This journal documents the author's experiences as a television writer. To read the story from its inception, go to the beginning.

June 05, 2002

Choices
The fall staffing season has ended and I do not have a job writing for a sitcom. This is hardly a surprise. When I met with my agents in Los Angeles, they offered little hope. Do not expect to be offered any meetings with producers, showrunners, or network executives. Do not expect anything to happen this season. And of course, their mantra, "it takes two years to break new talent." When pressed for some indication of what their efforts on our behalf might be, the head of the literary department said, "Never trust one-hundred percent of your career to someone who only makes ten percent."

Shortly before my writing partner and I walked out of that meeting, our agents asked us to think about penning a feature or some other original work to round out our portfolio of scripts. As it turns out, I have begun writing that feature alone. I have not talked to my writing partner in weeks. He has sent no further emails.

Today is the two month anniversary of that meeting. It is also the two month anniversary of when I was sure my writing partner would not commit any further to pursuing a career writing for television. For after we left our agents we stopped by a Marie Calendar's for lunch. Over dessert he told me that he couldn't see himself coming to Los Angeles before January 2003. His stock options for the dotcom he works at would start to kick in at the end of the year. He would be half vested.

previous - next

� 2001 - 2002 tv writer. All rights reserved.