​Here are just a few things you can do before taking a meeting. 
 
Do your homework and learn everything you can about who you are speaking to—anything that can be gleaned without hiring a private detective or being called a stalker. 
 
Is it a phone call or a Zoom meeting? If it is the latter, be sure to clean around your space. Or, if you know what you are doing, use one of those background filters—nothing fancy. Whatever you do, do not use cat eyes, ears, or dog snouts. Oh, and it goes without saying, no masturbating.
 
I talked to your team (manager, agent, priest, or rabbi), making sure you are all on the same page. If it is a first meeting, concentrate on listening and attempt not to talk too much. I won’t talk about money; that is for reps to discuss—unless, of course, it is a pitch meeting. 
 
I know everyone will tell you to take a deep breath and just try and have fun. 
Sure, okay, do that. It beats soiling one’s self.

My agent forwarded an email from a producer who had just been laid off. It was a “well, it finally happened” type of correspondence and an overall sense of dread floated over that email like an atomic mushroom cloud. The question I keep asking myself is, will the motion picture business, in the form of the last two decades, ever recover?
 
But enough about me. 

​I was attending a Robert McKee seminar in San Francisco more than a decade ago. On Saturday morning, he would come in an hour early and take part in a question and answer session I had no questions and was merely a witness to the following.
 
Question: Mr. McKee, you prefer a two or three-hole punch in your screenplay?
 
Mr. McKee: (Digging into his pocket and retrieving a quarter)  “Here’s a quarter. Call your mother and tell her you will never be a screenwriter.”
 
Okay, he didn’t quote John Houseman from The Paper Chase. He looked like he had too high blood pressure for that. He did get angry, angry enough that it was almost worth the high price tag to get in for the seminar.
 
I did meet John Houseman in Richland, Washington. He was narrating a performance of Peter and the Wolf for the local ceremony. He was sitting in the lobby and waiting for his ride. We had a short conversation before his Town Car picked him up. 
 
He seemed nice.

My agent forwarded me an email from an executive at one of the major studios. He informed her that he had been laid off and listed his new contact information.
 
A conversation with peers uncovered a common fear that producers are not only not buying new material but not even reading. 
 
 
I’ve said it before: “The times, they are a-changin’.”
 
"Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won't come again
And don't speak too soon
For the wheel's still in spin
And there's no tellin' who
That it's namin'
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin'"
 
 
But it’s not all bad news.
 
A few producers realize that a way out of this mess may require new talent—and that could be you. 
 
I was in a brief online conversation with a writer/producer/showrunner who had just preached some universal truths on LinkedIn. She acknowledged all of the above but with a caveat. If you want a chance at bat, you will have to work all the more harder. Having an agent and, or manager is only part of it. They have other clients and cannot spend all their time on one career path. You, the artist/writer, will have to take some responsibility and explore other ways to get your name and work out. You are going to have to work your ass off. Even so, there is no guarantee that anybody will buy what you are selling. But I can guarantee you that it will get you a chance in the batter box. What you do there, I leave to you and the fates.

​We can’t go on meeting like this. Or can we? Well, we’re both consenting adults so what do you say we keep going?
 
Another perfectly dreary week of show business news. Now, it's gotten down to agents letting go of writers, actors, and producers. Well, we hang in there, right? We are in it for the long haul. It’s about the journey and not about the destination. I could go on and on, but I guess it depends on how badly you really want this. For me, there is nothing I love more. I sincerely believe that a writer writes because they have no other choice. Why, it’s almost as necessary to us as breathing. So, if that is the case, we must all press on.
 
In the meantime, always remember. Each time you write, you get better. That is a fact.  So keep writing. If you are burnt out writing screenplays and sending query letters, draft a short story! Keep sharp. Trust me, you’ll need it.
 
And if you need extra incentive, check the video below out. If that does not give you a boost, nothing will.
​Mambo!