Howdy, Strangers!

I've been busy. Working. Writing. And vacationing.

The last few years I've been really focused on writing, and learning to write, and haven't really generated any producing projects to speak of -- other than the ones that have fallen into my lap I've mostly just been collecting ideas. Well, this fall I've decided I'll try my hand at setting up a few things and see how I feel about diving back into that end of the business. Baby steps.

My first effort is towards acquiring the rights to a film that was made about 30 years ago. I'll keep you posted if it works out. I've contacted the rights holder and am waiting to hear back if there's any interest. If there is I'll write up a sales document -- basically a 1-2 page story idea which details my "take" on the re-telling and see if that gets any traction. If it does then I'll find an "element" (writer, director, actor or, given the state of the business, a financier) and walk into one of these big friendly agencies (*snark*) and give up a few percentages of my speculatively nice fee to have a package put together.

I think I've written about packaging before, so I won't go into the details of it here, but suffice to say that it is the best and worst thing to happen to the producing side of things since the studios were all sold to conglomerates and greenlight decisions started being affected by stock prices.

I'm planning to do a few book and short story options as well. *Sigh* It sucks to be working alone, so I'm hoping to find someone to partner up with, either another "creative" type or someone who really is just trying to produce. That would be nice since I hate all the paper-pushing that goes along with the job.

OK, last part of the update (and I promise my next post will be a real post, not this information dump) I recently started meeting with a group of kick-ass screenwriters, all relative newbies, and it's been great. The pace is fast which is part of the reason I joined the group, and we turn in pages every week. Some of these guys are turning scripts around in 1-2 weeks which is intimidating since I'm an unrepentant chiseler-in-stone type of wordsmith, but I thought it would be a good idea to pick up on the habits of people who can pour the pages out. I've learned a tremendous amount just talking to these guys and I can feel the studio story-development plaque shaking free. :-)

I'm off to the gym, trying to get my sexy back (still) after a long, lazy winter. Or two. LOL.

The Craft of Development

I recently met with a friend of mine to discuss a script. One of the main issues I've encountered, and the reason my friend called me up to ask for a read, is that it is difficult to navigate the development process on your own. Most folks will read your script and give you their impressions and overall concerns about a script. Some hardy souls will sit down with you and talk story, maybe give you some craft concerns to follow-up on, but rare is the reader who will really hang in and get you through the development from concept to spec. So, my friend and I agreed that we would exchange material and put in our full professional rigor to one another's projects.

When I give notes, I like to go through the entire script once with a pen and mark up my first impressions, then I sit down and write a memo of my impressions and possibly suggestions for springboards, then I go back over the script and pull out my page notes, type those up, sort them into categories and see how they relate back to the notes I started. Finally, I put the whole thing aside for a couple of days (or hours as the case may be), re-read the script (a clean copy with no notes on it) and mark it up again, then I re-read my notes and see if my impressions or understanding have changed and I make adjustments accordingly.

For the most part, this system leads to a lengthy meeting in which I go through the script page by page with the writer, we talk about theme, motive and intentions, the original vision for the story, what worked and what didn't, we talk about writing exercises that might help to unearth new story or character understandings, then we go through the writing strategy for the next draft. Sometimes you can skip parts of this -- especially if the writer's concerns were specific and can be directly addressed -- but most often it seems like you can skip this part, but really you need to push through until you see the words THE END.

This is the craft of development. At some point, you'll sense that the work is best viewed through the eyes of an actor and that's when it's time to set up a reading. I have a few casting director friends and actor friends that I call when I need to do this and then I get a theater rehearsal space or a stage and have at it. I don't worry too much about how close to the character the actor is, but I do try to work with actors who have training and have done stage work -- I'm sure I've mentioned this before.

Anyway, I'm reworking a spec this month which I will turn over to my friend for his notes and I have to get back to work on this indie script I'm working on for a friend. And the book still refuses to write itself. Damn it. :-)

Two of the women in my novel writing group have either sold or are on the verge of selling their books, so, while I am immensely proud of them, I'm looking at my collection of pages and desperately urging them to breed. I missed our big reading in December because I was overseas on a gig, but I did get a nice set of stationary from the bookstore (mmm, fancy), and I think we'll probably do a reading down here. I haven't read any of my own work in so long I'm terrified of the idea, but I'm fully committed to the writing lifestyle and I know this is part of it.

Long Time, No Post

Hey guys,

I've officially past the halfway point in the novel! Yay! This was only accomplished by cutting myself off from reality for the last three weeks and now I'm craving human contact. The strike sucks, and I think will continue to do so for at least a few more weeks before it even starts to look better, and anyone who wants to maintain his or her sanity is focusing on "outside interests". Better blogs than this one have taken on this topical issue, so I'll just stick to the production and development stuff.

On that note, I'm currently heading overseas to produce and "direct" a little documentary. It's been a whirlwind three days which started on Saturday when I checked my voicemail for the first time in days. A friend of mine called to offer me a budgeting gig with a client, one thing led to another, and now I'm sitting here in a hotel room, bleary eyed, hacking away on my dying laptop. You gotta love your friends -- when I called her today to let her know the status, she started laughing when she realized the guys had actually contracted me for the work. This is one of those crazy jobs they make you sign an NDA for, nothing X-rated, but one which may die a quiet death in obscurity. I hope not, I really like the guys I'm working with, it's giving me a chance to employ some of my favorite people in a time when most folks aren't working, and I get per diem. Heh, heh, heh.

Anyway, unlike productions past I won't be able to share any details at all. If that changes I'll post some photos. In the meantime, some of my favorite advice with plenty of Tom Swifties thrown in: stay cool, especially when you're hot.

A Little Update

So, the last few weeks have been hectic. The show is in post, on the East Coast, and I'm trying to settle back into my writing routine. That includes more regular posting. I promise.

There are a few things percolating that I will blog about if they get a little less ephemeral. I've pitched a couple ideas recently, but with the strike coming up, it's hard to tell if the interest (and the exec) will still be around once things get back to business. In the meantime, I'm keen to polish up the feature drafts I finished last spring and to get another current TV spec together.

I'm trying to get my samples in a good place for after the strike so I can go out and set up a few producing gigs and writing projects. The actor who was involved in my TV gig is interested in something I pitched to him, so now I have to circle back around and find out if I can get any traction on the idea (with him, his reps, and the network/cable outlets I think would want the project). And I have to decide if this is the best use of my time. It's easy to get your head turned by projects that seem like they will fast-track themselves (because an executive has expressed interest in the idea, because there seems to be talent circling the project, because a financier has contacted you asking for material), but frequently it's best to hedge a bit and not go completely off your own game plan.

When you are established, i.e. people know you can deliver on what you are pitching and that what you deliver is commercial and/or has artistic merit this part of the process isn't as painful. You aren't fighting for credibility, just for a place at the table. If I were to go back into the industry as a development executive, or start producing mid-range urban films (under $15-20 million pix) I'd have an easier time of it, but showing and proving as a writer is an entirely different struggle. It's a lot more emotionally difficult because I actually care about the material that I'm pitching, I've lived with it, fought with myself over it, built up a lot of investment in it, and then here comes the d-girl side of me telling myself everything that's not working or needs to be changed in order to get it through the right doors.

Ugh.

Anyway, "Pity Party, your table for one is ready." Back to the grind, people. And it's not all bad. I'll let you know some of the good stuff once this dark bit has passed. :-)

No Good Deed....

I'm "segment producing" for a friend of mine for this little show that will air this fall. Nothing exciting (including my paycheck), but it has got me on the run. It started out as a 2-day favor that has morphed into me negotiating rights deals, booking crews and trying to get network exex to close talent deals. Ugh. This. Is. Why. I. Write. I miss my little dog. I miss my quiet little armchair. I miss my afternoons curled up at Starbucks, tapping away at my little scribblings.

Anyway, back to the grind. I'll keep you posted. Novel is/was going well. Trying to get some pages together for a reading in the Bay Area at the end of the year. The novel-writing group is getting some national coverage which is very gratifying. If only my book were finished, perhaps it would help me move ahead.... :-)

Keep on trucking, people.

MAX ROACH IS GONE

RIP. Man, I love Max Roach. First Mr. Batiste and now Max. I hope you all get a chance to spin a few for a great jazz man.

Again with the Random Musings...

I've spent the last week or so figuring out what I'm going to do with myself if there is a strike. I have a few ideas for reality shows so I'm developing those and will see where that takes me if and when the time comes to put that iron in the fire. From what I understand networks will have banked enough episodes of things to get them through November sweeps, then it's winter hiatus, then back with some mid-season replacement stuff that is shooting as you read this and if there is no strike, back to business as usual, but if there is a strike it will be wall-to-wall reality. I think anyone working at those big reality production houses has their fingers crossed right now. I know most studios learned from their mistakes last time around (2001) and have plenty of options in case things get nuclear around here. Including putting executives on leave and not renewing contracts. I had a clause like that in my deal, but, fortunately, it never came to that.

Last time around, just like this time, agencies took advantage of the strike to trim their client lists and cut loose anyone who was under-performing or just plain troublesome. I had a few friends who were "fired" by their agencies and it has been a long road back. First the year of depression and humiliation, then the year of spec writing and humiliation and depression, then the year of the comeback, and bitterness and depression.... :-) Anyway, I credit that last major trimming with consolidating the position and power of managers in this town. There were tons of very talented people suddenly at loose ends, desperate to get back in the game, willing to write on spec who were accessible, some for probably the first time in a very long time.

I'm also developing a series of webisodes that a couple of girlfriends of mine and I have been kicking around since May. One of my friends recently landed at a new internet entertainment site and they are desperate for content. She is lucky enough to be hooked up at a place that is the daughter of a highly trafficked site so they need content more than anything right now. I doubt it would cover more than the cost of producing the actual work, but considering that we were going to do it all for free, this seems like a good way for me to get a little directing under my belt before I attack my short film.

If any of you (Will?) have suggestions for the approach one should use when shooting for the itty bitty screen I'd love to hear them. I read a post over at Complications Ensue about Mobisodes that really started me thinking about how to do this. We don't really envision this thing ever getting off the internet and onto a phone screen, but I am really concerned about the screen ratio of that YouTube box. I've shot some stuff for TV before (just news footage when I was a wee-little Diva still delusionally thinking I wanted to be a hard-hitting journo) and it seems to me that the "readable" portion of the screen is the same -- meaning lots of close-ups and medium shots. I actually like movies that take advantage of depth of field (I'm thinking about TOKYO STORY here), so I'm wondering if anyone has thoughts about that, specifically. I haven't seen too much stuff produced for the web that uses depth of field in any meaningful way and I'm not sure if that's the constraints of the medium (resolution and bandwidth interrupting the impact of long shots that rack focus and/or feature fore, mid and background action) or just that the medium hasn't matured enough for folks to be exploiting it that way yet.

Anyway, back to the reality stuff. I have a close friend who I kick ideas around with, talk story, gossip, etc. She and I have been trying to find a way to spend all of 2008 out of the country. Preferably not working, but we will take what we can get. I'll keep you posted. I still have to get to my cheese tour of England and France....

RANDOM MUSINGS

It's too hot in my little cottage to do much thinking and I refuse to abandon the dog and head to Starbucks. Last summer we only had about 10 days of really heinous weather, but this entire month has been on-again/off-again heatwave after heatwave. Not to mention the single-digit humidity that's making my eyes dry out and th dog's fur feel like straw. Poor puppy. I rearranged the house a few weeks ago and he refused to sleep in the room where I moved his bed to. He went back in the other room, curled up under the furniture that was now occupying where his bed used to be, and stayed there until I finally gave in, moved the cabinets back where they were, put the old carpet back down and put his bed back on top of it. Stubborn dog....

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The director just emailed me to let me know he's picture-locked and is sending the film off for scoring and a sound mix. He's calling in all his big favors for this, so I think there may be a sound stage visit at some point. If there is any interest I could blog about that at some point.

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For me, I'm working on my book (more these last few weeks, sorry for the no posting), finishing up that outline I started so many weeks ago, and tweaking my spec pilot. One of my friends was staffed on a show that is new this fall, very exciting. She's been telling me all the good stuff about how the writers' room works on her show, and her boss loved 2 of her pitches, so she's probably going to get something aired this season. She rocks.

I've got some major stuff brewing, but it's slow-boil stuff, so no big announcements yet, if the attorneys get involved I'll share. It's book-related not screenplay or TV stuff, but still very exciting for me. I have a few minor things published, but I'd love to have a big fat unapologetic credit on my resume. When I started the novel, I was looked at it as a creative outlet. I can't imagine it will sell a million copies and by my dream house, but if I sell it and get enough to buy a writing shack in the forest somewhere that would be amazing. Fingers crossed that the slow-barge to publication doesn't get hung up on a sandbar (and, no, the metaphors in my book are not this bad).

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With this writers' strike looking more and more real, deal-making around town is stutter-stepping. It's business as usual, except it really isn't since writers are paranoid there won't be work at the end of the year, and studios and networks aren't buying at the same pace. Not to mention all the agency blood-letting going on. Feels like it's almost time for a game of musical chairs. All it takes is the strike, a few bad movies, and a couple of moguls on the loose to upset the applecart.

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I was reading all of Nikki Finke's coverage of the Ed Limato madness over at ICM, and I can't help but feel like she's being spoonfed her coverage (big surprise). I remember a few months back reading about another (much more junior) agent's job-hopping and it read like a press release. Note to tipsters: when calling in favors to spin your firing, do not include personal details that only you would tell someone else, but that no one would ever gossip about. First sign of an amateur, and a surefire way to mark you as a big-mouthed narc to friends and foes alike. Just saying.

Anyway, back to the Limato-nightmare. Hollywood is the kind of town that you can except to get jacked in at any time. Especially when you get old. There aren't too many old guys who are sacrosanct around here, and the few who are still know how to administer a beat-down. I don't know Mr. Limato, or the other gentlemen involved personally, so I can't comment on that situation, but the rule of thumb around here is keep attacking. Especially if they don't know you are. Unless they can strip him of his clients, the only thing they can hope to do is keep "servicing" them until one of them decides to defect. I can't see that happening since his clients are known for how loyal they are and Ed's swung for the fences for them for, literally, decades. And those guys still work. I hope he ends up someplace he's respected, with great directors and a solid drama writing list. I hate to see folks disrespect their elders.

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OK, I'm going to workout, then I have to meet a friend for dinner. Have a great weekend. Requests, comments and tips are always welcome. But no spam. Unless it's fried.

Notes Coming Out My Ears

First up, thanks to Will for the link on your blog and the advice -- I'm putting it to use already! I reoutlined the feature spec and found some good holes, so I think if I can figure out a more concrete objective for my protagonist, one that is thematically linked to his internal conflict, then I'm golden.... Until the next draft anyhow. :)

In other news, Saturday I went to a get together and ran into a few television writers. Last year, a friend got me into a table read-thru and the writers' room during a taping day and I was able to watch them solve a few last minute problems and break a story that played later in the season. Very cool stuff. It was nice to see those folks and catch up with them and feel like an insider while they dished.

My experience working as an executive doesn't really help me in situations like that, not directly, anyway. No one cares which directors I've worked for, or what credits I have, or what studio was paying my car allowance. These are writers who are, generally speaking, well-paid, they are at the top of their game industry-wise, and for the most part, only looking up. I mean nothing to them. I do have basic social skills from giving and taking pitches for the last ten years, so I didn't embarrass myself or nothing.

Then, tonight, this manager I've been chatting with called me about the spec pilot. He liked it, feels like it will get me work (yippee!) and gave me notes. Ugh. Nothing crazy, I don't need to reconceive the pilot, or the structure, just deepen some things that I had sketched in, make a bit more of a meal out of the basic character conflicts/objectives, and clarify some plot points. So, tonight I'm typing up what he and I talked about (after this post...), then tomorrow morning I'm off to Starbucks for a few hours to see what I can get done. I want to get the pilot out to a couple of drama writers I met at the party who've agreed to read it and give me pointers. I want a nice polished piece before I hand it over to the agent. Then, I have to write a current sample. This never ends, does it? Luckily, I'm hyperactive.

Chris: I've been asking around, but I don't really talk to the production company contacts I used to have, and studios use union readers. I'll keep you posted if I hear of anything. My suggestion to you is to dust off your resume, put the non-Hollywood stuff at the bottom, and at the top put a section that details your writing related/story training stuff. E.g. Robert McKee's story structure class, that part-time MFA in Screenwriting you've pursued, or the festivals you placed in -- I can write a longer post about what folks look for in a reader if you want, but there's an excellent book called READING FOR A LIVING that I highly recommend. It is dated, but for the most part that job hasn't changed since it was invented. Once you've got the resume reconfigured, go ahead and start sending it out along with a copy of sample coverage. Sample coverage should be for a script that is out in the world, but unproduced. For example, THE TRUMAN SHOW was the first script that I did coverage on (How old am I?! Yikes!). At that time, it was well-known as a solid, but flawed screenplay, something that everyone agreed should be made, but no one could seem to pull it together. That is, of course, until Jim Carrey came along.

I was never able to get work as a reader because I'm far to literal to write summary, fortunately for me I was able to hustle my way into an executive job. I always looked for readers who had some formal training, either in screenwriting or literary analysis. I didn't like to use readers who read for too many folks, but always wanted readers who had experience. My main criteria were: good grammar (cuz I need all the help I can get), objective analysis (meaning, I didn't want a reader who felt that their job was to pass or recommend material to me, but rather someone who understood dramatic structure well enough to know if a screenplay worked and why or why not), and consistency (both in terms of their taste in material and their work habits). I employed about 5-7 readers in addition to reading myself and aside from my core group, used about 2-3 readers on a rotating basis. Every production company is different, and generally it is the story editor who hires the reader, so directing your queries to that person, or his/her assistant is a safe bet.

Good luck with all of that, I don't think the reader route is for everyone, and certainly don't think it's the only (or the best) way to learn story structure. Actually making the scripts you've written is the most effective teacher, especially if you can find filmmakers who meet or exceed your own skill level. That's my advice, anywho, worth what you payed for it minus depreciation.... :-)

Another Job Call

Every six months or so, I get a call to see if I would be interested in "meeting" about a job. I don't take every one of these that floats down the river, but if I think the person who is inquiring is interesting, or if it would just be rude for me to turn it down, I'll go in. I'm 99% committed to my artistic poverty and the whole notion of writing until I sell something, but there is that little niggle of doubt that haunts me. When I get calls like the one I got this morning, that doubt trebles in urgency and the next thing I know, my eyelid is twitching again....

This morning an agency friend called to ask me if I wanted to go in and meet with a client who just got a boatload of financing and a distribution deal with a pretty substantial marketing committment behind it. As you may or may not know, having money to make a movie, getting a movie into theaters, and spending money to let folks know the movie is made and out there, are each entirely separate things and have to be approached as such. So, this place sounds like it could be set up pretty nicely. In my previous incarnation as baby shark in Gucci pumps, I would have shown up with double-shot soy lattes for everyone, but, with my goals in sight (the writing is getting much much better), I'm not as interested in the dance as I would have been this time last year.

The irony here, of course, is that the dance is just that, a dance. I call her, she invites me to meet and it's on from there. Here's a little Hollywood for you:

an office meeting -- she's not that serious, but if I can tapdance well enough she might tease me;

a coffee date -- she's not that serious, but she doesn't want to insult me so she's playing the "we're close enough to not need to do the whole formal thing with one another," tap dancing required;

a breakfast/lunch date -- she's serious, but I'm still too junior for her to beg, a softshoe is in order;

a dinner -- she's serious, real serious, if I play my cards right I might pry out enough money to buy a real house somewhere near the beach, no dancing, but a nice rhythmic swaying would be prudent;

a dinner at Mr. Chow's -- how serious am I about this job? They'll double whatever I ask, but they will own me.

If I were looking for an exec/producing for hire gig, this one wouldn't be it. I'd shoot for something at a studio-based production company, something at a branded entertainment deal (meaning they already have a name for themselves, so you're pushing product) because when you've been dead as long as I have, you gotta find a way to make what's old look new (Chris Rock has a funny blue riff on this that I won't repeat here), and the best way to do that is following a mandate and filling a slate -- the assembly line assures that you won't wont for submissions, and the brand guarantees that you have a wide mouth ready to swallow whatever you're serving.

To build a new company, from the ground up, with all the pressures independent financing brings (e.g. the slate has to hit the ground running, there's little time for development because the money is coming from individual institutions, not some corporate board with a thousand other ways to monetize your failures), is a huge endeavor. I've participated in a few of those and they're startups, and have the same advantages and disadvantages of every start up.

Anyway, I might get sucked into the meeting out of guilt and loyalty. But I won't like it. I'd rather be home, writing.

One of the Reasons I Got Out

I recently came across a very angry filmmaker I never worked with when I was a producer and an executive. He's doing much better for himself than he was when I was passing on his scripts, turning down his dinner invitations, and in general avoiding him. He's not rich, but he got his movie made, he got distribution, and hopefully, someday soon, he'll realize that this is all that matters. In the meantime, I'm avoiding his angry little behind like the Plague.

A lot of people take their rejections personally. And it's hard not to take rejection personally when someone is telling you that your dreams aren't what they are looking for, not good enough, or not commercial. This is one of the reasons why I got out. I hate being the bearer of bad news. Not just because it's emotionally painful to tell someone you can't help make their dreams come true, but also because I'd rather just get it out of the way and leave no room for backpedaling -- which can seem impersonal to some people. Well, guess what? A "good" pass is impersonal. It has nothing to do with you, who you are, or, hopefully, your future potential submissions to the person who passed.

When you are a female executive, male filmmakers (and agents, directors, actors, etc.) think they can hustle you by showering you with attention, flattery and a little romance. It works pretty frequently because, as an executive, you're typically working 80 hours a week and you never get to leave town. Whenever you see a crappy movie that should've died at birth, there's a romance somewhere in the background. I'm not one of those folks. I rarely work, or even really discuss work, with the guys that I date. I might have a general discussion about movies, or story, but I've never been one of those people who fantasize about being part of a "Hollywood Power Couple." Consequently, the men I dated who did work in the industry were not folks I ever planned to work with -- occasionally to their consternation.

I guess the point of this post is that if you discover that you are one of the folks I never worked with when I was at The Studio, YOU are one of the reasons I got out. Kindly cross to the other side of the street and carry on.

Mystery Solved

Today when I signed onto Blogger I bothered to read the log-in page. Apparently, in my rush to be ahead of the tech-curve (damn me for being an early early adopter!), I didn't realize I would lose all ability to comment on non-beta blogs and to mobile blog. The only good thing I can say about this development is that it's kept me off the internet long enough to get through two books and a couple of scripts over the last week. Now I remember what I did before I got dsl.

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One of my short films is inching closer to production. I'm staging a read-thru in three weeks or so (still waiting for word on the theatre and actors), but I heard from the director today and he is ready to go! I've been racking my imagination for a way to include the Shark Sub in my story, but, I only have 2 days of shooting and the story has absolutely NOTHING to do with submarines (not even through every stretch of my insane imagination). Oh well, I'm going to put in a dialogue reference and see if we can't do something about that on the day we shoot just in case a couple of hours free themselves up....


P.S. This is from one of my favorite goof off sites.

Happy Birthday Dog!

I bought my dog when I quit my studio job. He was eight weeks old, 3 1/2 lbs, and mostly potty trained. So, every year at this time during "our" anniversary it reminds me that I quit in order to enjoy some "outside interests." As we bear down on Labor Day Weekend I encourage all of you to get out in the world, kick up your heels and find something else to do!

P.S. The indie film is coming back into my life in dribs and drabs. I'll keep you all posted once I've spoken with the other producer. The filmmaker, bless his heart, was really passionate about the work I've done with him so far and had a heart-to-heart with the guy who brought me the film. As a producer I do not like to call attention to myself, or to be the source of any drama on a project. In this particular instance, I felt that I would be more of a problem unhappy than off the movie. Anyway, we'll see what happens.

Broken-Hearted

Well, I had a very emotional last few weeks. It's affected my writing, my sleeping, and my blogging. I had to make a very difficult decision to part ways with the independent film that I've been working on for about a year now. The project was originally brought to me by another producer and we had a disagreement (an amicable one, since we've been friends for about 7 years now) about how to move forward.

When I left my former life, I made a pact to establish myself as a writer. I'm super competitive so it's been murdering me to listen to my friends succeed (I mean, I'm happy for them, but I also know I could be them), while I toil away at home, doing all kinds of crazy jobs to keep my dog off the street and my little putt-putt on the road. Ultimately, I guess it came down to me not wanting to compromise during the hours I don't spend writing. I agonized over it, and came to the conclusion that the sadness I feel at leaving is far outweighed by the anxiety I felt staying.

Anyway, I finally spoke with the filmmaker today to reassure him that I wasn't leaving the project because I no longer believed in his film or in him. These are always really difficult calls, and I'm happy to say he is a very classy guy and it went as well as it could (no tears!). So, broken-hearted, I'm writing out my sorrows in this little scene I came up with over the weekend for my TV pilot. It's a bit arch right now, very mellow dramatic, wounded warrior kind of stuff which I'll smooth out later, but it sort fits with how I'm feeling right now....