The Lie Assignment · One Grand Film Skool

The Lie Assignment

As for "Networking" AJ is totally right - handing out business cards, 'speed meetings' etc. - usually ends up in no connections or follows ups. I joined Raindance in 2010 from Ireland (joined online) and moved to London in 2011, and attended a regular night they called "Booze 'n Schmooze" to 'network' my Rom Com project I wanted to produce. I was hoping to attract Crew and maybe Cast too. I knowingly risked telling people everything about my new spin on the Rom Com genre and one Writer who was bemoaning her lack of progress out of TV writing let me tell her the whole story and how I was going to make it - at the end of which she said "no" - which was weird given the level interest she showed in it all. Then a couple of years later, I see "my" movie as a trailer on TV - a Rom Com, set in London, with a chance meeting on the London Transport system and the couple lying to each other throughout to get through - so I go onto IMDb and there's the Writer I met at that networking night photographed on the red carpet for the premiere. When I wrote my script and 'pitched' the project, I couldn't get anyone to come onboard with me on the project and so wasted countless hours and time and energy on it. I registered the script I wrote with Raindance, but when I asked for the CD-ROM containing the file to be returned (when their script reg service I'd paid for expired), it had mysteriously vanished from their vaults!!

The 'sharks' in this industry aren't just in established businesses like agencies and studios, but are among all the actors, writers and directors who all want a shot at the big time, the glitz and glamour as I call it. So I don't condone stealing, even though Brit probably means it as a metaphor in her 'kingdom' story. The biggest takeaway I have from the "The Lie" is that I'm not the only one who thinks Networking paying to enter Script Competitions is largely a waste of money, when producing your own projects is a better way to get things done and your career doesn't hinge on relying on someone else to let you in through the gates of the kingdom at the top of the hill.

3 comments