Holding the Winning Ticket...

As I was talking with a good friend last night, we were discussing Elle and Jake and the further news that financing was looking good for the latter film and the former was close to sale. He congratulated me, which I never take as gracefully as I should, and compared the situation to holding a winning lottery ticket. I like that analogy, and it seems fitting.

I'm in a position I've heard few writers discuss, so if I wax verbose, bear with me, but maybe it will help someone down the line or, maybe, even inspire someone. After getting hired for a gig for the low-budget production of Elle, at a ridiculously low wage, but it was everyone's first film, so no criticism there, I fulfilled the initial dream. As my manager said, "You give away the first script, you get paid for the rest." More than anything, I wanted to be able to look at a shelf and see the DVD of the movie I had written sitting there. That's not quite happened, yet, but it will and it's close. The big worry, following that production, was, 'Will I get another job?' Fortunately, the same people behind Elle wanted to do a second, and that contract has been signed, the first draft delivered and notes on the way.

The latter film was contracted under WGA low-budget rates, so much of the pay is still deferred, and we'll see how all that goes. Another film is looming for the fall and I still have a script almost ready to pitch in the agents' hands. So, it is like holding the lottery ticket. Not sure about the winning part, yet. But it feels amazing when I take a moment to stop and appreciate the fact that the original dream has come true. I wrote a film that was actually made into something real. It's an awesome responsibility, and there were moments I failed the film as a writer, and I accept that, knowing I'm better at the craft now and that I will say the same thing throughout my (hopefully long) career. You are always better than the script you wrote last. You've learned, honed, practiced. I think Jake will be a lot of fun. I think the next one will be better.

So, after Jake is complete, a weird sort of limbo state enters where I have some rewrite work to do, but no official gigs. It's frightening, because I want to keep doing this - keep creating, keep writing, keep filling the page. And I always will, but it's a lot nicer to be paid for it. The ticket I hold has two outcomes. The first is that the numbers hit, and this movie leads to the next which leads to the next and so on. The other result is that, after this film, the phone doesn't ring. The agents lose faith. And I'm relegated to the day job for the remainder of my days, still writing, and boring people with stories of how I almost made it to the big time.