Hey folks, in the spirit of sharing "fail" stories, I will share a story that happened to me a few years ago. I had a show that was optioned by a huge company.
It was in the early stages of development when we got a call from the exec who optioned it. They told us that the company may want to shift it to a different division, so we had a choice to set up a new option with the new division or stay where we were. They pleaded with us to keep it with them, as they were sure we would be produced through their division and probably have a breakout show with it. Out of loyalty we agreed to stay put.
We then received a call, saying that the person in charge of all of the divisions wanted us to have a meeting with the entire executive team to pitch them why we should stay with the division we were in, and if we couldn't convince them then we would be transferred to the other division with a brand new deal. So, we were in a win-win situation, so we thought.
We had a great meeting and everyone was digging our pitch and things seemed to be going our way. We went out to celebrate, and then we got yet another call.
The same executive who we were working with told us, that now he head honcho had heard the pitch directly, that although he laughed, wasn't sure who the audience was. So, they killed the show.
The lesson I learned, is to get a third party involved in decision making when loyalties can make one blind to the situation at hand, and do not order the expensive bottle of wine before the contract has been in signed and the check clears the bank!
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Oh, DUDE... yeah, that stings. I can relate! Not to the option by a huge company - that's a major kudos unto itself for which you should be proud! Mine was with an EP who wanted me to hire a team of writers to write a pilot. I was so invested that it didn't occur to me what he was intending to do with the pilot, so when it came up that he still needed concept art and a pitch deck, he froze. We had gone so far as to hire the writers but never started work because the extra dollar signs weren't discussed early enough. Yep... definitely feeling that "don't crack open the bottle until contracts are signed and check is cleared" lesson! LOL!
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Aaargh! That fricken sucks! Seems more like an unfair situation than a fail on your part. I'm nowhere near your level (yet!) but those meetings sound chaotic and disorganized. Must have been so frustrating for you. Hope your show got off the ground with someone else. Good lesson on the third party! I definitely learned something today!
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Hey Bob, I hear horror stories like this especially in animation all the time. It's a huge downer, there's also the worry of studios wanting to change the direction of your project you may have to contend with as well.
Jeff E. Gregory We did, but we didn't fill him in on the "loyalty" factor in our decision and also felt we were in a win-win situation.
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Victor Jordan This wasn't our first rodeo, we are always prepared for a studio to want to take things in a new direction. We weren't prepared for them to want to offer us a bigger deal, then pull the whole project after seemingly winning them over.
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Oh Bob Harper and Karen "Kay" Ross - we may not wear the same shoe size, though in this story and your comment Kay, I can tell, we have worn the same shoes in producing! Onward!
Wow, Bob. I really don't know what I would have done if faced with your situation. But thanks to you I have an idea now.