, but aren’t ready to really develop a TV show. And our manager kind of confirmed that today, in so many words.

Which was good, actually. Because we really learned some things from that first pitch meeting that we were able to figure out and apply today. The show we’re pitching is set in an extremely serious world that needs to be rooted in realism. Yet on Tuesday some of our choices in pitching made our characters seem overly quirky and light-hearted. And on Tuesday, the exec even said, “One thing I’m concerned about, there seems to be a disconnect between how gritty the world is, and how you describe your team.”

Specifically, what we had done in the pitch to create this impression was we had referred to The A-Team and Mission Impossible (the movies more than the TV show). And we had said our main character was an ex-supermodel. These may seem like small pieces, but what these choices had done was plant a hint of “campiness” in the execs brain. Even though we had referred to A-Team in the sense of “outside the law, and all alone with no backup” and Mission Impossible in the sense of “espionage, disguise, and blacks ops – not just gunfights and explosions.” But they hadn’t done what we wanted them to do, they had in fact had a distracting affect.

And then, by not highlighting our main character enough and almost treating all team members equally in presentation, we had also inadvertently raised an image of these team based movies lately like “The Losers” and “The Expendables” – which again, wasn’t sitting well with the exec on Tuesday.

I give this long winded backstory to highlight that Doc and I worked hard to figure out what didn’t work so well on Tuesday, and what did. Again, it was a preseason game. And fortunately, we had an exec who told us (without telling us) what didn’t work. He mentioned that the A Team had him worried, that he wasn’t interested in doing something like the Losers.

So today, we had the following game plan. No more mention of the A Team or Mission Impossible.

Sorry guys. It's just not working out.

We would concentrate on 24, Sleeper Cell, the Unit, and the Shield as touchpoints – all of which are grittier shows grounded in more realism. (Where people can actually be shot and die when bullets are flying.) We also took out any mention of our main character being a former supermodel, and really highlighted that “the emotional engine of the entire series” was our main character and her personal quest. When we discussed the secondary characters, we talked about them being in support of the main character – and in fact added a riff where our main character was the person responsible for choosing and assembling the team members in the first place. She was the common thread.

And these relatively smaller changes made our pitch about three times better. It went really well. The exec – the head of television for a production company that’s a major player in features and looking to muscle its way more and more into television – was completely engaged in the idea, asked great questions, and seemed overall both impressed and intrigued. In the end he was even telling us we need to meet with the feature side of his company too because he thinks we’d be a really good match with them. (Yes please!!!) And he raised the prospect of transmedia opportunities with us – graphic novels, features, television, and video games which all rise from the same source story or idea.

We really liked him. He really liked us. And the grittier 24 angle really seemed to work wonders. In fact, he was even wondering aloud whether we could get it on a premium cable channel, and see what we could do with it there.

So anyway, we’ll find out more tomorrow, but it seems we’ve made ourselves another fan. Which is, again, for me, what this round of pitches needs to be all about. But at the same time, we left their offices and this was our conversation.

Me: Wow. That went really well. Much better than yesterday.

Doc: I know. I mean, we just kind of got out of our own ways and really pitched the story.

Me: I mean, I think they might even buy it.

Doc: Yeah.  I could see it happening.

But whether or not this meeting results in a sale, for me what I’m most pleased with was our ability to pinpoint what needed improvement, and then act on those strategy changes. And it was great to see results.

And, short of selling something in the room – which of course would have been nice – it went as well as I could imagine it going.

We were comfortable, we told our story with enthusiasm, we seemed prepared. We took questions, were engaged with what the others in the room had to say, and responded.

We left after a 40 minute meeting feeling good. And these producers – we’d like to work with them at some point. Smart, insightful… just generally cool people, in my opinion.

But, we still had to wait for the “meeting about the meeting”  - where our reps talk to the people we met with – with us not around – and find out how the meeting really went.

And we got that at the end of the day. The verdict was very good indeed.

We’ve made fans of these particular producers. They liked us, our enthusiasm, how we worked together, and how we were in the room. And at this point in our career, making fans is a huge priority. Our agents were quite happy with the result of the meeting. And while we’re technically waiting to hear from them on whether they want to go forward with this show or pass, we do  think they’re going to pass. (This producer is mostly feature based.)  But, because they are fans, the door is always open to pitch anything we have now.

So we broke through the barrier, and now we’re ready for more.

Like tomorrow. And the day after that. And the day after that…

It only took like…2 full weeks for the latest CD to be copied. But the good news? I have all my old files back. Ahhhhhh.

Second: I have a strange foot dilemma. If I wear flip flops during the day, my feet are cool most of the day and then strangely hot throughout the night. As in, melt ice on them hot and still they don’t cool down. But, on the other hand, (or should I say foot?), if I wear normal shoes and socks during the day, they are fine throughout the night, but feel like little cauldrons of lava during the day.

What to do? They are each their own kind of hell. It’s a problem.

Third: I think there should be “Stink Consultants” who come into your house and tell you why certain parts of it stink and help you fix that. Ah yes, the joys of living in Topanga again.

And lastly: tomorrow’s the first pitch. On the Warner Brother’s lot, in Burbank. At 10 am. Which means I’ll probably be leaving the house at around 7.45 am just in case. It’s all worth it. I mean, I’m pitching on the Warner Brothers lot, people! And the meeting got moved up so the president of the production company we’re pitching could attend. So we’re not complaining about the earlier start time.

Wish us luck.

And again, I think Doc and I are fairly loose about all this. Here’s a great quote he dug up, which I am digging. (Who brought the shovel!?)

The quote is from Thomas J. Watson (I believe) founder of IBM. It is:

“If you want to succeed faster, double your rate of failure.”

This is certainly a big week.

Now I could be nervous, I suppose. But no, I want to savor and enjoy this time. 5 years ago I was toiling away on marketing campaigns for credit cards, thousands of physical and tens of thousands of metaphorical miles away from being on the Warner Brothers lot pitching a television series one day then going to Beverly Hills the next day and pitching to the production company responsible for a little show called the Sopranos. And that’s only half the week!

So I have to enjoy this. Because I’ve covered a lot of distance and I need to be thankful for that. And really, there are only two outcomes here – and they’re both great.

Success, as in selling a pitch or making a longterm connection that could blossom into something tangible down the line.

Or failure, which would certainly constitute failing on a bigger stage, which would actually be its own kind of success.

Just a couple of months ago, I nearly tried to stubbornly push forward with what our reps were telling Doc and I was a bad option deal specifically because I was really rearing to get in the game, and have these pitch meetings, and get out and do stuff. And now, even though we finally wisely decided to trust the experts who were trying to shield us from sharks, we’re right in that position I thought I was giving up. Only, in a much stronger position, actually. Having signed away none of our rights, and an even more potent representation team.

There’s a lesson there.

On Thursday, Doc and I had noted with some small measure of impatience that it had been 2 weeks since we’d last talked to our representation, with what had seemed like a lot of momentum at the time. Should we be worried? Should we be doing something? Was the ball in our court.

And then today, no less than 4 meetings for next week were scheduled, with legitimate television producers, all with produced television shows. It was honestly a dizzying flurry as they all came in. Next week will be full of pitching, and very busy.

And actually, I guess this worked out perfectly, in hindsight. I really wanted to have just a small amount of time to be able to get away with Darby, Lyric and Ollie – since I had been whisked away from them when this whole UTA whirlwind began. So really, this slight delay was timed perfectly, as we just got back from our tour of central and northern California today.

Good times. I’m working to enjoy them.

But this has been a wonderful time on the road with 3 very special people, all exploring a part of the world we’ve never before explored. And it’s been so great.

I’ll post pictures, I promise – but they’re all stuck on my nice camera right now, without a cord to free them.

But each day has brought it’s own wonders and surprises. And today was Darby’s birthday, so we had to make sure we celebrated it in style. And we did exactly that – by walking on the Golden Gate Bridge! It was a heady experience, one we didn’t even know was possible. Ah, the views.

Good times.

(The hayride made Darby a little motion sick, so while Lyric Ollie and I were picking apples, she talked to the 14 year old tractor driver (who looked about 25), and found at that he was an Aggie, which is what people in those parts call what we would call a Cowboy. They call themselves Cowboys, too. But also Aggies. And he had just made the football team as a freshman in high school. Which was something of an aggie-flavored-high-school-musical style controversy, because Aggies don’t usually play football. And so at the Freshman bonfire, a fellow Aggie kept calling him “football” and touching his cowboy hat – which you don’t do, because a cowboy hat is form fitted to its owner’s head, so it’s like you’re touching the cowboy, not just his hat. It’d be like calling his girlfriend a not-so-nice word, you see. And so Darby’s Aggie friend told his fellow Aggie that if he touched the hat again, he’d be “walking on the fighting side.” And what do you know, this other Aggie again called him “football” and touched his hat. So what are you going to do? They fought then and there, and the 14 year old triumphed, despite being 1/3rd the other Aggie’s size.)

There were free samples there, too. And all four of us are big fans of free samples.

(By the way, once we got to Big Sur, I switched from my iPhone camera to my SLR, which I don’t have the cord for… so the picture quality is better, but I can’t post them yet.)

Then we drove up to Big Sur, and got to watch Elephant Seals who sunned themselves on the beach while they lazily flicked sand onto their own backs. No one knows why exactly they do this, but theories include natural (though gritty) sunscreen, or stress-relievers. Lyric thought they just liked digging.

Then we explored a great little spot 350 feet up from the ocean called the Rugged Point Inn, where ate lunch and played tag in the green and were generally blown away from the views. After that it was the breath-taking if somewhat scary drive on hairpin turns with no guard rails – only about 500 feet above the crashing surf. We found a spot where a rushing creek poured down from the mountain until it met with the salty surf. I love stuff like that. I mean, deep in my soul indescribably love stuff like that.

Apple picking is serious business

Ollie especially loved feeding the animals.

The beautiful cow. I made a small joke to Darby about this cow being so beautiful that if a guy calls you a cow, maybe you should take it as a compliment. A nearby woman heard me and howled. I get embarrassed when a joke provokes more laughter than it really deserves.

Lyric tried to talk this goat into trading its luxurious hair with my dad, who we call Pop, and who is bald. The goat didn't go for it.

It's a hayride!

I like to call this piece "Ollie considers the Forbidden Fruit."

By the way, Lyric, inspired by the powdery whiggy style, christened this goat "George Baaa-shington."

My dad, who I've already mentioned goes by the name "Pop," is always on a famous quest to find the perfect Greasy Spoon. So this sign was completely appropriate.

Ollie had what he termed as a wonderful day. He's been wanting to pick apples for a long time now.

Lyric's day was pretty spectacular too. So far, so very good on this trip up the coast.

We have landed in San Luis Obispo for the evening, which, it turns out, is this charming little town with a hustling, bustling downtown. And it even has a crazy historic sight – Bubblegum Alley, which we found quite accidentally.

I love finding new places.

Lake Cachuma

Ollie in Bubblegum Alley

I love the contrast between tan and green.

Darby, Lyric, and Ollie are back and we are reunited and it feels so good. Those three don’t just make my life better, they make my life exponentially more meaningful and important. I’m lucky beyond belief to have them around.

Bad news:

I have warned you about the danger of digital rot. (Which, by the way, that recovery program is still running! I accidentally stopped it twice so far about 6 days into the process. Ugh!)

But let me orient you to a new scourge that many remain blissfully unaware of. I refer to the “bad hybrid battery.” As in, the coffin sized mega battery that powers a Prius. Now many perhaps do not realize that it could indeed go bad, and then the Toyota dealership would try to charge you nearly $5,000 to have it replaced. Yes, for a car that I bought for $9,000 – a $5,000 repair.

This is not good news. And I think I’ll stay away from hybrid cars for awhile. The sad thing, had I know and done enough research? In California, Prius’ made in 2004 and after have a 150k warranty on that darn battery. And before then, just 100k. But as my car was approaching 100k, I would have taken it in and had it examined. It’s only at 116k now, I bet it was already going bad way back then.

So buy a 2004 or newer Prius, people. Learn from my mistake. (Oh, that is if you live in CA. Outside of CA, don’t buy a hybrid at all, really. Until those prices come down.)

Good news:

The Death of the Prius ushers in a new era for the Latshaw family, and that would be Convertible Time. We’ve sadly had our beloved VW convertible taken from us too soon by the great car god in the sky, and since California basically cries out to be driven in via convertible – and since we all love convertibles so much – it’s time. We’re leaning towards a Mini, since it’s a 4 seater.

Bad news:

Can’t think of much right now. Oh, well I had to fly to Phoenix and back today, the day after my loved ones returned. But that’s over now, and that’s also work, which leads to money. So it’s hard to call that a bad things really.

Good news: Tomorrow we’re starting a road trip up the California coast! We’re all so excited. We’re going to stop at a number of places between LA and San Fran. It’s going to be a blast.

And this reminds me that we know that certain animals cannot see color because we know the things that can sense color and we know those things are in certain animals’ eyes. So we, in fact, know that we can experience and see a certain dimension that other creatures simply cannot. To me, this is in many ways “science disproving itself” – in a very good way. In that science kind of takes the attitude that “one can only know what one is able to observe and prove through material means.” Which I think is a very good attitude, actually, as long as it’s in the proper place.

But see, this “scientific” attitude, if taken by certain animals, would discount this whole big huge idea of “color.” Wouldn’t it? And then I’m wondering, what, if anything, can our eyes not perceive? Because I very much doubt that some animals have lacking sensors while we humans are lucky enough to have all the ones needed to see everything. Especially when our eyes aren’t even nearly as good as some other animals for certain tasks.

Anyway, what this really is is a self-reminder that “I don’t know everything” and “Not everything is as it appears to be.” Which I’ve learned in a terrible way, this past year. But it can also work the other way, where you think things are bland and dull but actually there are brilliant colors and beauty.

And then one night of Vegas was just about right. Enough time to nearly cry watching the beauty of the Bellagio fountains (coupled with the glorious song “Time to Say Goodbye”! How could I not get a little misty?!), check out the Paris casino, and watch Chris “triple his initial investment” at the blackjack table (which is his very dry way of not telling people that he won $55.) Top that off with a restful morning of floating around the lazy river at Mandaley Bay – and you have a very inexpensive, very fun 24 hours.

On the way back to LA, we stopped at a real ghost town in Calico, CA, and also had some shakes and burgers at a really cool 50’s diner. Good times.

Here are some pictures.

You can see Chris in my sunglasses.

But Jason, it’s nearly 100 degrees, why are you wearing jeans? You see, I have this theory that when it’s really really hot, that the difference between shorts and pants, and short sleeves and long sleeves, is negligible. I mean, you’re going to be hot and miserable even if you’re nude. So sometimes, to rock a picture like this, you really have to be wearing jeans. I mean, the mining prospectors who lived in this town in its heyday were more likely wearing jeans. Not shorts.

I was in a mine shaft! I took this picture!

So yes, I’m excited about our trip into the desert. And then, considering that we’re three fairly broke guys with fairly conservative personal ethics, what we’ll actually do in Vegas is something of a headscratcher. I think it’s down to either seeing a shark reef aquarium, a Komodo dragon, or the Lion King if we somehow hit it big on the $5 we’ve allotted for gambling.

Another great meeting today.

I’ll get to the details of that great meeting, but I think it’s strange this phenomena that I’m observing in myself. Despite being on a run of great meetings, and becoming increasingly comfortable during the meetings themselves (in fact, often not wanting them to end when I’m actually in the meeting) – I find that I’m kind of anxious in anticipating the meetings.  Even when it’s not logical, when all signs point to it being a good meeting.

Part of this – a large part of it, if not all of it, even – would be my experience with my previous manager and agent. I was so wide open to the world and hopeful and I was simply squelched and smashed in 3 straight horrific, traumatic meetings. As much as I logically know that that’s in the past, that they don’t, or shouldn’t, affect me now, that in fact I’ve moved on and up…. well, I think emotionally I’m still dealing with the scar of that old wound. I’m not sure how to get through it, actually. But it now seems so deeply ingrained in me, this “hoping for the best and receiving the absolute worst” expectation. And I can push through it. But it robs me of some of the joy of the anticipation of the meetings themselves, and I don’t like that.

So I’ll keep trying to figure my way through this. But I think I expected bread and fish and was definitely forcefed stone and snake and now I’m walking through the aftermath of that whole nasty business.

Doc and I were talking about it today, and he brought up a great point. That dealing with these high pressure meetings in general – the prep, the during, and the after – all of that requires a certain amount of mental and spiritual muscle that must be developed and strengthened over time. It’s like running a marathon. You can’t really just jump into it. And that’s for normal people. With my experience, I’m like a person with a trick ankle training for a marathon. I think strength training and some kind of rehab is probably in order.

But again, back to that great meeting.

Our hour-long drama idea (not CLIPPED, by the way, it’s a more conventional network procedural that Doc and I have been developing anticipating that a conventional network procedural would be an easier sell) is a hit with our agent, and another UTA agent she invited into the meeting. She feels very confident of where we are with it now, and wants to put together a list of producers prior to the weekend. For us to meet with. With the goal of having one of these producers attach themselves to the project and then take it to the networks for a pick-up.

Meeting with high level producers – the head writers on series… this is definitely another step. And another big piece of evidence that we are firmly in the game. It’s very exciting.

So that’s where we are right now. And it’s not a bad place to be at all.

And all of a sudden I’m struck by the tragedies that have slashed into the lives of so many loved ones in the past years and I’m just sad. But then I think about the way they’ve fought back and proven that life is worth living in good times and bad and I’m proud of them. But still kind of sad.

The worst are emails that Doc and I have to send to IMPORTANT PEOPLE. We sometimes agonize over the subject lines, hoping we get them right and don’t somehow accidentally breach some kind of protocol with these little subject lines. (It’s a dangerous business sending emails in Hollywood, people.)

Anyway, a day packed with so much work. I literally had 10 minutes of down time between 8 am and midnight. And that’s just not right. And truly hiking in Colorado will officially be a distant dream, but I did see some mountains outside the window. So there’s that.

Our TV agent has responded favorably to a show idea that Doc and I have been developing. Will hopefully be pitching in the very near future…. Will keep you posted.

Such is work, sometimes. And at least I get paid for it. Or else I wouldn’t have any money. So there’s that, I suppose.

And who knows? Maybe I’ll be able to sneak out and see something. Although I didn’t get to do that in Phoenix – though the sweltering 115 degree weather might have had something to do with that too.

Now, as much as these next three days are probably going to be a tease, the days after that are promising to be much fun indeed. What other word than “fun” can you use to describe the following events:

One of my best friends flies into town. We drive together to meet another one of my best friends who’s finishing up business in Vegas. We crash at his place in Mandalay Bay and spend one night in Vegas – hoping to avoid having any small violent asian men wielding crowbars locked in our trunk, of course. (If you haven’t seen the movie The Hangover, please know that I’m not just randomly making that comment.) We will then drive back from Vegas and spend a couple of days chilling in LA. Then one friend flies home and Sunday, and the other on Tuesday. Pretty cool right?

And then 3 of the most special people in the world are flying back on that Wednesday – so I’ve got a lot to look forward to. There will hopefully be some meetings or at least phone calls with representation at UTA too, in the midst of all that, as the writing career continues to gather momentum. Or an exec. Or a producer. We’ve got a lot of things going on these days.

So, yes, even if I’m stuck in a conference room knowing that there are probably amazing sights – that I will never see – to just outside, at least I do have a whole lot to look forward to.

That’ll give you an idea of the life of the party I live when Darby and the kids are away.

I’m going to Denver on Monday for a business (not writing) trip. Be back in LA on Wendesday. Because of this fairly last minute trip, I’ve been scrambling to get a lot of boring things done.

And this reminds me that my mom used to always tell us that being bored was a sin, because there’s always something to do. And also, that only boring people are bored. And truthfully, I think I took both those sayings to heart. So instead of boring, let me just say bland. Like spreadsheets and tax returns and wireframe review bland. Some would say boring, but not me anymore. Because that would be a sin.

And actually, the high point of my day wasn’t H&R Block. It was that I stopped at an Army/Navy Surplus store in Culver City. There used to be two of those in Delaware, but they both went out of business. So being able to go to another one was pretty great – I love the old military clothes. Watch out world, the revival of grunge is about to begin with me.

And the owner said the Governator is a frequent shopped there. Probably prepping his wardrobe for the next time he pops down to Guatemala to take on some inter-galactic alien hunter.

I got 2 shirts and 2 coats, all for dirt cheap.

So I guess that was the high point of the day.

A day that, on review, really wasn’t that boring. It just wasn’t a day at the beach.

For those of you keeping track, that brings us up to 2 feature film script, 1 TV pilot script, and now 1 TV pilot idea – all of which we’re waiting to hear UTA’s take on and strategy for. That could be nerve-wracking, but for some reason I’m just so busy that it’s not nearly as bad as it was a little more than a year ago when I was waiting to hear back from much lower level representation. (I mean, seriously, much – my manager at that time’s biggest client was someone who wrote for the WWE. Now my manager’s biggest client is Academy Award winning writer and director Paul Haggis. And my agent at the time works for an agency that made people say, “What agency is that, again?” and now it’s UTA.)

If things don’t work with any of those scripts, then it’s still forward progress – it’s definitely still a case of failing on a higher level. And failing on a higher level is actually great success in my book.

And I guess that’s a progress point, and an easy comparison that shows me how much progress I’ve made towards being a working, professional writer. I’m not freaking out, even though really the pressure should be about 100 times worse. Instead, I’m just working on the next batch of projects, creating the next slate should this one, for whatever reason, not pan out.

And that makes me thankful that I didn’t “cross over” a year ago, with that team around me – and with my own emotional and professional development. I’ve often said that I don’t want to ever attain more success than I can handle, and I think God took me at my word. I don’t think I could have handled much back then. I still had much to learn, as Yoda says to the young Padawan.

Today I had an annoying meeting with a Director that we’re writing a short film script for. We had finished the first draft, and I was – quite honestly – psyched about the script we’d put together. And since it was an idea we’d already gotten his sign off on, and the script read really well, I thought we were a couple light polishes away from being done. But he had moved off the idea, and decided he wanted something different all together.

Again, this is a good checkpoint. This would have devastated me before. Our meeting was even in the same Cafe where many of my most traumatic meetings with my former manager occurred. The kind of meetings where you’re thinking to yourself, “Oh no, don’t cry. Not here. Not in front of her, oh my am I crying already? I feel like I’m chocking. can she tell?” Yeah, those kinds of meetings. But now, I was able to take it in and respond professionally. My only interest is getting him to commit to an idea so we can execute against it – I’m not going to get up in arms because he’s not wanting to film something that I personally love. In a year when Doc and I have some extra money floating around, we’ll film it.

(Our new mantra, by the way, is always – save it for the spec. Save it for our project. That’s how we get through these annoyances.)

So there we are. I’m busy, and for some reason not stressing. I think that’s a natural result of time after time thinking, “Oh no! That can’t happen! That would be the WORST thing to happen!” and then that thing happens, and I find that I’m still surviving and thriving, and maybe the worst thing happening isn’t such a nightmare anyway.

And today I realized that it’s near the end of 2010, and the whole national economic crash happened in 2008 – almost a full 2 years ago, and though these past 2 years have been stressful and difficult, well – it’s 2 YEARS LATER and we’re not in debtor’s prison or homeless and we’re still treading water. And there’s kind of a peace to be found in that realization. A financial crisis of historic proportions happened and took down your business with it, and still you’re standing. So there’s that, you know?

But overall, the great meeting streak continues, and the momentum is exhilarating. Our agent is excited about two of the projects we told her about today, and seems to be moving fast on reading them and prepping us in an attempt to take some meetings and make some sales. It’s exciting.

I spent today and yesterday getting through a ton of work, and never even came down from the mountain or even got in the car. That’s weird, but strangely satisfying too. I’m really happy with a lot of the work we’re cranking out these days, and put a lot of time today into a treatment for a story that I think is going to be fantastic, honestly. It’s a great thing to be able to be excited about what you’re working on.

So tomorrow, we go from a meeting at UTA to a lunch on the Universal lot. That’s pretty cool.

A producer friend of ours read a draft of SKEET and LOVED it. While I don’t get all up and down over people loving or hating our stuff, the truth is that mostly the important thing is to not get down when people hate it. It’s always fun when someone enjoys something you’ve done.

She said:

LOVED IT – great dialogue, structure, pace, characters. so mature. really a great next step for you. congrats! I would be hard pressed to give an area of improvement. only thing that comes to mind is the reunion moment w Laura at the end came off a wee bit dated (strive for more Don Draper, less John Wayne in that scene). in reality, the other 97 pages are so strong, i forgave that one reunion moment when it didn’t land w me.

It’s not a bad note, either. We’ll have to take a look at that. Always nice especially to hear something good about SKEET, since that’s the script that my previous agent and manager basically gave me a swirly over because they hated it so much. My friend Collin got to read it too, and he said they were “Cray Cray.” (That’s short for crazy, people. Or, actually I guess long for it.)

Weird, I know. Except that when geckos don’t eat, it means they’re stressed or sick. And in the past, both of these lizards have declared their own little hunger.

And this has led us to fear for our lizards’ health. And them being our only pets, and probably the most beloved lizards in the entire world – yes even more than the Geico gecko, death is something to be feared mightily.

(Darby’s sister Merry, upon witnessing how much we all love Serendipity and Snow Leopard, commented that “if we love lizards this much, just imagine how much we’d love a dog or a cat.” And I have to say, such rampant mammalism is really distasteful. We can love reptiles, too, you know.)

But check it out – I’ve never seen them eat in the light before. They are normally just nocturnal predators.

I’ve kept myself busy, and I have meetings galore. Tomorrow is truly smashed to the hilt with them – and not really the exciting creative kinds either. More like the Marketing Project Management kinds that keep the rent paid even if they don’t exactly set any creative fires. And in the remainder of this week I actually do have some of those exciting creative meetings coming up. So Hooray for all that.

But instead I had something happen today that both made me realize just how blessed I am – and also made my heart hurt at the same time.

My son, my seven year old son, got onto facebook and posted this on my wall:

i miss you and love you and wish you can come to the beach with us

Ugh. I miss you and love you, too Ollie. And I really wish I could come to the beach with you!!! And it’s just so adorable that he proactively decided to write this on my wall. And really special.

Darby, Lyric and Ollie. Three people who I will always feel partially alone when I’m away from them for any great stretch of time – no matter who I’m spending time with or what I’m doing. There are people that occupy such huge portions of your heart that you cannot help but feel their absence.

Sigh. August 11th can’t come soon enough.

Moving on to other things:

Doc and I completed what we honestly had thought would be impossible. We cut our 93 page television script down to 63 pages. Without cutting out any characters or major sequences. Yes, just by going word by word through the script and forcing everything to justify it’s own place on the page, we were able to cut 30 pages of “non-essentials.” Now we can feel confident – 63 pages is a completely fine length for a TV pilot. It was painstaking labor, to be honest – I felt like I was restoring the Sistine Chapel with a toothbrush. It took us an average of 3 hours to get through every 10 pages. But it was well worth it.

Here’s another little sacrifice I’m making not being back on the east coast. My new niece with Lyric. This is an adorable moment!!

What a cute little butterball. I vividly remember taking both Lyric and Ollie out in the water at that age. So fun.

Lyric went to a concert the other night, and told me the only thing that would have made it more perfect would be if I was able to go along too. But she said she wasn’t going to be too sad about it because “at least he’s not dead!” And I guess yes, she has her priorities right there. I might have missed a concert, but at least I’m not dead.

I’m going to have to remember that, because really in the face of most sadnesses and setbacks, “At least I’m not dead” will probably win out every time.

This is the second weekend in a row that I’ve seen a completely original story (Inception being last week – which was also completely worth the price of admission and then some) that I just loved. I hope with more of and more of the retreads and reboots (which, by the way, I’m not completely against) doing badly this summer, that these two will stand out and encourage Hollywood to start making original stories for the screen again.

One thing exciting about Salt is that it’s very much in the same “wheelhouse” as a spec that Doc and I just finished, though our spec puts a pretty cool twist on it. It would be pretty cool if Salt does well and people are looking for Salt-ish stories and we have ours ready to go. One can dream, right?

Right now I do kind of feel that way about Doc and my career. Now I know that eventually we’ll miss a shot and what we do after that will be extremely important in determining the rest of the game (hint: work harder, don’t shrink back – basketball players need very short memories.) But for now, I’m just going to enjoy the hot streak.

We had a meeting with a Junior Creative Exec at Sony today. We had finished writing a treatment for an idea he had wanted to hear our take on, and he had read it the same day we delivered it and set up the meeting right away. This Exec had read our spec SKEET and loved the writing. That he wanted to talk to us about the treatment (and indeed, that he had read the treatment so quickly in the first place) was a very good sign.

The meeting was fantastic. Just a real burst of unfettered creativity between three people excited by and engaged in the process. Alex had liked our take, but had a number of insightful, excellent notes which challenged it and pushed it in a very welcome direction. By the end of the meeting, which actually ran about 90 minutes, we had ironed out the framework for what I think is going to be an excellent film. The Exec (and Doc) felt the same way. The lovefests are contagious!

It was difficult not to feel great after this meeting. One thing that bodes well for Doc and my career is that we’ve yet to really have a bad meeting (at least one that started out on neutral ground – we have had some strange meetings, but they were strange coming in because someone was trying to basically manipulate us – and still I think we did as well as could be expected in those situations.) On a number of different levels, we’ve held our own and managed to CREATE and collaborate. There’s this feeling that starts to settle into the room, kind of like an overtone that forms from the singing of a really great choir that’s singing in perfect unity – this feeling where you can freely exchange ideas, there’s no fear or nervousness, and the elements you’re creating are just building on each other until you’ve reached a place you simply know you couldn’t have arrived at by yourself – at least not in such a short period of time. It’s a heady feeling. And I love it.

This was supposed to be a short post. Ha. Goodnight.

Good days lately. Getting so much done.

Miss my family in a pretty dreadful way.

Read Doc’s blog for more about the meeting.

Oh and one funny story. Well, nevermind I’m tired.

After running the program for… I think, 4 straight days, I ACCIDENTALLY PUSHED “ESC” AND CANCELLED THE PROGRAM!!!

What is wrong with me? Now I have to…. start all over.

Forget about what I said about there being just ladders.

NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!

So I’m here.

While of course the reason why is extremely exciting, this reality is still somewhat of a bummer. I didn’t even get to say goodbye to so many people, hadn’t even yet really set into good hang out time with a number of friends and family because I thought I’d have another 6 weeks. And I’m going to miss the annual Latshaw trip to the beach, which I had really really been looking forward to. My family’s gone through an unbelievably tough time lately and I was enjoying just getting to be with them. Darby’s sister had just had an adorable little baby girl, and I was really loving getting to know her! In just two soccer games in our soccer league, I had 2 goals and 2 assists! Another friend had recently had a baby and I was going to get together with her and another mutual friend…

Add to this the fact – most of all – that I won’t see Darby or Lyric or Ollie for all that time and this is really truly a sacrifice that I can feel in my heart.

But, well, sometimes the road you’re supposed to take veers sharply and you find yourself somewhere you hadn’t anticipated. No reason really to complain too loudly about that.

Still, it’s nice to be back in good old Lorettaville, as Lyric likes to call it. It’s a peaceful little place, when it’s not overrun by rats and maggots and flies. It really is. (And at this point, it’s pestilence free.)

I was greeted by a giant cloud which had descended on our street. I love it when weird stuff like that happens. I mean really, it’s hard for people to understand just how much I do.

Camp Pedrolie-Latshaw came to an end tonight. We accomplished a ton this past week. I mean, not just the UTA signing, but creatively we just plowed through so much. Finished a large rewrite. Got a first draft on our 3-D short in the can. Completed a treatment for a project that we’re kicking around with a creative exec at Sony. (Meeting tomorrow!) Started in on our next feature. Came up with general ideas for what we’re working on next.

We’ve just about cleared our collective plates so we can work on our upcoming crop of projects. I love my normal life, and my normal routine – but for a week out of the year, living through a crash schedule of chasing food trucks / developing new ideas / writing pages / and watching movies? Not bad. Not bad at all.

DIGITAL ROT UPDATE!!!!

Since this has gotten to be such a bang up regular feature of this blog, we’ve upped the budget. It now features closeup views and animation.