To start with...

I've been wanting to start a little blog for sometime. I don't know why. Self aggrandizement plays a large role, I suppose. But also, it would be nice to have a place to write things and keep my thoughts. You could easily say that a spiral notebook would probably suffice, but I would direct you to the aforementioned self aggrandizement. I want people to read this. There, I said it.

I'm starting this blog at an interesting time in my life. My writing partner Steven Cragg and I have, within the last two weeks, managed to get both of our scripts picked up for pilot at networks. One, "This Little Piggy" is for NBC and the other, "How To Be A Better American" is for ABC. This is a rare-ish accomplishment. That is to say, most writers (good writers) work very hard on shows and in development and never get a pilot order at all. So getting two in the same season feels like we did something special. Like finding a hundred dollar bill on the floor of a restroom or winning the trip for two to Ojai at a school raffle. It's not often done and hardly ever by two dopes with sketchy back grounds in the biz.

Compounding the weirdness is that one of the shows, "This Little Piggy" was ordered to pilot last year at ABC. After an insane journey of talent holds, extensions, a new deal for a re-write, etc they finally said "no thanks". Months later NBC came out of nowhere and asked if the show was still available. A week later we had a deal with them. And a month later a pilot order. Though this is not unheard of, it is a little unusual. And piling on to the weirdness, out of either oversight or just sheer confusion, NBC is allowing Steven and I to run the show ourselves. Meaning we won't have a supervising producer added to the team to "guide" us through the process. It's an amazing turn of events for us. Amazingly terrifying that is.

And it got a little weirder when, on Friday, ABC called and said they wanted to produce "How To Be A Better American" as well. My balls shot back up into my body and I started rocking back and forth like Rosemary Kennedy. Because, like old Rosie, my mind was blown. This was the unthinkable thing. Getting paid to write two pilots was amazing. Getting one of them picked up, was HUGE. But the notion of both of the shows getting a shot at production, well that just seemed like folly. The kind of thing you don't even allow yourself to ponder because it's so unlikely. In short, it was amazing.

So now we are faced with the prospect of producing two pilots in three months. That means casting, pre-production, re-writing, shooting and post.... times two. I received over a hundred emails on this subject yesterday. And my iphone got hot enough to make it uncomfortable to put next to my delicate little ears. There are so many decisions to be made. And all of them need to be made NOW! It's daunting to say the least.

But the other side of this is that I am happier then I have been since the birth of my daughter. This is literally what I've been working for (and then some) my entire life. I am overjoyed to have been given this chance and I want so much for it to all work out. I feel like it will too. I feel like this is where I'm supposed to be right now. Well, not RIGHT now. RIGHT NOW I should be in bed, but anxiety awakened me at about 3am and I couldn't get back to sleep. But in terms of the scope of my life, this is an amazing time and I intend to note it.

And I'll be doing all that "noting" right here. It's my intention to keep a blog/journal of the entire process. Warts and all. So please check back often and leave some comments. I need those comments. They're the only way I know I'm alive. :)

Okay... Today's Agenda (Saturday, January 30, 2010): a meeting with the actor/director Ted Wass who we are hoping will direct "This Little Piggy". We're meeting him at 10:30 for some breakfast and delightful chit-chat. Hopefully, by the end of it all, we'll have a director locked down. Plus he was on "Soap" years ago and I loved that show! And he was Blossom's dad... so there's that.

Here we go...

Thanks for reading!