no strings attached

I have some "bad news" and some "good news", which do you want first? Hopefully you went with the 'bad' because it will make much more sense in this order.

The lemons: To be straight-to-the-point about it, Matt, the Producer, is out. There are a handful of reasons, but before I get into them - I want to clarify that, as far as I can see, this relationship didn't end ugly. There was no fall-out or heated argument and slamming doors. I do feel that our working-together ended a little prematurely... maybe "prematurely" isn't the right word, a better way of explaining it would be - before it got an honest chance to get off the ground.

I think the best way to break down the recent happenings is to just cut & paste the last few emails between Matt & I. The words inside the quotation boxes are mine, the rest is Matt's response. Here we go:

I know I disappeared on you for a while - part of it was my going out of town for two weeks, and another part of it was I needed to clear my head after the pilot and come at this from a different angle.

As for doing it again in August - I think we should, my main concern is getting a nice "cast" in a fairly short amount of time. You mentioned a producer coming along, I think it should be you. You also mentioned a director, there is, as far as I can see, two possibilities for this: 1) perhaps you are under the impression that I would, again, be in-front of the camera and you feel we need someone behind it overseeing things. Or 2) you are under the impression that I won't be riding again and we still need someone...

Either way, I won't be riding again - it caused a lot of problems, I didn't see 95% of the footage until afterwards, when I was... unhappy with it and in a situation where there was nothing I could do about it. And sorry, there's just no way I'm letting someone else direct my project. I'll compromise on a lot of things, but that's not one of them, and I don't feel that's at all unreasonable.

As for my lack of television-production - I can't argue. But I knew enough about this project to have a bad feeling about us piling in and out of the RV so much, but you were very adamant. I think it left a huge void of honest dialogue between the cast. Which, to me, seems to be the core thing missing.

I recently wrote a post on Pedal talking about a few reasons I felt the footage we have is just no good. If you haven't yet - I'd like you to read it.

I have a lot I'd like to add to it, but I'd like to be sure you know where I'm coming from first. One of the major things I'll just say now is going into this again I don't want the cast to be interrupted. If we are gone, filming for 4 days, then the cast will be riding straight for 4 days. I know esthetically speaking you didn't want the background to be boring or repetitive, but I feel very strongly that it hurt us more than it helped. I go into this a little in my last post.

So, again, Olivier comes out at the end of the August. That might be too soon, what do you think? Perhaps it just be an opportunity for us to meet. I'm anxious to try this again, while avoiding the things that caused problems the first time.

I hear you on all of this, but I think the reality of the thing is that you're a few years away from having the knowledge and experience necessary to be able to produce/direct this thing the way we need to produce it. There were some glaringly obvious signs of this from the last production, too many overlooked opportunities to chalk up to a bad first run.

I mean no offense whatsoever here, it's just how it is right now. I tend to get "all business" in email so just imagine me smiling and being really friendly while you're reading, because I'm certainly speaking with all good intentions. :)

I understand that you want to direct your own project, it's quite logical. I'd feel the same way if I were you.

But as far as making a commercially viable project here, regardless of whether it's a film or television format, it needs experience at the helm. It's not the type of thing we're going to be able to agree about, because it's subjective.

It's quite possible you'll be able to go out on your own and shoot something that makes you happy. But I don't think you're at the point where you can helm the project in a way that works for the purposes we need it to work for. Is it possible you'll go shoot a unique, breakaway hit? Of course, but I'm not comfortable financially gambling on that. I feel that this can be very mainstream and still creatively satisfying, but I think you're pretty dead-set on doing it in a very specific way, and that's the gap.

There are some beautiful stills on the site, and I am certainly not saying that you're a bad director or anything of the sort. I'm just saying that I want to take a safer route than I think you're willing to take, and the route I want requires more production experience than I think you've got under your belt at the moment.

I'd say - go shoot your Pedal, and do it exactly like you want to do it, without me pushing you into this mainstream stuff. Maybe after you've satisfied that need, you can come back and take a stab at working with us on a version we want to do. I definitely think that it is worth pursuing.

Maybe you should shoot the 4-day version the way you want it, and use it as a teaser to raise funds for the whole enchilada. I'm sure that thought has already crossed your mind, and I'd certainly agree with that strategy. Having something to show potential investors would definitely help you raise funds for your own version much faster.

In any event, we're still around, keep me in the loop on what you're doing with it and I'm open to talking about it any time.

I was pretty sure I would get that response - I actually would have been very surprised if I hadn't.
There's two quick counter-points I want to make. 1) My lack of experience in television doesn't become a problem until I surround myself with a whole team of equally-unexperienced people.

I have to disagree - I think on a show like this, the helmer needs to be solid. Shooting an unstructured reality-[style] show is often even harder than shooting a structured one. A crew is a complex set of tools in the director's toolchest. Without someone to properly utilize them, there's not much they can do.

If I was going into this blind, yes, I would be somewhat nervous. But there's a reason I'm very adamant about Olivier being the DP and you being the producer... and this time, there in the flesh - because Olivier and you have the necessary experience to guide me in the right decisions.

Another way to say this is "I know I don't know what I'm doing, but people can teach me along the way." For someone in the director role, that might be fine for film school, but that's something you should pay for, not me (or my investors). :)

I'm all about producing something and bringing along new talent - even occasionally a director. But I already gave you a shot at directing it on our dime, and it didn't work out. Oh well, no real harm done. But, you should certainly go out and spend some significant time working on your own to practice your skills before we talk about paying for another trial run, don't you think?

Look - I'm wet behind the ears for sure - but answer me this, why did Aaron, Luke and Tim come back sounding so positive? Why did we have very, very few disagreements during the shoot - most of which were never about missed opportunities, but physically-risky shots? I was far less optimistic about the footage - when I was at LAX and you called the day after, I didn't answer the phone because I thought it would be bad news... after I heard how excited they were and how excited that made you - I just chalked up my doubts to nervousness. I loved Aaron, Luke and Tim - we had a really good time, and it's an experience I'm very grateful for... but I need more than that to get this right - I need Olivier behind the camera and you behind me (I mean that in the supportive/producer sense).

Because they saw that the trip provided the necessary material for a good show. It wasn't until they reviewed the material that they realized the material hadn't been successfully captured.

2) The "mainstream" issue is really not at all an issue. I'm not out to direct 'Gerry' here... I admit, I watch very little TV, I'm usually far too busy for it, but I watch enough to know what I'm looking to do is not anything I haven't seen already. When we first met, you asked me to think about my two options very hard and honestly - I'm asking you to do the same on a very simple point: what story-telling approach do you really think is better for 'Pedal' - a reality "show" or a reality "story"? Please think about this... the differences are very subtle and both choices are equally mainstream.

We're trying to do two different things here. I think your idea is neat, but it's a gamble I'm not comfortable making under these circumstances. I just don't think it's going to come out the way you think it's going to come out. That's my professional opinion. See below for my thoughts on the approach.

As for August being no good - that's fine, if I've convinced you at all with this email than I'd like very much for Olivier to meet you face to face. We can have a big talk... make sure we're on the same page. This will give me more time to figure out a cast.

I'm perfectly fine meeting up with you and Olivier and talking about the project, but (hold your breath here) I'm very certain that I'm not willing to fund it any further with you directing it in its current state. That's not a commentary on your talent, it's just that I know the format in which I see Pedal being produced in, and after seeing the Pilot results, it's clear to me that you're not the right guy for the directing job. You would certainly be the right guy to take a on-site producer role, but the production would need to be helmed by a more experienced producer/director.

You know 'Pedal' is good idea - you know it has a lot of potential, otherwise you would have never come to me. I'm not asking for you to promise me the whole 9 yards. I'm just asking that we do this pilot again, and that you be physically there to work with me every step of the way. If after those 4 days are done you feel the same way - then I'll accept that.

Pedal is a good idea. It's a good idea in multiple formats even. The specific idea and format combination I am interested in is "Project Pedal - The 6-10 Episode Documentary" on a cross country ride.

You really, really want to do something else with it, and I fully respect that, but it's not something I can open my wallet for. On top of that, I don't think you're in a position to direct it the way we want it done, which pretty much sidelines this, for now.

I would definitely say go out and do your version where you don't have to make any compromises for me. You'll feel much better about it. Afterwards, I think you'll be ready to try another direction with it, and we'll be happy to talk about getting involved again.

Again, give this some real thought first - then let me know how you feel.

I've definitely thought about it plenty, and talked to Tim and Luke and so on. I'm very sure that this is where I'm at with it.

Raising $8,000 is not an incredibly difficult task, and if you think you can shoot your version of Pedal for $8,000 (I think that's what you had mentioned long ago), by all means go get the money and shoot it your way.

I'm sure you learned a lot from the pilot shoot that you can apply to your feature version, and I'm sure you'll be much happier doing things exactly the way you want to without having us telling you how to do them.

After you've done that, then we can talk about taking another shot at this...

Let me know if you want to meet while Olivier is out here. I'm out of town Thursday through Monday, then I'm probably in New York from the 14th to the 17th or so.


[End of emails] Everyone still with me after that? I know that was a lot of reading but I wouldn't want to put words into Matt's mouth - I thought that was the fairest way to catch people up to speed. So that was the 'bad news', time for the good stuff.

The lemonade: Over the last few days, letting this adjustment sink in, I've felt a growing excitement in me that's been missing for a long time.

To explain: I've been at odds with myself the last year - because on one hand I knew I was giving up some of the most personal and powerful aspects of 'Pedal', but on the other hand, it was at the chance of getting 'Pedal' onto Discovery HD. Not an opportunity that presents itself to too many young and under-experienced directors in this town. As much as I knew this meant watering down the project, I felt it would be asshole'ish of me to brush off such a wide audience. As I saw it, I could tell the story I wanted to tell in the way I wanted to tell it to a small audience - or I could tell the story in a cookie-cutter, semi-imaginative way, that would get to a massive, massive audience.

I don't regret at all taking that chance - and exploring that approach. I think I need to stress that. I don't feel this was a waste of time and I know that, in the end, I'll take away much more from the experience than I probably give credit for right now.

But... getting back to the point, the growing excitement - a fresh new start. Here's where I stand at the moment, I have about 120 GBs of footage from our pilot shoot, I'm not happy with a lot of it, but I'm working hard to milk it for all it's worth. Depending on the outcome of this I'll have two options:

1) I end up with something I'm happy [enough] with and am able to show that off to raise money for the coast to coast project. Or...

2) I end up with a lot of nothing and arrange a four day shoot - probably during the fall. This time the crew would not interrupt or influence the "cast" as much as humanly possible the entire four days. We would come back with footage that feels much more honest and unrehearsed.


I have more I'd planned on mentioning but I think this post is long enough. Stay tuned for more.