“Oh!”said Akemi, throwing her hands up to cover her face as though trying to avoid some terrible sight, this just five minutes into my pitch. “I don’t think I can watch your new show.”
In all fairness, it’s technically not my new show. Yet. But if I were a betting man, I’d put money on my next series being a horror entry. No less than three of the projects currently on my docket are in the horror genre and two look precariously poised to get the go-ahead in the month of April.
Of course, that’s what I thought some three and a half years ago when I was preparing to get the green light on another project, a seeming sure thing, that quickly fizzled and faded just as another seemingly dead project, a sci-fi series called Dark Matter, go the surprise go. There’s no predicting this business. Still, if I were a betting man, chances are good I’ll be delving into the macabre in a few short months.
The timing is perfect as the lease on our apartment ends June 1st and it would be nice to know where I’ll be living for the rest of the year. Could be Toronto or, depending on circumstances, could be further east. Not quite the middle of the Atlantis, but pretty close.
Anyway, we’ve continued the hunt for a new place and have narrowed the possibilities down to two lovely condos. The first is smaller, part of a bigger building, situated directly across from a dog park and three floors above my good friend Ivon (who we can now rely on for emergency grocery items and dog-sitting services). Also, it has a narrow balcony that I will never step out onto. The second place is almost twice the size, significantly more expensive, and is a second floor condo in a boutique building hosting eleven units in all. No concierge and the maintenance fees are ridiculous but the wrap-around terrace is pretty sweet and with a professional cleaning and some painting, it would be killer. Akemi leans towards the first, more modest, unit. I, of course, prefer the second. OR we just bite the bullet and renew our lease here for another year. OR we put all our stuff in storage and move (further) east to work on this other project for the foreseeable future. Who knows?
Tomorrow, it’s lunch with a young talented writer, then work on that SF pitch I’ve reworked what feels like a dozen times now. I’m feeling good about this latest take. About as good as I felt about the other eleven. Then, Thursday, I’m off to pitch some original material. According to my agent “They’re looking for a space show”. I was extremely dubious: “There’s no way they’re looking for a space show.” “Yes,”he insisted. “A space show.” So, I’m going to go in there and lead with a space show – and if they tell me they’re not looking for space shows, I’ll be having a long and involved discussion with my agent later that afternoon. The BIG pitch (for that OTHER horror series) is Monday. Wish me luck!
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