1.16.2005 There was a warm day, about a month ago, when Tavit and I drove two hours South to New York City to meet with some entertainment lawyers. I remember I wasn't sure how casually I should dress or how much money I should bring with me. I was fairly sure that they would pay for my lunch--which they did--but I brought some money anyway, though not enough to pay for the meal I ordered, which I felt was very daring.
The one thing that I know about the entertainment industry--the one thing that everyone seems to know--is that you're not supposed to sign anything, ever. I don't know why this detail has been so ingrained in the public consciousness, but it has. I've been told this by my parents, I've been told this by the man who cuts my hair: never sign anything. I'm not sure how anything gets done in Hollywood if no one is willing to write their name down, but it must just get done without signatures.
Anyway, we'd just been accepted into a slough of shows and festivals, and seemed to be talking to more and more important industry people each week. There was talk of taking on a manager or pursuing an agent, plus we'd just broken even on sales of our DVD. Things seemed to be moving forward quickly, and it seemed like a good time to talk to an entertainment lawyer.
We met the two lawyers in a trendy bistro-style restaurant on the upper-west side. They had arrived before us, set up shop in a booth, and become engaged in a conversation that seemed serious enough that I remember feeling guilty for interrupting it with our arrival. We sat down across from them, ordered drinks, and began to regale them with trumped-up accounts of how we came to own all of television. They weren't as impressed as I wanted them to be, but then it didn't really matter--they were lawyers, not producers.
About halfway through the meal, during the period between when I'd ordered my entree and resolved who would pay for it--the lawyers paused their pitch (which consisted primarly of descriptions of other clients: a famous chef, a has-been, the child of a celebrity) to see if we had any questions. I'd thought seriously during the long car ride south of what I would ask the lawyers. I wanted to ask them a trick question that would trigger a response that would inadvertantly give me permission to sign everything. I wanted to ask them if they were paying for my lunch--and, if not, where I could find an ATM. Instead, I asked them a question that had been on my mind, about managers and management--whether it was something we wanted or something we should be wary of.
The more assertive of the two lawyers looked at me for a moment, frowned, turned to her partner, turned back to me, and asked, "Do you know what it is we do?"
"Umm," I stammered, caught offguard, "Well, you probably...negotiate contracts, and...work...out...settlements?" She smiled at me, seemingly confident of the fact that I was only pretending to be an adult, and I conceded that I wasn't exactly sure of what it is that she does. All I knew, based on the advise of everyone and their mother, was that the smart thing to do was to talk to an entertainment lawyer.
She smiled again, turned to her partner, turned back to me, and said, "Well, we're not entertainment lawyers. We're managers."
After that, we were all silent for a few seconds.
"But seriously," she added, "you really should talk to an entertainment lawyer."
1.04.2005
I made this graphic for the top of Olde English frontpage, but since we're leaving tomorrow and I won't be able to post for a few days, you might as well know where I'll be.
1.02.2005 This should be a very different year for this weblog.
First of all, I intend to start posting more. My reluctance to post in the past few months has mostly resulted from being very busy (mostly with the Olde English DVD), and from my frustration with how crappy Blogger has become. However, in early February I will switch this site over to a MovableType system, and never have to deal with Blogger again.
The site is also on a new server--the Olde English server--so now the site won't crash halfway through the month, and also I have a hell of a lot more resources at my disposal (like, say, 2000GB of transfer bandwidth).
So, to start the year off with an example of the new capabilities of this site, below is Brendan's account of our summer in Chicago:
