OWA / NEW MANAGEMENT / I MADE YOU A MIXTAPE (12 min)
Happy Friday!
It's been a busy couple of weeks. We took a much needed day trip to Sequoia National Park to stand in awe of the giants for a bit. There's a small handful of things in this world that act as an automatic pressure relief valve for me and giant sequoias have joined that list.
When I was a kid, hell, even when I was in college, I'd drive by the 1/3 scale replica of the Eiffel Tower at King's Island amusement park and get the shivers. There's something about being reminded how small I am that separates my soul from my body for a few moments. Or like how people used to throw open their windows and shake the dust out of their rugs in the wind. That's what being near sequoias does for my spirit.
Consider me well and truly dusted.
As I mentioned in the last newsletter, I had a staffing meeting for a show that I love. I’m sad to report that I did not get it. It was disappointing but it’s early in the year and it was my first shot. I can’t very well waste all of my despair two months into the year. We’re on the lookout for more of those opportunities and I’m focusing on my original stuff in the meantime.
I sent my reps the series pitch for my “Game of Thrones with public domain characters” to check out. They reached out to a couple of people who are very familiar with these characters, now we’re putting a meeting on the books for me to pitch this show to them. Even though I’d love to sell it as a series I’m aware that it’s a tough sell. If nothing else, it’s an opportunity to show how much I love these characters and that I (hopefully) have an imaginative take on it. If it at least gets me into the conversation for something else then it’s all time well spent.
The other two big things that happened over the past couple of weeks is that I’m pitching a take to some producers for a series open writing assignment, and I went on a round of meetings for potential new managers. I’m passing along things I took note of along the way.
Also, I made you a mixtape and there's a Yoda of the Week at the end.
As always, this isn't a how to, it's an ongoing process journal.
YMMV, etc.
Have a great weekend! Go do nature if you can!
Pitching on an OWA (open writing assignment)
Sometimes a producer or studio has a piece of material, could be a novel, a comic book, podcast, short story, news article, life rights, whatever, and they’re looking for a writer to develop it for film or television.
They send it to my agents, my agents send it to me if they think it’s something I’d be right for to gauge my interest. I read through it and if I’m interested we set up a meeting where I go in and pitch my “take” on how I would go about adapting it for series.
Often, you’re competing with a number of other writers for the job. Actually, it’s not even a “job” at that point, it’s weeks or months of free work to flesh out the pitch.
If you're lucky enough to sell It, well, then it’s an actual job.
So as I was reading this novel and coming up with my take here are five things I was thinking about and trying to figure out:
Why am I the perfect person to tell this story?
What’s the engine? I’ve mentioned this before but sometimes it’s helpful for me to break it down into three components. A) Who is this about and why will we care about them? B) What do they want, what happens if they don’t get it, why does it have to be now? That’s all external plot. And C) What is standing in the way internally? How is the pursuit of that goal going to change them, or require they change to achieve it?
Leaning heavy on character. This is the first time I’m pitching a new series since reading Into the Woods by John Yorke and I found it so helpful to think about the character’s facade. What are they projecting to the outside world? Who are they really? How does that create compelling conflict throughout?
I’ve lost out on OWA’s for being too beholden to the source material and I’ve lost out for veering too far away. It’s a gamble either way so I don’t second guess it. If I find myself veering toward a more faithful adaptation, I embrace it. If I feel like taking a wild swing I just go for it.
What are three or four exciting tentpole moments I can pitch in this early meeting that will make them excited to see my particular version of this show? A couple were centered on action, a couple were emotional, and one was a plot twist.
Once I have my talking points down I make a bullet point list. Then I rehearse talking through those points out loud a few times to see where I get tongue tied or start spinning out in search of more detail. It's a lot less involved than a fleshed out pitch but I still like to be over prepared.
Under New Management
I parted ways with my last manager at the beginning of 2021 and spent the past year seeing what it was like without one. Now, after two years of the WGA/agency conflict overlapping with two years of the pandemic I was feeling a little restless. I had a great Act One of a career, now it’s time to make that turn into Act Two. I know where I want to be, I felt like it was the right time to add some more people to the team to help get there.
My agents helped me put together a short list of people to meet with, since all of this is happening in the midst of pitching that OWA, pitching my series, and going on some other generals. They passed along the most recent samples to these managers, including my latest feature spec, plus my BARBARELLA pilot, and the pilots for REVERIE and EXTANT.
I knew they’d have a pretty good idea about what I’ve been up to. In the days before the meeting I wrote some notes to myself about where I want to go from here. What haven’t I done yet that I still want to accomplish?
I haven’t written a feature for a studio, let alone had one get made.
I haven’t written a musical yet. (I did get to spend a couple of weeks in a mini room for a musical series coming to Disney+. Unfortunately I didn’t get to continue on the whole journey but it sparked that desire again.)
I haven’t told a crime fiction story, which is an untapped part of my soul.
One of the other things I talked to them about is something I’ve spent a lot of time on in this newsletter, exploring new avenues for creating IP. Of course I’d love to work on a STAR WARS series, I’d love to work on a MATRIX or Marvel show but I still want to create my own story worlds. The MFCU. But that’s the (very) long game. I’m still finding my voice by writing short stories and hopefully finishing my first crime novel this year.
The processes are always a little stressful. Even now, after eight years in the business, I feel a little anxiety saying no to someone who wants to work with me because what if everything else falls through and I’ve burned that bridge?? And there's always a bit of anxiety because ideally these are long term relationships. If you get it right they can last for decades.
In the end, it comes back down to one of the first pieces of advice that my lawyer, Jeff Frankel, gave me in our very first meeting. He told me to trust my instincts. It’s so easy to second guess myself, especially when so much of the work in this business is subject to criticism and rejection. It’s easy to lose your compass. But if I’m honest with myself about my goals and intentions, if I sit in the stillness and listen, I generally find there’s an obvious answer. I'm still in the process, will update you soon.
Oh, one other thing I wanted to mention.
All four of these manager meetings were in person.
I kind of missed that, actually.
Except for the traffic.
I Made You a Mixtape (Playlist)
I’ve told you that one of my ways of coping when everything is falling apart is that I put “Solsbury Hill” by Peter Gabriel on repeat and just go driving around in my car. He wrote it about making the decision to leave Genesis right as they were exploding. It gives me a lot of comfort to remember that, if necessary, I can always find another way to make a living.
I was browsing through my library the other day and realized I have a bunch of songs that give me that same feeling of catharsis or comfort when I’ve hit a wall creatively or professionally. I started adding them to a playlist and thought I’d share them with you.
This is by no means a complete or even exhaustive list of perfect songs for this kind of mood. These are just songs in my own library that I’ve naturally gravitated to over the years that trigger a feeling of release, relief, or escape. Some of them are anthemic, others are more like hymns. If you’re tired of your own stuff, if you’ve hit a wall and need some creative catharsis, maybe they’ll do the same for you.
(Apple and Spotify versions below)
By the way, if you have a song that does the same thing for you please let me know and I’ll add it to the playlist this week. It’ll be more of a community catharsis list.
Creative Catharsis by Michael Fisher on Apple Music — music.apple.com Listen to Creative Catharsis by Michael Fisher on Apple Music. Stream songs including "Flower Parts", "The Things I Regret" and more.
Creative Catharsis - playlist by mickeyfisher73 | Spotify — open.spotify.com Listen on Spotify:
Yoda of the Week
I was driving around Orange County Saturday night, listening to NPR, which is how you know I’m 48.
Anyway, I was listening to The Moth and heard the most beautiful story from a natural born storyteller named Dan Larsen. There's so much heart and wisdom here, the ideal Yoda on a number of levels. The link to audio of his story is on this page:
The Moth | The Art and Craft of Storytelling — themoth.org The Moth is a nonprofit organization that builds empathy through live and virtual storytelling shows, open-mic storytelling events, The Moth Radio Hour, The Moth Podcast and storytelling workshops.