Time Wasted Trying to Assist a (Writer?)
A couple of months ago, a fellow Guild member asked me if I would meet with him to discuss a film project that has been burning in his heart for some time. I didn't know what to expect, and I'm not sure he knew what he wanted from me. During the meeting, he briefly outlined the story to me, and I must agree that it is an interesting and compelling story. I gave him every indication that I was willing to help him get and stay motivated to write his project. I suggested that he write a Treatment. He agreed to a two week time frame (because he knows the subject so well), after which we would meet again, and I would read the treatment to lead him to the next step.
Let's go back a few months here, leading up to our first meeting: We ran into each other in a local casino. He was finishing a stint at a table game, when I approached him and asked what he'd been up to lately. It was then that he described his burning desire to do something with this idea. I told him at that time to e-mail me with a suggested meeting place and date. Almost two months elapsed before he contacted me and arranged the aforementioned meeting.
So, we met as I described above.
At least two months have gone by... I've not heard from him, but I've written an e-mail to him to which he did not respond, and I've seen him. It happened that my wife and I visited another casino in the area when I spotted him at a table recently. I don't know if he saw me. If so, he didn't acknowledge. I did not approach him because he was busy. If he saw me, I would be curious to know why he didn't at least e-mail me about his project.
Perhaps the meeting we had did not go well in his mind, and he no longer wants any contact with me, or he's embarrassed that he has not finished (or worked on) his project.
It's no skin off my neck, but I will be reluctant to go further in offering encouragement to this person without some explanation for his past behavior.
Caution: You who ask for help should assure yourself that you are truly eager to work on something, to see it through to fruition or mutual abandonment. Otherwise, you are only "burning a bridge" that might lead to success. Such audacious behavior is much like sending out a written work before it's ready to be seen by others.
Let's go back a few months here, leading up to our first meeting: We ran into each other in a local casino. He was finishing a stint at a table game, when I approached him and asked what he'd been up to lately. It was then that he described his burning desire to do something with this idea. I told him at that time to e-mail me with a suggested meeting place and date. Almost two months elapsed before he contacted me and arranged the aforementioned meeting.
So, we met as I described above.
At least two months have gone by... I've not heard from him, but I've written an e-mail to him to which he did not respond, and I've seen him. It happened that my wife and I visited another casino in the area when I spotted him at a table recently. I don't know if he saw me. If so, he didn't acknowledge. I did not approach him because he was busy. If he saw me, I would be curious to know why he didn't at least e-mail me about his project.
Perhaps the meeting we had did not go well in his mind, and he no longer wants any contact with me, or he's embarrassed that he has not finished (or worked on) his project.
It's no skin off my neck, but I will be reluctant to go further in offering encouragement to this person without some explanation for his past behavior.
Caution: You who ask for help should assure yourself that you are truly eager to work on something, to see it through to fruition or mutual abandonment. Otherwise, you are only "burning a bridge" that might lead to success. Such audacious behavior is much like sending out a written work before it's ready to be seen by others.
Labels: Screenwriting
posted by Farquardht at 11:10 AM
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