HOLLYWOOD UNCUT // THE FICKLE FINGER OF FATE
BY ANDREA CIRILLO
EM is a novelist. Even if I told you her name, chances are you've never heard of her although she’s published two books with a major publisher, has a blog and a Facebook page with thousands of fans. EM is one of the legion of writers who work their tails off but fly under the radar of real recognition.
Her third novel, a story about a suburban mom with a more exciting parallel life, will be published early next year. In a recent meeting I described it to a film agent who agreed it sounded interesting. "Maybe it would work as a tv series," he said, jotting a note to himself.
Yes, I'd heard those words before. Unlike years ago when they made my ears perk up in anticipation, I'm sorry to say that they now made my eyes glaze over in disbelief.
“Can you send me a pitch? Something short, maybe from the main character’s point of view,” he said, or something to that effect.
I didn’t want to raise the author’s expectations but I asked her to write a pitch anyway. I knew she'd be willing. Anxious. I wished people in Hollywood would just read the damn book but of course that’s asking for the moon. It took a few tries and the help of a friend at a production company, but eventually the pitch was polished and delivered. The next week the agent called. “You won’t believe this, but I was just in a meeting with ____ (insert name of producer married to hot TV writer) and she said her husband’s been looking for a parallel lives story,” he said, or something to that effect.
More phone calls ensued. The writer read EM’s pitch, loved the pitch, nearly drove off the road because he was reading on his phone while driving, or something like that. He couldn't wait to take it to the cable network where he was a big fish and, lo and behold, it wasn't long before they said they wanted it too. And they wanted more writers to help out, and a show runner to put it all together. Ironically this all happened without EM knowing a thing; it was her story that I pitched and the agent liked and the producer responded to and the writer was looking for and the network agreed to do but EM didn't have a clue. Was it time to tell her and risk her hopes being dashed if it all fell apart because someone else had another parallel lives show ready to go or the big fish was eaten by a shark?
I decided to trust the agent who was confident this was the real deal, and give the author a chance to dream. As it turned out, EM-- a smart cookie--had been watching her website and had noticed that people in Hollywood were perusing her pages. That didn't mean she screamed any less happily when she heard the news, though she promised to take it all with a grain of salt until the paperwork was signed--at which point she would blog and Facebook to her heart's content.
So it appears that the stars have aligned for EM. Fate brought her book into the right hands at the right time, as it happens now and again. A movie star is discovered at the lunch counter at Schwabs, a director fills in for a sick buddy and wins an Academy Award--we know the fickle finger of fate is alive and well and living in Hollywood. Maybe EM's story will become a cable series to rival "True Blood" or "Mad Men" which will give her the exposure to sell many more books than she's ever sold before. Or maybe not. But every once in a while I like chalking one up for the good guys, don’t you?