Green Lights And Mending Fences

It was busy week at The House on the Hill, Modern Philosophers, and I’m excited that it’s all because of writing projects.

The day after blogging about my plans to write a TV Pilot based on my four crazy years at NYU, I received a message from Matthias, the producer eager to turn my screenplays into movies.  He said he liked the pilot idea, and would be interested in the project once I had a script.

That means I have the green light to write that one, too.

Matthias reminded me, of course, that making The Blind Date, the short film based on my short stories, was our top priority.

I countered that I needed a project to keep me distracted while I anxiously awaited news of our receiving the green light to start shooting that flick.

We agreed that writing the pilot would be a great way to keep me out of trouble.

One of the most important challenges a movie producer faces is keeping the writer from going crazy until his skills are needed on the set.

At least that’s what I think!

Something else very good came of the news that I’m going to be moving forward on my college years project.  I had not spoken to Dave, one of my best friends from college, in almost five years.  The falling out was entirely my fault, and as I was outlining the script for the pilot, I realized there was no way I could write the story properly if I didn’t mend fences with Dave.

His character is very important to the story, so he was constantly on my mind every time I’d sit down to write.  I’d never be able to capture his essence to the best of my ability if the rift remained, so I sucked it up and reached out to Dave.

Luckily, he was open to my apology and willing to be friends with me again.  This made me very happy.

That’s when I sprung it on him that I was writing another story with a character based upon him.  That’s right, Modern Philosophers, Dave has already been immortalized on film as a character in The Retirement Party.

This is why it’s such a thrill to be my friend.

At least that’s what I think!

Fitz, one of my other friends, was also the basis for a character in The Retirement Party, and will be included in the TV Pilot.  When I chatted with him via Facebook Messenger the other night about the project, he gave me his blessing, but also threatened to sue if the actor who portrays him is a ginger.

What a diva!

Not many every day people can claim they were the basis for a character in both a feature film and a TV pilot, so you’d think Fitz would be happy with whoever is cast in the role.

Crazy stuff like this is exactly the kind of thing that might end up in my scripts if the show gets picked up as a series.

Since I’ve brought up The Retirement Party, maybe it’s time to share the trailer again…

I’ve spent the week further outlining the pilot.  Ideas have been filling my head all day long, and I scribble them down to add them to the ever growing Pilot file later.

When I’m on my runs, I basically play out the scenes in my head.  I can already picture the first half of the episode as if I were watching it on TV.  Of course, it’s a little strange because in my mind, the actual people are playing themselves as I do not have actors to imagine in the roles yet.

Talking to Dave again has reminded me of other stories from my college years that need to make it into the series should it go beyond the pilot stage.  There is so much material for me to tap into, that the show could run for longer than I attended NYU!

I even want to write a scene in which Fitz’s character dyes his hair red.  While that never happened in real life, it would serve him right.

Then again, I do still owe Fitz because I might have stolen his girlfriend while we were at NYU, and then gone on to marry her.  Which definitely would be an essential part of the plot if this became a series.

I’ve spent a lot of time today working on the opening lines of the pilot.

I have a very clear idea of the show’s underlying theme, and the first lines of dialogue are going to put it out there, so they need to be perfect.

I can already picture the character delivering them, and all the action going on in the scene while it’s happening.

Sometimes, I wish I could just hook up my mind to the laptop and turn my very vivid thoughts into script pages.  Then again, that would take all the fun out of the writing process for me.

I know I’m on to something when it plays out like a movie, or in this case a TV show, in my mind.  Wish you guys could sneak in there and take a peek.

I guess you’ll just have to wait for it to air like everyone else…