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June 2024
Quick recap: I had been trying to reach Marty Katz, my film, THE ONLY WAY OUT's producer, for over a week and felt like something was horribly wrong when he wasn't responding to my emails. Concerned, I gave him a call.
When Marty picked up the phone, he sounded off, very, very off. His speech was slow and labored. He was slurring his words and there was no pep to his voice. My heart skipped a beat. Oh, my God, did Marty have a stroke? I wondered. Concerned, I asked if he was okay, and that's when he told me that he was in the ICU. Fortunately, he hadn't had a stroke, but he had almost lost his life due to a different, extremely serious medical issue.
Marty told me he was going to be fine and that he didn't know how much longer he'd be in the ICU. He also assured me that as soon as he got out, he was going to hit the ground running with my script and find a way to get it to Mrs. Johansson. At the time, I was less concerned about my script than I was about him. He didn't sound good and despite being critically ill, he was technically working, albeit in limited capacity, from his bed in the ICU. Yes, this is how bad he wants to get THE ONLY WAY OUT made.
I hung up and immediately my mind spiraled out of control. The whole episode felt like Deja-vu. A few weeks earlier, my wonderful manager, Stephanie Rogers, had had her own terrifying brush with The Grim Reaper. And so had my film's other producer, Steve Schklair.
Yes, Stephanie and Steve also both damn near died from serious medical issues. I was beginning to wonder if the team was cursed. I was growing more and more terrified that one day I was going to receive a call saying that Marty or Stephanie or Steve had simply passed away.
Although the team is young at heart, none of us are biologically young. This is why I don't exactly feel like time is on our side. Already, 3 years had gone by in a flash since THE ONLY WAY OUT placed as a Semifinalist in the Nicholl Fellowship and Marty signed on as Producer. 3 whole years!
Anyway, while Marty was in the ICU, I kept working with B at our brand integration company on the product placement front. He continued sending me loads of awful product integrations. By loads, I mean the junk integrations were literally flooding my inbox. I continued working hard to find an integration that would work and crafting a lot of emails that began, "Unfortunately, such and such product is not a fit for THE ONLY WAY OUT because..."
My frustration level was mounting. I was giving up time on vacation, time with my kids, time with my husband, writing time, filming time, free time, and breathing time just to review and respond to each pointless integration request. It was terrible.
And so, I decided to take matters into my own hands. A great friend of mine invited me to the REEL ROCK 18 Film Festival in Boulder, Colorado. I thought a night out with a friend and her family to see some incredible climbing films was just what the doctor ordered. I also thought it might also open some doors for THE ONLY WAY OUT. If I could just meet someone from The North Face or La Sportiva or any of the multitude of climbing gear and outdoor brands that had sponsored these films...
And so, on a horrendously snowy night, I braved the roads and took my 7-year-old daughter to the festival. We watched 4 absolutely mind-blowing films about climbing.
CLIMBING NEVER DIE (Matt Groom, Danyil Boldyrev, Ksensia Zakharova)
YEAH BUDDY (Angie Scarth-Johnson, Hazel Findlay)
JIRISHANCA (Josh Wharton and Vince Anderson)
WITH MY HEART (Sachi Amma)
We also met two incredible, professional climbers, Sachi Amma (WITH MY HEART) and Danyil Boldyrev (CLIMBING NEVER DIE), a Ukranian climber torn between fighting in the war and climbing for his country, to improve morale. Talk about a touching, inspirational, and heartbreaking film.
Anyway, during intermission, my daughter and I wandered the exhibit hall visiting various booths. While she collected schwag, I attempted to network my way to meeting marketing people, especially the product placement people for The North Face, who had sponsored many of the films in the festival.
The people working The North Face schwag booth were super nice. They told me that their marketing people were indeed at the festival and would be happy to talk to me about my film. They pointed me in the right direction, but the auditorium was so crowded, my daughter and I simply couldn't get to them. Unfortunately, due to the nature of the event, namely the throngs of people, I wasn't able to get names or contact info. Oh well, it was a fun night out with my daughter and our friends, and we got to see some truly amazing films. Business-wise I'd gone into the night feeling optimistic, but realistic, so I wasn't entirely surprised that I'd struck out. It was time for Plan B.
For a long time, I'd been pondering the idea of asking my friend if she had any contacts at climbing gear/apparel companies. She and her husband are avid climbers, and their incredible teenage son is on target to become an Olympic rock climber. I'd been hesitant to ask because I didn't want to impose or do anything to jeopardize our friendship, but then I realized that was a ridiculous mindset. I was letting anxiety control my decision making. AGAIN!
I told myself that asking for a business contact was not going to jeopardize our friendship. I mean, seriously, if that's all it took to destroy a friendship... With a lot of self-talk, I gathered up the courage and asked my friend if she knew anyone at any of the climbing gear/apparel companies who might be interested in talking with me about my script, the script she had actually consulted with me on. (She let me pick her brains for the technical details of my film's spectacular opening climbing sequence.)
She promptly replied and happily gave me the name of the "super cool" general manager at La Sportiva. La Sportiva is an amazing rock-climbing apparel company whose headquarters are located in Boulder, CO. They were on the top of my wish list for THE ONLY WAY OUT!
As soon as I had a free moment, I schlepped my daughter to Boulder in the hopes of meeting with the GM and having him put me in touch with someone from marketing. As luck would have it, he wasn't there. Apparently, he had been called for jury duty, but they did give me his card and told me to give him a call.
I was so excited! The second I got home, I called the GM and let him know who I was, what I was up to and that my friend said I should contact him about our film because he could potentially connect me with someone in marketing. Days went by and I didn't hear back. Damn! I know how busy retail managers are, so, not to be deterred, I sent a follow-up email. Crickets.
Damn! People are busy, I reminded myself. I knew firsthand from working retail years ago how insane it is. I decided the best thing to do was to try the in-person route again. This time, I hauled my son to Boulder after his orthodontist appointment. As luck would have it, the GM wasn't there that day either. He was working at a different location. UGH!
Fortunately, the Assistant Manager (who recognized me from before) and the other employee at the registers, were so, incredibly nice! We talked for a long time. They found me some paper and a pen and said if I wrote a note to the GM, they'd make sure the GM received it. And so that's what I did.
I waited a week. Nothing. I then followed-up with another phone call and left another voicemail message. I figured as the GM of a store, he'd be extremely busy, so I didn't want to pester him beyond that.
A few minutes later, however, he called me back. We talked briefly about the film, and he happily gave me the name and email address of the head of marketing. He said he thought the film sounded great and wished me luck. I thanked him profusely and said I really wanted to meet him in person and would stop by the store at some point to do just that. I also vowed to bring treats to the store as a little token of thanks to him and the rest of the store's staff.
The minute we got off the phone, I emailed the marketing contact's information to B at our brand integration company and CC'd the team. B assured me that he would reach out to the contact within the next day or two. Marty, Steve, and Eric were thrilled we finally had a decent lead for integration.
Score one for me (and my kids)!
While you wait for the next post, check out my store and then head on over to YouTube and check out my hilarious and informative Mama Fix It™ series and my award-winning short films.
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I can't believe the amount of legwork you are doing for this script. Holy cow! It's so admirable!
You go girl!!!