Screen Magazine: Vol. 28, Issue 17

Screen Magazine - Index

Screen Magazine - Screen Magazine: Vol. 28, Issue 17 - Index

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There I was, sitting in a corner office at the
nation’s largest PBS affiliate, armed with an
idea and a sheet of paper, and preparing for my
first pitch meeting. Tracye was on my left and
Randy, WTTW’s new executive vice president
of television, was in front of us.
I had a weird feeling. Of course there was
nervousness, but deep down I knew I had it in
the bag. I was confident, from that meeting on,
that I would have a show on the station. It was
mine for the taking – I just had to make sure I
didn’t screw it up.
The concept was for a half-hour drama we
will call “Rocks.” Tracye and I presented the
concept. Randy liked it and he thought it could
be a good show to go national. He asked if there
was a script and we assured him that one would
be written.
Randy walked over to his desk and produced
a booklet. It was a proposal (approximately 12
pages) for a new series that he was pushing to
go national. He showed it to me and asked if I
could make something comparable for my show.
I said yes and we set another meeting for about
a month later.
I was off to the races. First I had to think
of an overview for a whole season. Second, I
had to come up with a script that exceeded
expectations.
I went to work. When time came for the
second meeting, my proposal had around 22
pages not including the full script that was
attached. Randy was impressed. That proposal
showed that I was serious and that I could
deliver. We all talked for a while and set up a
time for another meeting.
Then the waiting game began. Yeah, I had
proven I could deliver but would they think I
delivered a hit or a load of crap?
We artists (writers, directors, etc.) can be
very sensitive at times and at other times very
insecure when it comes to our products.
I felt like I had presented a great outline and
script but it was really different from anything I
had seen PBS run in the past. I didn’t even know
how or if it would fit in with the rest of the
programming in the PBS system.
It got close to meeting time when I got a call
telling me that we would have to reschedule the
meeting. That usually spells trouble, and it did.
To be continued…
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