Being that we're all theatre people, I gave this friend of a friend a call and asked him to dinner.
A very good guy this friend of a friend. He says yes.
So... over steak, he talks about his search for representation, a staff job and film pitching.
Apparently, even AFTER selling a pilot he found getting representation difficult.
"Everybody met me. It was great," he said. "Then, afterwords, nothing. I eventually signed with a smaller boutique."
I thought this was good. Certainly, an accomplishment. A "boutique" always sounds good to me. Plus, you won't get lost.
He agreed, but also had a reservation. "The big agents control everything and have directors, writers, actors, you name it. My guys are primarily literary. So putting together packages...." and he trailed off.
About staff jobs and pitching, he sounded like someone who was enjoying the merri-go-round.
"You go in and talk to these people for like 15 minutes. My stuff is funny and the manager I'm working with has encouraged me to think of it like a stand-up act. At first I wasn't so sure. Then, the more I did it, the more I realized how right he was. My job was to not just write an entertaining script but to entertain. It's kinda fun, but it's different than how I thought it would be."
I liked his attitude since, while on the one hand he seemed to be a little jaded, on the other, he seemed to be learning and having a good time doing it - which, of course, is quite the opposite of jaded.
But from my side of the table, I also felt that the eye of the needle I'd come to LA to thread with my life had gotten smaller.
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