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June 2022. After the craziness of meeting Stephanie and Phil, with my husband and two kids in tow, I decided to it would be best to meet with Marty Katz (TITANIC, REINDEER GAMES, MAN OF THE HOUSE) while flying solo. I'd been corresponding with Stephanie for years but had had limited correspondence with Marty. I had done my homework on Marty, but I was so, incredibly nervous and had no idea what to expect.
Here I was about to have a power lunch in Malibu with a big-name producer! It was a dream come true. I was so excited, but I was also flipping out. Majorly flipping out, in fact! So many negative "what ifs" were obsessively jackhammering my brain.
We were tent camping at Leo Carillo State Park where I'd spent the night tossing and turning, trying to find space between my kids and my husband, who seemed to believe I was their pillow. I was also desperately trying not to stress and to sleep through my husband's snoring, my son's farting, and my daughter's teeth grinding. This wasn't exactly how I'd envisioned the night before meeting my first Hollywood producer."
The next morning, I made breakfast for everyone, then "showered" in the spigot at the end of our campsite. I was feeling more and more self-conscious and anxious by the minute.
I was going to a power lunch in Malibu and as a mom coming out of the pandemic, my wardrobe was absolutely pathetic. Worse, my teeth looked awful, too.
I was approaching the end of phase one of a major orthodontic treatment that involved a palate expander, so there were huge gaps between my teeth, gaps that made me incredibly self-conscious. I had to keep telling myself it was fine and not to let anxiety and self-consciousness or fatigue sabotage my meeting. I had to keep telling myself that I needed to set a good example for the kids and that I needed to find a way and relax and just be my road tripping, campground showering self.
Fortunately, I knew Malibu and had spent a lot of time there in the past and knew that casual cute was the way to go. Stephanie had also reassured me that Tra di Noi, the restaurant where I'd meet Marty, was on the informal side of things so something casual/surfer would definitely work. I chose a black skort, T-shirt and flip flops.
I then grabbed my makeup out of the cooler and put on just a touch, because I'm not a huge make-up person. I then attempted to do something nice with my hair, but my hair... Let's just say each and every strand conspired with its friends to create a Medusa-like mess and the harder I tried to tame it, the worse it got. Being so close to the ocean was wonderful, except when it came to my hair. Defeated, I gave up, threw on a baseball cap and drove down the gorgeous CA coast to Malibu for the meeting.
I was so glad that the day before the meeting, we drove to the restaurant. That took a little of the anxiety away. I don't like being nervous AND lost at the same time.
I arrived early and planned on using the nice, mostly clean public restroom in the shopping center before our meeting. But...
Somehow, and don't ask me how, I got turned around while walking around the center and I couldn't for the life of me find the bathroom. I was in total fight or flight. It was ridiculous.
With each passing minute, I was worried about the time. At the same time, I really had to pee, but I didn't want to get to my meeting, shake hands and excuse myself to go to the bathroom.
Why, oh why, was this happening to me? Why was I such a trainwreck? I was seriously considering squatting behind a tree. I could already see the headlines... Award-Winning Screenwriter, Somehow Lost in Malibu Shopping Center, Arrested for Peeing Behind a Tree on Way to Meet Major Hollywood Producer.
Thankfully, I spotted a construction site and a random outhouse for the construction workers. I stumble-hiked down a small hill in my flipflops, took care of business, got a few odd looks from the locals, then frantically, while sanitizing my hands, tried to find my way to the restaurant.
Somehow, I made it! And I was even on time. I immediately recognized Marty from his pictures online. He was sitting in the shade along the outside edge of the restaurant's beautiful plant-filled patio wearing a black leather jacket and a polo shirt. Here goes nothing.
"Hi, Marty, I'm Amy, it's so great to finally meet you," I said, smiling and extending my hand.
He replied in kind, smiled and asked how I knew it was him. I said I'd looked him up online. He seemed impressed. We shook hands, sat down, and with that we were off.
My film's other producer, Steve Schklair (THE AMAZING SPIDERMAN, U23D, STALINGRAD), was supposed to join us for lunch, but unfortunately, he had a home repair emergency that needed immediate attention, so it was just going to be Marty and me.
The meeting was a lot easier and more relaxed than I expected it to be. Marty was warm and kind and immediately put me at ease. We ordered salads, talked about family and he asked why I didn't bring Justin and the kids. I told him they were having too much fun at the beach with Justin to want to stop for lunch. He understood and offered to buy them pizzas. That was so, incredibly nice. I was blown away by his generosity.
Throughout lunch, we also talked about the recent passing of Marty's wife and business partner, Campbell Katz. We talked about great Malibu restaurants and coffee shops, lead actresses and potential directors, and the amazing producer (who shall remain nameless) who had read and loved my script and offered amazing feedback. At some point, I realized that everyone at every table around us was eavesdropping on our conversation. Holy cow! This was really happening! It felt so natural, so powerful, but so surreal at the same time.
We then talked about some additional notes he wanted me to incorporate and think about with the script. I said I'd get back with him, rework the script and then we bid each other farewell. It was a very successful two-hour lunch meeting.
As I was walking back to the parking lot, it dawned on me that I had gone into the meeting as a "lowly" screenwriter, but I had come out of it as a production partner with a lot more to offer than just a script.
I was thrilled the meeting had gone so well. As soon as I got to the truck, I emailed Marty a thank you for the wonderful lunch.
As for Steve, he felt horrible about missing the Malibu lunch with Marty and I, so I messaged him that we'd be in his neck of the woods on our way out of town. He immediately set up lunch in Pasadena. Justin, the kids and I met Steve, his beautiful wife and their sweet daughter.
My son and Steve's daughter were both still scarred from the pandemic, and we talked about how similar the two were in terms of both of them deciding they weren't done with masks, despite being vaccinated against COVID. Steve was wonderful, too! So much fun! We talked about all things film, about Steve's projects, his adventures in filmmaking, the impressive list of people with whom he has worked. We talked about his wife's amazing work in film financing and her history and philanthropy our kids and their activities.
We laughed and had a wonderful time and all of the kids behaved so well. At one point, Steve said he could really use some pictures or some kind of lookbook to help his wife search for financing for the film. I told him I had pictures; in fact, I had an entire photo storyboard showing the main beats in the story. He was so impressed! I said I'd email everything to him as soon as I got home. Eventually, we said our goodbyes, went on our way and I realized that once again, I had gone in a screenwriter and come out a partner.
As soon as we returned home, I sent the storyboard and additional photos to Steve and Marty, then rewrote the script per Marty's advice. From that day on, I've been included in just about every, single email pertaining to my script and I have a nice Hollywood Rolodex as a result. I've also been able to offer suggestions on who to submit to and unique ways to access A-list celebrities.
Had I not taken the risk, had I not taken the spur-of-the-moment road trip to California, I'd have stayed another anxious screenwriter waiting around for other people to make the magic happen with my script.
But because I went out there, because I met with Stephanie, Marty and Steve, because we had established the kind of relationship you can't establish over email or through phone conversations, I instantly became an integral part of, what I considered to be, the most amazing team possible for my script, THE ONLY WAY OUT.