I’ve had so many almosts over the past year.
Was close to getting a movie made, called ‘Side By Side’, which is currently on hold due to a lack of funds and the ridiculous craziness of how much it costs to shoot in a hospital location. There’s just no way around it — whether it’s a real hospital, a derelict hospital, or a film studio, the costs are astronomical.
It’s my fault for writing a movie set in a hospital. Maybe I should re-write it as being set in a field.
You always hear the success stories. The people who made their amazing feature films for £20k. Well, mine is the almost success story; a film that was so close to coming together but then ultimately failed. At least for the time being.
And at the beginning of the year, I was a semi-finalist in the 2012 Bluecat Screenwriting Contest. Down to the last 20, of thousands. And I was shortlisted for the best British script in the Cordelia Award; which meant I was in the final 5 out of 200.
But didn’t win.
And then I entered BAFTA Rocliffe’s comedy programme. There were 400 entries. I made the final 25.
And then Rocliffe called me. And said, “you made the final 12. But not the final 10, sorry.”
Ouch!
Sometimes you get so so so so close to the very thing you’re dedicating your career towards.
The prize for the top 3 in BAFTA Rocliffe was a trip to New York, all expenses paid, where they read your script at the NY Film and TV festival, and set-up pitch meeting with all the networks.
That prize would literally have taken care of all my dreams in one go.
But I didn’t make the final cut. Yet was so close.
I’m not moaning, not at all; I’m just trying to share what it’s like. It’s heartbreaking! When your script doesn’t make it, you feel rejected; because so much of who you are is in your writing.
It’s not all rejection. I recently got a great writing job which is paying me a fair old chunk of money. It’s a script for a film promoting a well-known product (that you all use); it’s not the dream job; but hey, I’m a writer making a living which is not an easy thing to do. I would tell you more about it, but I’ve signed one of those non-disclosure things.
I am wise enough to know that the near misses and rejections are all part of the process. Screenwriting and film directing are an art form, a craft. And it takes years to get great. I’m still on that journey. I’m miles better than I was five years ago, but nowhere near as good as I’ll be five years from now. It’s taken me some time to realise that, but it’s the reality of the business. Every writer I love had a huge period of struggle, when no-one cared, when their stuff wasn’t good enough. Even Larry David (Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm) went years without being able to get his sketches on ‘Saturday Night Live’. Now you look at his writing, and ‘SNL’ can only DREAM of having writing as good as his.
Day by day, week by week. We get better. Right now, I might not win all the comps, I might not get all the jobs. But just wait!
