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Marty began searching for other producers and a studio to finance the film. His agent, David Gersh, pitched the project to Amazon, but Amazon wasn't interested without a name actress/director attached, so we began discussing directors.
Due to the fact this was a female-driven script, and I am a female screenwriter, we decided we really wanted to attach a female director. We then had a fabulous conversation about all of the A-list female directors in Hollywood and made a list of those who we thought would be an incredible match for the film.
Steve, the film's executive producer, then reached out to one of the biggest name women in Hollywood, someone he knew often worked with several of the A-list directors we wanted to send the script to. He asked her to put us in touch with them. There are so few female directors in Hollywood and even fewer A-list female directors in Hollywood and, as Marty, Steven and I learned, getting in touch with them isn't easy. In fact, it was beginning to feel downright impossible. While we waited to hear back from Steve's contact...
Marty scored a meeting with director Gia Skova (THE SERPENT), who is Hilary Swank's friend. I hadn't heard of Gia Skova, so I immediately did my homework and watched THE SERPENT, a film in which Gia acts, produces, directs, and both stars in and does her own stunts. I was impressed by how much she was able to accomplish for so little.
Anyway, at the meeting, Gia agreed to read the script. 4 days later on April 29th, 2022, Gia said she'd read it and absolutely loved it and was super interested in directing it. Marty then promised Gia that she could direct the film if she could get Hilary interested in starring in it. She happily agreed to pass the script along to Hilary Swank. I was so excited, again. This sounded like a real possibility, another match made in heaven!
Now I have no idea what happened next. I wasn't fully looped in on every detail of every meeting. All I know is that the lead went dark. Gia seemingly disappeared off the face of the earth. It was safe to say we assumed that she wasn't able to get the script to Hilary or she changed her mind about the project. Regardless, Marty never heard back from her despite attempts to follow-up with her.
And so, Marty began contacting other potential directors. He reached out to Frank Marshall and tried to get ahold of Ben Afleck, both of whom he knew. On May 13th, 2022, Marty finally reached Frank. Frank was out of town, traveling and incredibly busy with the release of a little film known as JURASSIC WORLD. He promised to get back with Marty once he got back and things quieted down.
Meanwhile, Marty struck out in his attempts to contact Ben Afleck and Steve's contact wasn't able to come through on connecting us with A-list female directors, so we were stuck at square one, trying to figure out how to get the script to any one of the amazing female directors on our list while we waited for Frank Marshall to return to California.
I felt like we were stuck again... And, at the time, I remember thinking (probably naively) that if it's this hard to get ahold of a top female director, then how many amazing directing opportunities are they losing as a result? I'm sure there are other factors involved in the difficulty the team faced reaching out to any female director, but I wasn't made aware of them. The only communication I had with Marty and Steve, at the time, came directly through Stephanie.
Anyway, summer vacation was quickly approaching, and soon I was going to have both kids home full-time meaning writing time would be limited to early mornings and all-nighters when I could manage.
And I was feeling antsy and anxious, and it felt strange that I'd never met my manager or the producers of my script in person. I felt very separate and disassociated from the process and, despite how well I was being treated, I still felt like an underling.
I was incredibly nervous about expressing my opinions and was spending hours constructing simple emails and second-guessing word I wrote. After phone calls, I'd dwell on everything I'd said. I was in the big leagues now and I was terrified of making a bad impression. It was ridiculous. I was out of control to the point that I would literally tremble and get a massive adrenaline rush every, single time I saw an email from Stephanie in my inbox and every time her name popped up on my caller-ID.
This had to change! With the end of the schoolyear rapidly approaching, I was itching to get away. The end of the school year is always incredibly stressful for me. There are SOOOO many obligations, birthday parties, special events, awards ceremonies, classroom parties, plays, field trips, additional days off of school, half days, and then there's planning summer camps and activities, etc., in addition to our usual crazy activities and appointments.
This time of year, our packed schedule is constantly changing, sometimes multiple times a day. Everything feels like a moving target, and I confess that I spend from April until the end of school feeling like it's a miracle every time I get the right kid to the right place at the right time. By mid-April, my brain begins to checkout. By May, I'm a trainwreck.
This is a very emotional time for me, too. It's the end of another school year, a reminder that my kids are growing up and they're growing up fast. It's a time of reflection, a time to see how far both of them have come in their own, individual struggles and a time to figure out what the hell I'm going to do with them for the next 2.5 months.
Long story short (ha, not really), after feeling drawn to CA, on a whim, I booked a hotel room in Universal City (so we could take the kids to Universal Studios). The room was expensive, and, to save money, I decided we'd spend the rest of the trip camping in a tent. I found some BLM land in Utah, then somehow scored a site at Zion National Park and Leo Carillo State Park.
Initially, I hadn't intended to let Stephanie know we were travelling. In fact, I debated with myself for a very long time. My stupid anxiety was wreaking havoc on me yet again. I needed a relaxing vacation with the kids, but how could I relax if I was obsessing over the film? We'd be in CA, moviemaking central, so how could I not obsess about it? I realized that I was going to obsess whether or not I had meetings, so, fortunately, with the help of my husband, I managed to overcome my anxiety and tell Stephanie about our trip.
Stephanie was delighted and invited us to stop by to visit her on our way through Vegas, then asked if I'd like her to set up a meeting with Marty. I was nervous as hell about all of it, nervous to the point of feeling sick to my stomach, but I forced myself to say yes anyway. When was I ever going to have this opportunity again? Besides, I was sick of playing victim to my anxiety. I had to fight it.
Stephanie spoke with Marty who then spoke with Steve who then called Stephanie who called me and said that both were super excited to meet me, and they wanted to take me out to lunch... In Malibu. Yes, that's right, MALIBU! Holy $!&@!