Gatekeepers & Stupidity

Sometimes, an event happens that results in a moment of clarity that just makes you stop and think "my god, it really IS that stupid." I just had one of those.

One of our board of advisors members hooked us up with the CEO of a nationwide satellite network recently, and I looked over their demographic angle, and came up with a couple of show ideas. One I pitched, and they liked it enough to still be working with us on trying to iron out a N. American distribution deal for it.

But there's the kicker. They're a startup network, with no capital for producing programming. Hence, no cash. Which means, we're supposed to fund it ourselves. And then basically license it to them for what??? Ad time on their grid? Yay. We can't use ad time to cover our (upfront) production costs or our overhead now can we?

At any rate, in my frustration, because I know it's got the right ingredients to be a GREAT show, timely and innovative. I start picking up the phone and calling the big guys. And I should have known this, because it works the same way in our feature film world, but they will not take unsolicited pitches - and pitches have to be submitted through an agency, or an entertainment lawyer.

And we wonder why the studios and large companies are having such problems with creating GOOD content? (which by default means that agents and entertainment lawyers must be able to identify good content first, and second, be on the lookout for new shows from new companies... riiiiight).

WAKE THE F**K UP JACKASSES!