FADE IN:
INT. RESTAURANT - NIGHT
MARK walks into the restaurant already stressed from running late in rush hour traffic and meets the MANAGER at the front desk who nods as Mark introduces himself.
MANAGER
Yeah, we got 'ya. Twenty people for dinner.
MARK
Uh, no. Fifty people for a meeting.
MANAGER
Well, we got you in this corner.
The Manager shows Mark to a small section of the restaurant where nicely appointed tables sit waiting for guests.
MARK
(deeply concerned)
But...that's not enough room.
We can't fit fifty people in this area.
Plus, we have a sound system.
The Manager shrugs and walks away.
Mark's looks like his brain is about to explode. Clenching his jaw, he's ready to commit a violent act upon the Manager but the Manager comes back and works hard to make things right.
Ah, the joys of running an org...
A small misunderstanding with the staff of Taco Rosa - but it all turned out well. Right? Right.
Last night we met at Taco Rosa in Irvine to do our 1st networking event of 2011. Although it started with a tense misunderstanding of the space we were to have, by the time most of the people arrived things were happily rolling along.
Our estimates put our gathering at just south of 70 people which is a great turnout for a Wednesday night in February.
We accomplished all of our goals foremost of which was to expose the group to more members and expose all the members to each other. We also wanted to get into a dialogue started about the year ahead based on what you, our members, needed as filmmakers. In other words, we're seeking your help to shape our events and resources.
After a brief introduction from moi, the current captain of this always interesting ship, we had the very savvy and accomplished Terri Zinner of Gallagher Literary Management speak. Terri is a vet of the show business wars and she gave us a lot of insight into the process of screening material for representation and possible sale. I found myself nodding at everything she said - she knows the business of the business, there is no doubt about that. Thanks, Terri - we all loved you!
We also gave away two copies of Final Draft 8.0 the latest version of the need-to-have software for aspiring and professional writers. The copies went to deserving writers; one, a young mom struggling to realize her dreams and the other, a 24-yr-old student who is working on his scriptwriting so he can direct his own work. Congrats to you both.
We also gave away some DVDs and a beautiful, hard-bound copy of the graphic novel "300."
Our next event will be on March 23rd (we're pretty sure) and at a different venue so keep watching this site, the MeetUp page or sign up for the newsletter on this site.
Anyone wanting to make suggestions as to future events, directions, critiques, etc. please go HERE or HERE and leave us a message.
Great to see you all and to meet those who hadn't been with us before. Thanks to all who helped make this event great including Savvy Robot, Viral Whisper, and my always fantastic board of dir
So, the take-away from the event? Keep your passion alive, peeps - it will serve you well. And I am proof positive that our dreams can be accomplished. We'll actually talk more about all that at our next Networking Event - which, we promise, won't be shoved into a corner of a busy restaurant...
