Limbo & something new.

                        Sitting here in Limbo                           
Waiting for the dice to roll.
Yeah, now, sitting here in Limbo,
Still got some time to search my soul.

                                                                            - Jimmy Cliff 

That's just the feeling I'm getting this week. Last week none of my calls or emails were returned and with time working against us, it's not the easiest way to wake up Monday morning. There are some mornings I wake up and wish it would all just go away, the calls, the budgets, the waiting. 

"You go from 200 calls to 10 and mostly if I didn't initiate a call, there wouldn't be one coming back to me."

                                             - Dawn Steel

I take comfort from Dawn. After all when she was at Paramount as chief she okayed movies like Flashdance, Top Gun, Fatal Attraction, the Untouchables and later When Harry Met Sally.  How's that for a record.

And once she was gone, as most executives have a shelf life of several years at best, nobody called her unless she called them first.

So I'm sitting here in L.A, the rains have subsided for the moment and the sun is shining again although it's still cool, I can't help but feel optimistic.

But maybe that's just the sun.

One has to get used to waiting in this game, or at least knowing when to "remind" the decision-makers that you are still here, eager and ready to give them any information you know. Some people are of the "hey, where's our money" school, in which they call the studio head or investors and simply lay it out in front of them; "give us the money."  NOW.

Well, needless to say that doesn't work. Because they know you don't have your half yet and until they feel absolutley sure your side has dipped their feet in the water first, they sure the hell aren't gonna dip theirs.

That's why it's a game of who's first.

How does it work for us?

I am waiting for the Manitoba partners to come  up with their LOI's, Letters of Interest from both the producer, the tax credit appraisal and the bank who will discount the tax credit in the form of a loan.

The private investors, mostly in the U.S. are waiting to see these papers because it's some solid proof from someone else besides me, someone who's showing some confidence that Shirley and I can pull this off.

Is it a guarantee that the private investors will invest.

No. 

But with those papers, and more calls, it sure will get me interest from others. There's just one other element that nobody is talking about.

What about the story?

You know, the screenplay, what got 2 Academy award nominees interest and what brought Shirley into the project as director and what got the attention of Rachael at Eh Channel, which led to the Canadian producer Dane.

Doesn't story count to investors?

What do you think? 

The answer is like everything else in this business. Maybe, maybe not. There are definitely investors who are taken with the story, but more than likely they just want to be involved in a movie. And some are interested in only making money.

So who are those guys in the middle who just want to get involved?

They are usually nice people who have done well in their lives, doctors, dentists, shopping mall owners, oilmen, enough to want to "spend" a little money on being part of a movie. Really. I know this for a fact with some of the investors of past films I've done.

Why? It's kind of cool, it's being part of Hollywood for a moment, it's something to tell their friends and maybe get their daughter in for a small part (sometimes a big part), and a hundred other reasons.

They are considered good investors. They don't really care about the details, they just want to show up, have a picture taken with the stars and watch the process until they realize that watching a movie being made is boring as hell.

So here we are.

(Coming next: Something new)

 

A new year begins.

I'm back  home.  The arctic temperatures of Manitoba and Saskatchewan have slipped away and been replaced by our table at the Figtree Restaurant on the Venice Beach boardwalk where I join friends every Sunday for breakfast and a 12-mile bike ride. People ask me how I can fit into two such totally diverse cultures, frozen north and balmy Southern California.

It does take a few days going from one to another, they are truly universes of their own and about as far away from each other as is possible. They say the person you are at 7 is the person you are, and I guess I suffer from dual identities; the little kid on the prairie and the writer and producer in L.A. 

But oddly enough, they merge easily as I had already lived the Hollywood life as a 10-year old going to movies in my little village and being carried away by the images of Hollywood life where parents had great houses with sunken living rooms and they drank from decanters of liquor and always had ice ready. And parents who looked like Ward and June Cleaver, Ward even wore suits for dinner.  But that was long ago.


Now, it's 2010 and my new year's resolution.

Make Travel Day.

Where are we now? We have the Canadian producer finalizing his letters of commitment which are essential to convincing U.S. and any other investors that we are real. You would think my credits would be enough to convince the money people but they want to see someone else besides Shirley and I who are ready to put themselves on the line.

It's all about commitment. Who jumps in the pool first. Who leaps from the bridge with a bungee cord around their ankle.

So who is first to commit? It's probably looking like this:

• Shirley and me.

• Two actors, both Academy nominated who have read the screenplay.
  

• Manitoba producer Dane and his partner and company.
  

• One of the major banks in Canada.

• A presale to a broadcaster in Canada.
  

 With actual Letters of Commitment (LOI's), from the above we will have a strong package to present to the U.S. investors for their share, which is around $500,000 Cdn of the $1 million budget. Exchange rates now are not all that attractive to U.S. money which means it'll be a little harder to raise.

My potential U.S. investors and I always use the term "potential" until their checks have been deposited and cleared, are an eclectic mix of experienced executive producers, private investors, an attorney with connections, two distributors who might be persuaded to part with some of their funds.

What about timing?

As many of you know, we started this way back in summer of 2009 and you might wonder if there might be a loss of interest what with a new year beginning.

It doesn't help, but yet, in this constantly contradicting business, it doesn't hurt. Since it's rare for an indie film to get financed quickly, the fact that we've been at it for just about 8 months isn't a liability. As I've mentioned in previous blogs, it can take years to get funding, even with major stars attached.

It all comes down to never giving up. Who can last the longest. Or just plain stubborness.

Which is my strong suit.

And it goes back to the studio exec who once told me that it takes three things to make it in this business; craft, discipline and talent. And the least important is talent. His words, not mine. But I agree.

What happens when the LOI's arrive?

I estimate it will take anywhere from 30 to 60 days to actually get and bank the remaining $500k which means a potential production date in March, still do-able for snow and winter conditions. God bless Canada's winters!

So stick with us as I wait for Dane's LOI's.