Hi, my name is Tamara, and I am a writer.
I keep having to remind myself of that because I hardly ever write. What you see here is the bulk of my recent effort. I don’t even keep a daily diary anymore, after keeping to the discipline for several years producing boxes of notebooks filled with my inner thoughts.
Somewhere along the way, I lost touch with myself… or got bored of her.
***
I pickup this morning where I left off, letting go of that matter, and embracing the facts of it. I am a writer, though I crunch numbers most days. I am the co-creator and head writer on ApocryphA, a historical drama series which takes place in biblical times. I have invested the better part of the last 10 years researching and crafting this project, which is now getting the attention of gatekeepers, people who hold in their hands the power to propel her forward… that I may move on.
We recently received feedback from one such gatekeeper who had requested the script. For those of you not familiar with how this goes, you submit a query to a potential partner (production company, distributor, financier, lawyer), all of whom have the potential to option your work in order to help you structure a deal around the IP in order to finance the budget and move it forward into production. ApocryphA is being marketed in the $30-40 million dollars per season range. It may be able to be done for significantly less, but we want the option to pursue a high quality of execution… and talent.
If you are able to capture their attention with your query, you will be invited to submit the pitch document, and then if that maintains their attention, you are invited to submit further material, namely, the script. This was the first time we made it to the stage of being invited to send the script. To learn that the pitch document now effectively piqued curiosity. After multiple re-writes and renditions, the pitch document was finally doing it’s job.
I knew that the script delivered what the pitch document promised. ApocryphA’s pilot script, “Kairos” has made the rounds with talent for a few years now, such that we have our lead, and several supporting actors attached to the project; one of whom having signed on since day 1, an actor who was looking for a superhero to play. We pitched him our unlikely Jesus. He was hooked.
The feedback from the reader was not unexpected, clearly the script was requested out of curiosity, so much the better. We were grateful to learn that it did exactly what it was written to do: test your faith. He expressed that buyers don’t have the courage to embrace a project that reflects the audience’s antithesis of itself and asks it to remain the same This potential partner expressed his doubts that anyone would be willing to fly in the face of Christianity in this way, and risk alienating that segment of their audience.
I disagree. There are many examples of artists who have had the courage to explore knowledge, stories, and realms that “mother” church would forbid and lived to tell the tale. The Bible itself begins with the story of how one woman dared take a taste. A priori, how can we NOT follow in her footsteps? Another such trailblazing example is Madonna… remember when they banned her? Well, she’s still around and seeking eternal life. She doesn’t look alienated to me. A posteriori The Church seems none the worse for wear…
And the flock? Who’s contemplating them anyways but to put a hand in their pocket, and a claim on their eyeballs. Their minds are busy programming AI.
I’ve heard countless times, how this project will never get made. Hell, I’ve thought it repeatedly, it’s a thought that is constantly in the back of my mind…. but every little word I write, every email I send, all the feedback I incorporate, all lead to one place.
This story seeing the light.
And that describes every single success story.