And on the 247th Day...

We pitched on July 6th. This following months of preparation with the team from indie powerhouse Big Beach. We could tell the execs in the room were captivated by the characters and show universe we described. They’d done their homework and had numerous follow-up questions. After over an hour we stepped back onto the elevator. Ding. Doors close. Back to the basement with validated parking tickets. We smiled, nodding, optimistic the prep work had paid off. Sure enough, several weeks later we heard they wanted to move forward… 

And then the wait began. The lawyers and business affairs duked it out for days, weeks, months. Months upon months. Mere seconds before hurling myself into the bottomless pit of despair, we received word that the deal had finally closed. March 17th, 2017. St. Patty’s Day, and I’m not even Irish. 247 days after our pitch at AMC headquarters in Santa Monica. 

I’m very happy to announce that author Tiana Kahakauwila and I are now writing a TV pilot for a network that has produced some of the best television of the past decade. Entitled THE ‘OHANA, our show is a contemporary drama set in Hawai’i. Last week - in our “creative kick-off call” with the AMC execs - there were numerous references to BREAKING BAD, MAD MEN, and the upcoming LODGE 49. No pressure…

Tethered to the Standing Desk... Deep in the Man Cave

Happy to report I'm working on another feature film with Yuta Silverman, who was the inspiration behind ARRANGED. Over the past eight years, due to the continued success of that film, Yuta and I have talked about many possible follow-up projects. Finally, last year, we hit on a world we were both interested in exploring. We began researching the many golem references and mythologies in Jewish lore and holy texts, and started kicking around ideas about how a modern retelling might function. Although some of the underpinnings are the same, the film will be very different than ARRANGED tonally - squarely landing in the "elevated genre" category. 

The films we've referenced in development include FILL THE VOID (because of its beautiful handling of the Orthodox faith), EX MACHINA (because of its adept melding of cutting-edge tech and strong charactes), and ROSEMARY'S BABY. The latter for many reasons, but primarily because of the way Polanski uses Mia Farrow's POV to constantly keep the audience guessing and on edge. Is this a woman going insane? Is this just an unhinged pregnant woman? Or are there really Satanists next door who want to sacrifice her baby? These films will continue to inspire me as we move from script to casting, financing and on through production. 

Another project I'm very excited about is a TV pitch the author Kristiana Kahakauwila and I took out over the summer. Developed with Big Beach (LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE, LOVING, etc), it seems we've found a great production/broadcast partner for the show. Once lawyers finish their slow motion one-two-one, Tiana and I will jump into writing the pilot episode. More on all this soon.