Friday Speak Out!: Let It Go

by Jane Petreycik

I’ve been so torn lately I feel like I’m cracking up. I’ve written a screenplay, which placed in two competitions, and I’m working on another, currently the outline. I should say, I’m TRYING to work on it. I tell people who might marvel at the fact I wrote a screenplay that it was nothing compared with getting someone to actually READ it. Time and again I’ve been turned down. Same old story, depending on the production company and the mode of query. Either “we’re not interested in the subject matter at this time” or “we don’t accept unsolicited material.” Fine. I get it. My script is a fantasy feature with rom com elements. Fantasy as in A LOT of CGI (computer generated imagery). Independent studios wouldn’t touch it. I need to go big.

I am obsessed with a particular producer/director/writer. I’m a huge fan of his work and I’d love for him to take this thing on. I even sent a snail mail to his production company, perfectly composed, short but sweet so it doesn’t take up too much of his (or his assistant’s) time. Weeks go by and nothing. I start thinking more and more about writing that other script at this point. I finally call the company, only to learn that they, as expected, don’t accept unsolicited material. But he’s such a nice guy. He’s been there, in my position. How could he not want to read my script? It’s perfect for him.

Months go by and I discover that he has an Instagram account, which I have not. I have since become a stalker. Thinking outside the box, a year later, I join Instagram – just to be able to message him personally (since I realize my letter went directly into the circular file). And now I’m waiting, and waiting, and waiting. I go with a friend to Manhattan for the day, to do research for the other script, which has become more than a thought now, and I come home and TRY to work on it. And I still wait. Nothing. I just learned, through Instagram of course, that a week after my friend and I were in Manhattan, HE WAS THERE! Why couldn’t we have gone a week later? Sure, we were in the Battery and he was in Times Square, but you never know. Sure, we rode different subways, but still… I asked someone if they wanted to go to New York, now, and they laughed. But a tiny part of me was serious.

This isn’t a romance, but I feel this strange urge to watch the movie “Sleepless in Seattle,” since I identify with the premise of East Coast woman becomes obsessed with West Coast man she doesn’t even know (I won’t mention how he thinks she’s probably nuts). I continue to work on the other script. Then I realize that’s what we do. We write to write. I have to let it go. What’s meant to be will be.

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Jane Petreycik is currently a freelancer. Her first screenplay placed Runner Up in the Acclaim Scripts screenplay competition and was an Official Finalist in the New York Screenplay Contest. She is now working on her second script.
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