MISSION: CENTRAL AMERICA!

I stopped at my manager’s office yesterday for a meeting (to re-strategize after that fiasco from last week). But before I even sat down, she said, "Do you have a passport?"
I asked, "Why?"
She said, "You’re going to Central America."
I said, "I am?"
Then she proceeded to tell me about a producer who wants to hire me for a project.

Here’s the deal thus far: I’m to be sent down to El Salvador (all expenses paid, of course), interview the subject of this particular story, spend a few days getting a feel for his environment, his family and friends, his life, then come back and start working on a script. I’ll get half of my fee, which has yet to be completely negotiated, when I commence on the script, and the other half upon “completion” of the script. (I put the word completion in quotes cuz a submission draft is still far from completed.)

So I sat there, just slightly dumbfounded. All I could say was, "Um, sure, it sounds good."
Then I asked, "When do we start?"
"End of the month," says my manager.

I have to admit, I felt a little bit like a spy being sent off on a mission. I half expected to hear the James Bond theme playing as I was given the particulars of the deal.

Now, as usual, I’m taking all this with a grain of salt since this might very well implode in the next few days. Again—as I wrote in a blog a couple weeks ago—I’ll believe it’s for real when paperwork has been signed and a check clears into my bank account. But who knows, maybe luck will be on my side with this one. Maybe this will all go forward and I’ll get a trip to El Salvador and meet some interesting people. Maybe I’ll cash a nice paycheck and start work on a cool screenplay. Hey, it could very well happen.

Then again...this is Hollywood. As usual, I’ll keep ya posted.