December 2024
I was working on another MAMA FIX IT™ episode when I saw that there was a fire in Malibu, a big fire, a fire that was threatening Pepperdine University. My heart about leapt out of my chest. All I could think about was whether Marty, the producer of THE ONLY WAY OUT, was okay. He lives in Malibu and he's not too far away from Pepperdine. I checked the fire maps, and it looked sketchy, so I called him to check in.
Marty said the fire had gotten dangerously close to his house, as in the raging beast was about two blocks away from his house before the fire department was able to stop it from coming any closer. He'd been up all-night listening to an AM radio, monitoring the situation, preparing to evacuate at a moment's notice. He said the following night would probably be the same.
He said the power company was turning the power off as necessary due to the Santa Ana winds and firefighting efforts. He said that his contact at Netflix had given him the name of someone to submit the script to and that he'd make the submission as soon as he had internet again.
I wished him luck and we said goodbye. Fortunately, the fire didn't ever come any closer and fire fighters were able to contain it. I'm assuming Marty submitted the script package to his contact at Netflix, but I haven't followed up yet due to the holidays and the fact that not a lot gets done in Hollywood this time of year.
And so, I busied myself working on MAMA FIX IT™ episodes, creating MAMA FIX IT™ merch, writing another feature script, and oh yeah, life.
But then, one night, I had the most vivid dream about P!nk and THE ONLY WAY OUT. P!nk and I were in her living room, the living room of the most incredible house I've ever seen, a white mansion deep in the Colorado mountains. The living room's walls must have been 15 feet tall, and they were full of floor to ceiling windows that looked out at the unblemished forest nestled deep between snow-capped mountain peaks. It was spectacular to say the least.
I was extremely nervous, but for some reason the conversation felt very natural. We were standing up in an all-white living room, looking out her spectacular windows, enjoying the view, talking about the beauty of watching storms move in from miles away, talking about our kids, bragging about them, actually.
We talked about how much we love dirt bike riding and racing. (In real life, Justin and I used to ride and race. In real life P!nk, her kids, and her husband all ride. In fact, for those of you who don't know, P!nk's husband is the former Supercross Star turned-Freestyle MX legend, Carey Hart, the first man to ever land a back flip on a dirt bike in competition.)
In the dream, we talked about how I'd met Carey years ago, when I was covering the US Open of Supercross for my website MXintheUS. (The strange thing is, I did actually meet Carey Hart years ago at the US OPEN of Supercross when I was a freelance motorsports journalist.) The dream was hitting super close to home.
We were having a ball and somehow the conversation shifted to how upset P!nk was that a suburban development was closing in on her property and how she didn't think it was fair the forest was being developed at the rate at which it was being developed. She prized her view and the isolation of her house.
And, as happens in dreams, Carey Hart suddenly appeared in the room with us and P!nk happily introduced us. He didn't recognize me (why would he? We'd met briefly decades ago in both reality and in dreamland), however, he said he knew of me thanks to my former website, MXintheUS and the freelance work I'd done for RacerX Illustrated, a popular dirt bike magazine in the US in which I was a contributing writer years ago.
Dream Carey Hart was super kind, just like the real Carey Hart I'd met in Vegas. Dream Hart loved that my husband and I had ridden and raced dirt bikes. In that moment, as we talked, I thought about how much I love the dirt bike community. In my dreams and in reality, there's an unspoken connection/bond between people who ride dirt bikes and motorcycles, in general.
Simply put, we're a different breed and there's just something special when we talk with someone else who understands the addictive exhilaration of riding.
The unique adrenaline rush that comes with slinging dirt clumps and roost with the twist of a throttle, of soaring through the air, railing corners, kicking your feet off the pegs or letting go of the handlebars in midair, getting the hole shot in a race, crossing a finish line or slamming head-first into rock solid clay before rag-dolling down the track listening to the crunch of bones before darkness closes in only to get back up (partially recovered) and do it all over again.
You tell a non-dirt biker that you ride, especially when you're a woman, and they can't imagine why the hell you'd ever take the risks you do.
"That's so dangerous!"
They always say. But that's part of the fun, living on the edge. People who don't ride, who don't take risks just plain don't get it and they always think you're nuts, especially when you ride the line and wad yourself up over and over again yet keep going back for more.
In the dream, Carey said he had to go. P!nk walked him out. At the door, they stopped to kiss.
That's when Justin, my husband suddenly appeared at my side. He pulled me close and whispered in my ear, "Have you talked to her about reading your script yet?"
I shook my head, no and whispered my reply.
"I can't just ask P!nk to read my script. That's not how this business works. If I try to pitch it, she's going to think I'm taking advantage of her generosity and kick us out."
He kissed my ear and whispered his reply, his lips and breath sending chills through my entire body.
"You can't know how she's going to think or feel about reading your script and you didn't get this far by not taking risks, so why stop now?"
Suddenly, Justin and Carey were both gone leaving me and my anxiety and fear all alone with a super warm, friendly, bright and energetic P!nk, an incredible woman whom I felt (in the dream, of course) could easily become my best friend.
I so desperately wanted to ask her to read my script, ask if she was interested in being in the lead role, of helping to produce the film, of writing new music for it and using her existing music in certain scenes, but I also wanted her friendship and didn't want to betray the trust she'd put in me. In the dream I was agonizing about what to do, knowing I didn't have much longer to make a decision when suddenly, the dream ended, and I woke up.
The dream was so poignant, with real events seamlessly juxtaposed with dream events that the dream has stuck with me for the last two days.
Maybe it's because I've met Carey Hart and feel like as a fellow dirt biker, we have to have some kind of connection, some kind of understanding?
Maybe it's because I really admire P!nk and all she stands for. Maybe it's because my daughter and I regularly listen to P!nk's music and looks up to P!nk (just like I do).
Maybe it's the fact that P!nk's so damned athletic and rides dirt bikes and is also an entrepreneur and mom in her 40s, like me, proving that women in their 40s still kick ass.
Maybe it's because I just want to see my script get made and I want the lead actress to be an inspiration for active, kick ass women in their 40s like me. Maybe it's all of the above.
I recently had a conversation with my manager, Stephanie Rogers, about why we weren't actively pursuing actresses at this point. She said that since the script is at Netflix and Utopia Distribution, we don't want to pursue an actress and find out that Netflix or Utopia Distribution doesn't want that actress in the lead, that, for whatever reason, they want someone else in the lead.
She also told me not to expect to hear anything from Netflix or Utopia Distribution until after Sundance in January. This is when the studios pick up the films they want and finalize their budgets for the upcoming year.
And so, once again, there's nothing more to do but wait, listen to P!nk's kick ass music and continue to have a few more P!nk dreams...
Until then, be sure to check out my merchandise for screenwriters, writers, directors, producers, independent filmmakers, actors, and my MAMA FIX IT™ series.
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Glad the fire stopped before reaching the house. Hope he's still safe with the new fires.