Friday, September 19, 2014

Fabulous Network Night

Well that was super fun! Warren and I went to the Praxis Meet-n-Greet last night. It brings film directors, producers and screenwriters together to network projects. The host, The Praxis director (who I nominate for a Public Speaking Somnambulism Award), introduced 20+ directors/producers, one at a time, who are open to submissions from writers.

Each director/producer had five minutes to say what they have done, what their focus is and what kinds of screenplays they are currently seeking. Many were focused on action/thriller/horror/sci-fi. Also, each one had a "receiving" box at the front of the room wherein writers could put resumés or pitches.

I was amazed at how many speakers mentioned "Lifetime" and "Hallmark;" those two words, together, were said as often as "Strong female lead." We took a one-page synopsis of our script, Uncle Gus' Monkey, with us and we put one in the box of each producer who interested us.

At the end of the night there was a reception. We targeted six producers and introduced ourselves to each one. Our goal was to link us—our personable selves—to our script and I was delighted to see and hear each one's reaction to our title (that was Warren's idea). They found our title, intriguing, unforgettable and provocative. Way to go, Warren.

Today, we start our re-write, but our script is now into phase two: finding a producer.

I asked the Praxis director, Patricia Gruben, if Praxis was on-target with their deadlines for the Screenwriters Lab and she told me that they have their short list and are meeting September 26th to make their final decisions. So Warren and I will know in less than two weeks if Uncle Gus' Monkey gets selected.

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