Gettin' Hydrated Part III

To recap, first there is a mountain, then there is no mountain, then there is.

Also, there was a chasm, a cave, and a bridge.

And an email from The Manager informing me that he pulled my script from a pile of 1,400. He asked to see other scripts and, because I'd gone all hermit for a couple years, I had some. He liked. We talked some more.

The Manager knows lots of people. That's what managers do. I refer to The Manager as The Big Flirt, because I believe that is part of the manager job description. The Manager sent the script around to the people he knows (which, again, is a large number).

And... people liked it. Apparently I have a unique "voice". That is what people say when they like your writing. No, I don't know what it means. I try not to think about it.

And while people liked the script, nobody wanted to buy it. Because it was too "small". Too "indie". Too "fabulous". Okay, nobody said that last one.

But they did want to meet. And so I met. On all the studio lots and plenty off the lots, as well.

The first studio lot was Universal. I pulled up to the gate, the guard asked my name, I told him, he checked the computer and... gave me a pass. And a map. And told me where to park.

The checkpoint gate arm thing went up and I drove in, certain that poor bastard security guard would be canned by lunch for letting random citizens onto the lot.

And so the parade of meetings began. Free water and getting to know people.

And the thing about these meet-and-greets, they're like sex. Only with clothes, and without bodily fluids, and without the awkwardness the next time you see the studio exec, and meetings last longer, and no sex face.

But there is one similarity: When you start taking meetings, there's a period of time when you can remember each encounter. Then, after awhile, you can't.

But you know what? Even once you've become a studio slut, going on the lots is still cool. I keep expecting the day when I don't get at least a small rush, but it hasn't happened yet. And the reason I think it's still cool -- even if I know the meeting itself isn't going to be easy -- is because this is where movies get made.

Because for anyone who grew up loving movies, going in the Animation Building on the Disney lot and seeing early work-in-progress sketches of Snow White hanging on the walls -- that shit does not get old.