Monday, May 16, 2011

Ugly Pitch Meeting

An unpleasant pitch meeting this morning. The exec. clearly was looking for reasons not to buy my animated TV show idea and couldn't wait to tell me. On the one hand it was refreshing to receive the blunt, unvarnished truth, on the other hand who wants the blunt unvarnished truth when it isn't good news?

I've never had a rewarding experience at this particular studio, despite the fact that I know many people who have worked there for years and proclaim it a pleasant environment. Several years back, one big exec. dissed me to my agent and would not allow me to even pitch there. What triggered his animus has yet to be revealed. In any case, his no-pitch edict was successfully enforced. Today was my fourth pitch in six years. (On one of those pitches I was the writer attached to a big star's project; on another they passed on a fav, Tomorrow Bear.)

On Wednesday, I have a double-header, pitching a brace of animated TV show ideas to an exec. at another studio where I've had universally pleasant but financially meager dealings over time.

"Each new at-bat holds the potential for a variety of outcomes."
— Billy the Marlin, mascot for the Florida Marlins

7 comments:

Keeper said...

Wishing you super good luck. We need something animated on TV that isn't a sitcom and neither is it just weird for the sake of being weird.

Unfortunately I think that's all the execs want because that's all there currently is. Can't risk something "new" even when it's something old. Harumph.

JP Mac said...

Thanks, Keeper.

Hope springs eternal, as the poet said.

And he oughta know. How much do poets make?

Keeper said...

How much what?

Money? Not much.

Sense? Even less.

Tom Ruegger said...

"Each new at-bat holds the potential for a variety of outcomes."
— Billy the Marlin, mascot for the Florida Marlins

"There are no highlight reels of bunts." -- Ken Burns baseball doc.

I think there is a book in what you are doing...seriously. And with humor!

JP Mac said...

You might have something there, Tom.

Nothing should be wasted.

Luke said...

John, maybe you should just sell out already and pitch a disfunctional family sitcom. Just delay production of the last episodes and keep the left over production money when it fails.

JP Mac said...

Oddly enough, the future may lie in ebooks.

I look deeper into the matter.

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