I snapped... then good things happened. 


I had planned to get back to editing my novel at the end of my last blog entry from five months ago. That's not what ended up happening, though. 

The series I wrote the music for, "The Assistants", finished around the first week in March. The last few weeks on the show were gruelling because, due to a lack of communication, I ended up having to write seven episodes in two weeks! (Generally, you write a show per week.) The most galling part, however, was the massive pay cut I had to deal with -- they'd run over budget and could only pay me about a third of my normal rate. After having not worked for two years, though, I wasn't about to turn the show down.

By the time I finished the series, all of the money was gone. Heartbreaking... and worrying, too. I had just worked harder on a TV series than I'd ever worked before, and I had nothing to show for it (other than a few paid bills). The realisation that I would need to do at least five different series a year to support myself was, frankly, crushing. I'd never had more than four series running concurrently, and that had been in the peak of 2000/2001 before the World Trade Centre attacks had undone the TV industry. Since then, I'd only managed to pull in one series a year -- not even enough to cover rent. I've written about this already, though, so if you want the full story, click here.

While I was in the midst of "The Assistants", my mother sent me a copy of the film, "The Secret", a sort of pop culture, watered-down version of Buddhist philosophy with a dash of Taoism thrown in for good measure. For those of you not familiar with it, the basic idea is that in life, you get what you ask for whether you're aware you're asking or not. Of course my mum had meant for it to be encouraging and inspirational, but I kinda fell on the wrong side of it. You see, at the heart of the idea is that you have to take responsibility for everything in your life -- successes and failures alike. As I sat watching the film, burnt out and penniless from "The Assistants", I came to the conclusion that my move to Canada, although well-intended, had been somewhat of a mistake. That doesn't mean that I'm not happy to be here, but the whole weather-the-financial-storm plan, at least from the perspective of "The Secret", had created the disaster I felt I was in. Although my wife and I had been talking about moving to Canada for a few years and the timing seemed perfect at the time, I was doing nothing to address my faltering career... I was running. Wanting to "hunker down" and let things pass only led to more of the same, and we had been "hunkered down" for two and a half years. Well, you live and you learn.

I spent the next few weeks in an incredible funk. Frankly, it was all seeming kind of hopeless. So, I decided I needed to do something pro-active.

I was on the phone with my dad, and he told me about a friend of his who's been a TV writer/producer for years who had some sketch comedy scripts he didn't know what to do with. We hatched the idea that I should travel down to L.A. and that my dad, my brother, and I should get together with this guy and pitch the idea of us producing these skits with me directing and editing. My dad very graciously paid for my airfare, and I flew down on May 5th for two months.

Obviously, I was anxious to meet with the guy with the scripts, and we got together the day after I arrived. The meeting was a lunch that lasted about five hours, during the course of which, it became clear that there was no way to make his skits without a fairly serious budget -- there were car chases, explosions, and stunts -- and aside from budget issues, logistically, there was no way to pull it off within my two month trip.

So there I was in L.A. for two months with nothing to do. My brother, my dad, and I decided that we absolutely had to put my trip to good use, and by the end of that same night, I'd hatched a concept for a show. Over the next few days, we discussed it, honed it, developed the characters, and by the end of the week, I was ready to write a script. It was an awesome, creative flow that came easily and naturally.

While we tweaked the script, we sent out a casting call for two weeks later. We had over 1,300 submissions for six primary and four supporting roles. Let me tell you, after trying to get things rolling with my little independent film group up here, it certainly felt good to be back in L.A.! (Having five actors show up to an audition is an accomplishment in Edmonton.) We ended up auditioning about 100 actors and found a handful of remarkably talented people... and I don't say that lightly. The cast we ended up with were absolutely spectacular. I think we all knew after the table read that we were really onto something... that it all just felt right.

So after five weeks in L.A., I was standing on set as a director again. It was over five years since I'd made "Quitters", so the whole thing seemed like it should be kind of daunting. I was fortunate enough to have the crew from "Quitters" again, so that gave me a sense of security (they're fantastic on both a professional and a personal level), but still, I couldn't help wondering "can I pull this off?"

But you know, the whole experience was amazing. I don't want to get airy-fairy, here, but I didn't feel any self-doubt or concern at all, and I think it had a lot to do with "The Secret". I went into the production positive, motivated, and confident -- no fear and no reservations -- and everything fell into place like it was meant to be. The "can I pull this off" thought was simply that: a thought. Deep down, I had this gut feeling that I had started something that had its own momentum -- like I'd asked "the universe" (or whatever new-agey term you want to insert) for something, and I was getting it... just like that. Incredible...

... and the best thing is that it just kept going! We shot the show over four days, everyone had a blast, the work was fantastic, and then we went into post-production. My brother and I finished post three weeks later, and we screened the show for the cast and crew the following day, just two days before I had to leave. Everyone was genuinely thrilled, and again, it all just felt right.

The next step was to do something with it, so we took it to our good friend and seasoned, veteran TV producer, Tommy Lynch. He loved it. His director of development loved it. Everyone who's seen it so far has loved it! Just amazing. For pitching purposes, Tommy asked me to cut a three to five minute promo and then, after he saw it, suggested that I put it up online. You can watch the promo here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROZ3F3GnQ4E

The promo is definitely not for kids, but having said that, we'll be pitching the show to SpikeTV, MTV, Comedy Central, The E! Channel, and possibly NBC starting next week. The swearing will be bleeped out, of course, but the show was designed for a male demographic, 17 to 25. We've been calling the show "lewd, crude, and totally hilarious". (If you don't do your own promotion, who will?) It's definitely kinda lewd and crude, but as I mentioned before, everyone who's seen it loves it... and you will, too!

I'll be blunt: we're desperately looking for hits on YouTube. We've already had nearly 1,400, but if it's going to mean anything to a network executive, we need a lot more than that. Please, please, please check it out, and if you like it, please forward the link on to your friends... and don't forget to watch it again and again!

I'm more proud of this than anything else I've ever done, and frankly, I think lots of hits on YouTube will just be a nice little addition to the pitch -- the show is well-targetted (demographically), well-executed, and well-positioned with Tommy Lynch pitching it. Every aspect of the project came out as well as, or better than, expected, and I feel confident we'll get a pick-up. Still, I really do hope that all of you check it out.

As I mentioned, Tommy will start pitching the show next week, and in the meantime, I'm in a weird sort of limbo -- confident that the show will get picked up (it's called "Coeds", by the way), but with nothing I can directly do towards that end. My work is done, and off goes "Coeds" into the world to find a home.

So there you have it: the last few months in a nutshell and my excuse as to why there haven't been any blogs for awhile. While I was in L.A., I had one day off (in two months!) and was usually working 16 hours a day (if not more). I came back to Edmonton, and six days later, I took off for Jamaica with all of my wife's family for two weeks -- a gift from my in-laws. That was an incredible trip, too, but I spent most of my time thinking about "Coeds" and just trying to unwind from the creative high I'd been on.

I expect the coming weeks and months will be quite exciting. I'll keep you posted as things progress... and don't forget to check out the promo!

Enjoy. 

Posted: Fri - August 15, 2008 at 08:07 PM          

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