(303) to (310) - HAYLAR

Comment by Kathryn Gould on November 26, 2008 at 10:02pm

Now this sounds like an informative group! I'll start the questions. How did you get an agent? And ICM at that! Did "Do It For Johnny" open all those doors for you?

Comment by Christa Cannon on November 29, 2008 at 10:42am

Looking forward to reading more about your adventures. :) (And finding out how you got *cheap* plane tickets!!!)

Comment by Ben Whitehair on November 30, 2008 at 10:35pm

I'll be "Hayla-ing" myself in about a month and can hopefully contribute as well. :-)

Comment by Haylar Garcia on December 1, 2008 at 8:22am

Hey Kathryn, concerning your Q "How did you get an agent? And ICM at that! Did "Do It For Johnny" open all those doors for you?"

part A, I have been a filmmaker in Denver for quite some time, some people know me, some don't. as a matter of fact I have never been a member of CASA until late 2008, that is because most of my time has been spent buckled down in front of a computer trying to write something that would really spark interest. Even though that has nothing at all to do with LA, it was the first and most crucial step in getting an agent.

Do it for Johnny did open a door to my manager however, and that is an undeniable step as well, my script would never have reached ICM if it weren't for him, but had that script not delivered, ICM would have of course have passed on it and me.

First off let's talk about the script. My script is Quite simply put, the mother of all Zombie films. It is a time proven genre film that has thew scope of "Independence Day", It is a compete reinvention of the genre, I took a time proven genre and elevated it to a summer tent-pole sized screenplay. And what's more, unlike the predominance of Zombie/creature films, I made sure to integrate honest themes, actual characters a real plot, and a twist. And I honed to the pitch to sell it as an big summer apocalypse film with a horror element, instead of trying to sell it as a really expensive horror film.
Example, no studio is going to give George A Romero (all respect considered) 70 million to make the next zombie film, but they will do so for something like" I am Legend". So first and foremost is understanding and being able to relate in the pitch, what your film is, and how much $$$ it has the potential to make. THE PITCH IS EVERYTHING.

Anyway- based on the concept and potential of the material, ICM was repping the script itself, but not me as a writer yet.

ICM's efforts included going out to producers and production companies to attached power to the over all package, and a pretty big Exec Producer who had worked on "300" attached himself to my screenplay and wanted to take it out to studios right away. First however, he wanted to do a rewrite, (and not a small one) . He wanted to redefine some characters, raise the stakes and elevate the scope of the film even more. The notes involved reflected about 70 pages of a 100 page script. Lots of work. They gave me three months to get it done, before we went out to studios with the pitch. So the first thing I did was lock myself in my Batcave and slam it out in 22 days. Attempting not only to address the notes, but to top the solution to those notes creatively. The hard work paid off. Because my producer made comments to ICM, about my work ethic, creativity and delivery. Which was key in them signing me as a writer. The fact is you have to deliver. Studios and producers hate chasing writers, they hate lapsing deadlines. You have to be creative and original, but YOU MUST DELIVER and YOU MUST TOP THEIR EXPECTATIONS. not just address them.
That is how I ended up with ICM.

Comment by Kathryn Gould on December 1, 2008 at 8:43am

Awesome, Haylar! Glad all your hard work paid off. Great advice and inspiration for everyone here. Can't wait to see the finished film on the big screen.

Comment by Jim Greer on December 3, 2008 at 12:38pm

Creative talent has nothing to fear from 310 so let you talent be your area code.
I live in Colorado springs now and brought my 310 area code with me :-)

Comment by Sandy Bucy-Umphrey on December 8, 2008 at 1:37pm

Thank you for the invite, Haylar. Wow, this looks like an awesome group!

Comment by Haylar Garcia on December 8, 2008 at 1:40pm

Thanks for joining Sandy!

Comment by Harold Faletti on January 9, 2009 at 3:57pm

Thank you for inviting me, Haylar. I've been so dog gone busy with my legal practice, I need to hear from other writers to jump start the creative side of my brain. I'm trying to put together production for an 8 1/2 page script, and have started working on another script that could be feature length, but I'm not worried if it turns out short.

Comment by Haylar Garcia on January 9, 2009 at 4:11pm

Harold, thanks coming and joining, great to have you. Feel free to start any discussions that interest you, hopefully the insight provided by this corner will help you in some way.
Best of luck on the script(s). Create !

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