#stephanierogers, #nichollsemifinalist, #academynicholl, #MartyKatz, #martykatzproductions, #steveschklair, #titanic, #denveranddelilah, #charlizetheron, #amygiaquinto, #giaquintoproductionsllc
At the end of 2020, during the pandemic when all productions were still shut down, Stephanie, my manager, was working hard to find a producer for the script. It was an impossible task because almost all of the production offices in Hollywood were still closed due to the pandemic. There had also been massive layoffs and even with companies that remained open, there was no one around to answer phones. It was tough, really tough.
But Stephanie's a miracle worker and one day she called and said she had a producer who was interested and said he'd read the script. I was over the moon excited and full of nervous energy.
I immediately sent him my bio and links to my short films and waited. Unfortunately, despite Stephanie's best efforts, we never heard back from him. This irked Stephanie to no end and was very disappointing for me as well.
In the meantime, I'd also been contacted by several producers and managers who saw that my script was a Nicholl Semifinalist and said they were interested in reading it. So, I spent hours researching and crafting a unique pitch for each person at each company before sending the script out. Over and over again. I waited and waited and waited some more. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. No responses. It was crazy.
After a few weeks passed, I followed-up with everyone. A few emails bounced. Most went into the black hole that's the internet. I did manage to get a couple of responses back that were brief, "sorry, we're not interested at this time," or "the budget is outside of what we can do" emails. It felt like a huge waste of time. The only bright side was that I did get a request to read the script from a legit LA manager.
But since I already had a manager, the best manager in the world in fact, I politely explained I already had a manger, but would love to leave the door open for the future if he was interested. He said he was definitely interested. I thought it might be nice to have a back-up plan should anything (God forbid) happen to Stephanie.
And so, time went on with zero forward progress until... Stephanie contacted me and said that she had a producer, a really fabulous producer who'd she'd known for years, who was interested in reading the script. His name was Marty Katz. I was super excited, and my fingers were crossed, but my hopes weren't high considering my track record with THE ONLY WAY OUT and all of my other scripts and the fact that Marty was a very well-known and well-respected Hollywood producer, someone who had produced literally all of the movies I'd seen in the 90s and early 2000s.
Fortunately, it didn't take long before Marty called her back. She told me that he was blown away by the script, said it was definitely awards material, told her he loved how authentic it was and said it really hit home for him on an emotional level.
And so, this is how Marty Katz, one of the most acclaimed producers in Hollywood, became the producer of THE ONLY WAY OUT. I couldn't believe it! Again, I was flying high. Marty Katz! The Marty Katz was producing my film! I was on top of the world!
Even better, Marty sent the script to his friend, Steve, with whom he had worked on TITANIC and Steve loved the script, raved about it and signed onto the project as the Executive Producer. It felt like things were happening now!
Of course, Marty and Steve had some notes, so I got to work rewriting the script. In the meantime, Stephanie and I had a meeting to brainstorm our official wish list of A-list actresses to pass along to Marty. It was one of the most fun phone conversations I'd ever had. We talked about what each actress would bring to the film and the dynamic that would create. I felt like I was in a cloud, living the dream. Was it really possible that one of these amazing women would say yes to my script? It had to be possible if we were seriously discussing it.
I rewrote the script and Stephanie, Marty, Steve and I decided the best option was to approach Charlize Theron first. Not only would she be incredible for the role, but Marty had worked with her on the film, REINDEER GAMES. It was March of 2021 when Marty called Charlize's business partner at Denver & Delilah, successfully pitched, then sent her the script.