The Player Meets Ann Landers

An advice column for screenwriters

By: Hilary McIndoo

A producer recently made a remark that reminded me of what I was told when I first started writing for the screen: it takes seven to ten years for a film to reach completion.

In the planetary progression of this technological age, when the universe is accelerating and time is becoming compressed, what will happen during this span of your journey is:

 *You will watch yourself age. The little lines become deeper as major dermal support structures begin to collapse. Ecosystems falter, populations explode, societal stressors flare up across the globe, fisheries decline, billions of animals are massacred, toxins accumulate, viruses jump hosts and plagues ripen, the oceans start dying and whale hunts return. And you: are just trying to get your story told. Every day you will look in the mirror and wonder what you are doing this for.

*Your best friends will desert you.

*The professional ally you admire the most will betray you. He heads a small but successful studio. He will love your script because it speaks to his soul. It meets all of what he is looking for, part of which is attaining sizeable financial goals. He will be in a position of power, with incredible reach and extensive resources. His people remind you that he's so brave and amazing you ought to wait. Your people think this is baloney, and not one of them likes him. Because all he has to do is pick up the phone. And he never does. He won't help you and your script, not even once.

 *The Great Love(s) of your life will refuse you.

*You will gain a Favorite Fan. This will come as a big surprise, as you aren't expecting this person to really love you enough to champion your cause and loudly defend you every day to all the naysayers--and there will be plenty--who don't believe in you. This Favorite Fan is the one person you most want to invite to your premiere party. She will be at that party!, being introduced to everyone as the one who truly believed in you from the very beginning...which slowly becomes too long ago. For me, this person was my grandmother. Your Favorite Fan will die.

No one in this industry will care.

I know these things, because they all happened to me.

Mythologically, every journey involves a descent. You will go there. As a writer, you are tapping into a creative space that spans the universe. There is power here, in this act. You become heroic. You begin a journey. When you choose to step out: remember the above.

(c) Hilary McIndoo, 2001 

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