Back To Work

Weight gained while chained to computer frantically trying to finish assignment before starting vacation:  6 lbs.

Weight gained while enjoying said vacation:  4 lb

So here I am back at my desk, sitting on my more squishy than normal ass, facing a bigger mountain of work than ever before.

And I've hit a challenge.  A big one.

A week before my big family vacation (the first one I've taken since my honeymoon ten years ago), I was happy.  I was very close to meeting my producer's expectations.  I only needed to put a few finishing touches on the treatment before we closed the deal and I had nearly a week to get ready for my vacation.  No problem.

However, four days before the vacation I receive the worst possible news.

The producer HATES it.

I have somehow managed to go from "in the ballpark" to nearly losing the game.  And, because we both thought we were so close, he's already pitched it to the money people who are financing this little beauty, and so now he needs me to fix it fast.

CRAP!

My empty suitcases and my to-do list for the trip are unattended while I try to fix what I actually believed to be perfect.  My manager and I get on the phone and go through beat-by-beat of this story, reigning in where I might have gone wrong.

Again, this is a situation where I'm trying to write to an idea in a producer's head.  Easier said than done.

I turn it in, leaving myself about two hours to pack for three weeks of traveling with a toddler.  Yeah, that's not stressful.  If you were wondering.

Somehow, I manage to throw everything in the case just as the car arrives to pick us up.  I am on my fifth day without sleep and looking forward to the red-eye where I hope to get some shut-eye.

But did I get any shut-eye?  No.  Because the flight to Boston has an air-conditioning problem and instead of getting some much needed rest, I felt like I spent the next five hours in a European public bathhouse (that's where the locals who don't believe in deodorant go to sweat it out for cheap.)

So the vacation was great.  Restful?  No.  Restorative?  No!  But, fun and fabulous you bet!  I even met an old friend who runs a very large international production company at a party and pitched a project to do together later in the year.  Hurrah!

Two days into Munich beergardens, I get an email from the producer saying "We're back in the game."

Yeah!

The bad part was that he still needed more changes and needed them done quickly.  From that point on, dodging his ever changing shooting schedule, we tried to connect on the phone nearly every morning.

That looked like this:  Me getting up at 5 AM after a late night in Munich, or Paris or London waiting for said call, only to be told a few minutes before the rest of my family woke up ready to hit another day of drinking and eating our way across Western Europe that the call would have to be made the next day.

Swill wine or lift a stein and repeat.  Family well rested and relaxed.  Writer For Hire - has officially replaced blood in veins with a combination of Espresso, Latte Machiatto and English Breakfast Tea.

The producer and I finally reconnected the day before I returned to the States.  

The notes were so enormous and I was so exhausted that it has taken me a week to work up the nerve to brave facing the computer.

Seriously, like ten pages of very detailed notes.  Some of which I have to admit I don't even understand.  I'm in uncharted waters.

The little shit that lives inside my front temporal lobe keeps taunting me, "You're just not ready for the A-list.  You're not ready for the big leagues.  This is an Academy Award nominated producer, who are you kidding?"

But, then thankfully, I remember the four movies I watched on my return flight from Europe.  Any one of which I honestly feel I could have written and potentially even improved.

More over, this man, this big-time producer believes I can do it.  Those were his last words to me, "I believe you can do this."  He's excited.

So, after a week of unpacking and organizing, of answering e-mails and catching up on bills, I am finally ready to jump back into the frying pan.

All I can do is the best I can do.  It will either be enough or it won't.  Either way I'll be a more experienced writer as a result.

Sounds awfully well adjusted doesn't it?

I'm attempting to meditate, exercise and not drink as much.  This attempt is corresponding with the biggest challenge of my career.  So naturally what I really want to do is consume my weight of Salt & Vinegar Potato Chips and pints of well-crafted Pale Ales.

I'll keep you posted....