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In November of 2022, three years after I had completed the script for THE ONLY WAY OUT, 2 years since it had finished as a semifinalist in the Academy Nicholl Fellowship Screenwriting Awards, and about a year-and-a-half after Marty Katz and Steve Schklair fell in love with it and decided to sign on as producers, THE ONLY WAY OUT's script was continually bouncing from one Hollywood studio to another like a bouncy ball.
It was an exciting time, but also a disappointing time since the studios' responses were always the same. Everyone LOVED the script. In fact they raved about it, and they LOVED Eric Schwab, our director, the 2nd Unit director for TOP GUN: MAVERICK and MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE, but they all said they believed the script was too expensive to produce without A-list talent attached and, as I've explained before, we were struggling to attach or even approach A-list talent because we had no financing or distribution set up for the film.
The bottom line was we needed money so we could approach A-list talent with the script. And then it happened. My phone rang. It was Steve and Marty. I don't remember exactly what I was doing when they called that crazy November day, other than it probably had something to do with running my kids from one place to another, writing, trying to fix one of our vehicles and/or one of the 10,000 random things (plumbing, appliances, etc.) that are constantly breaking around our house (which is how Mama Fix It™ was born).
I digress... As soon as I saw it was Steve on the phone, I started trembling. Frantic, I somehow managed to find a pen and scrap of paper and set out to scribble notes as Steve said he and Marty had some great news. Steve said he'd just been to Germany and had given the script to the CEO of a large and rapidly growing production company. The CEO LOVED with the script AND said he'd love to partner with us.
He said his studio would provide 50% of the financing (not including lead talent fees) for the film. He also said that since they have great working relationships with the top talent agencies in Hollywood, CAA, ICM and William Morris, they'd work with those agencies to find a list of lead actors who would be suitable for the movie and could be available in a 12-18 month timeframe.
My stomach flipped! This was it! We finally had the money to approach A-list talent! Once we had A-list talent, we'd have an enticing package (A-list talent, fabulous director, 2 incredible producers, me, and financing) to secure the remaining financing and distribution for the film.
But wait, it gets better. The CEO said the people at his studio would use their relationships with distributors and financiers to help secure the remaining financing, distribution, and presales with the right partners. And the CEO also agreed that the film was awards-worthy and needed a wide theatrical release!
It was a win-win situation and Marty and Steve said they were moving forward to draw up an official partnership agreement between our team and the German studio. I was flying high!
This was finally happening. My dream, the dream for which I have worked my entire life and for which I have sacrificed so much was finally coming true! The pieces were finally falling into place. This movie was finally going to happen!
To be continued...