1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:03,430 [DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING] 2 00:00:11,050 --> 00:00:12,550 MATT DUFFER: The best way to explain 3 00:00:12,550 --> 00:00:15,110 how we pitch is just to show you the "Stranger Things" pitch. 4 00:00:15,113 --> 00:00:17,033 You're gonna be talking about a lot of stuff 5 00:00:17,030 --> 00:00:19,900 and a lot of stuff that was in your blue sky document that 6 00:00:19,900 --> 00:00:22,150 maybe just didn't make it into the pilot. 7 00:00:22,150 --> 00:00:24,970 For instance, in your pilot script of "Stranger Things," 8 00:00:24,970 --> 00:00:27,190 we talk about how Hopper's lost a daughter. 9 00:00:27,190 --> 00:00:29,260 We don't really talk about how that' 10 00:00:29,263 --> 00:00:30,433 where he's going from there. 11 00:00:30,430 --> 00:00:32,030 That A to B, we don't talk about. 12 00:00:32,032 --> 00:00:33,492 We don't know from the pilot script 13 00:00:33,490 --> 00:00:36,640 that Mike and Eleven are gonna have this innocent relationship 14 00:00:36,640 --> 00:00:38,680 and sort of have a first love. 15 00:00:38,680 --> 00:00:40,960 We don't get into that or that Jonathan and Nancy are 16 00:00:40,960 --> 00:00:42,110 gonna end up teaming up. 17 00:00:42,112 --> 00:00:43,572 So what you're able to do is you're 18 00:00:43,570 --> 00:00:45,670 able to elaborate a little bit more. 19 00:00:45,670 --> 00:00:48,280 Now, don't get all too carried away. 20 00:00:48,280 --> 00:00:49,990 This is 15 to 20 minutes, so you're 21 00:00:49,990 --> 00:00:51,470 gonna have to be very particular. 22 00:00:51,470 --> 00:00:53,170 You're gonna have to pick your best 23 00:00:53,170 --> 00:00:54,760 ideas and your simple ideas. 24 00:00:54,760 --> 00:00:57,280 You could definitely lose people really quick. 25 00:00:57,280 --> 00:01:00,130 If you start going too deep into mythology or whatever, 26 00:01:00,130 --> 00:01:01,670 you're gonna lose people. 27 00:01:01,670 --> 00:01:03,550 But you should touch on mythology. 28 00:01:03,550 --> 00:01:05,680 We touch on what this other dimension is. 29 00:01:05,680 --> 00:01:07,540 We talk about inspirations. 30 00:01:07,540 --> 00:01:10,810 We talk a little bit about music, even, and tone. 31 00:01:10,810 --> 00:01:13,840 You're just sort of hitting these big bullet points of what 32 00:01:13,840 --> 00:01:15,970 the show is both gonna feel like and your 33 00:01:15,970 --> 00:01:19,190 giving a sense of what the story arcs could be. 34 00:01:19,192 --> 00:01:21,402 And then even at the end, you're talking a little bit 35 00:01:21,400 --> 00:01:26,600 about what could be beyond this, if it happens to be successful. 36 00:01:26,600 --> 00:01:28,570 This is not a document that we've really 37 00:01:28,570 --> 00:01:29,710 shared with anyone. 38 00:01:29,710 --> 00:01:30,490 We didn't even share it with Netflix. 39 00:01:30,490 --> 00:01:32,110 MATT DUFFER: You know, we broke it down for ourselves, 40 00:01:32,110 --> 00:01:33,360 starting with an introduction. 41 00:01:33,360 --> 00:01:35,980 We talked about, did you see our look book trailer? 42 00:01:35,982 --> 00:01:37,692 It's probably clear to you that now we're 43 00:01:37,690 --> 00:01:39,100 gonna get into a look book later. 44 00:01:39,100 --> 00:01:40,660 We were movie nerds growing up, so we 45 00:01:40,660 --> 00:01:42,920 started to make it a little personal immediately 46 00:01:42,917 --> 00:01:45,247 and talk about why we're passionate about this material. 47 00:01:45,250 --> 00:01:47,380 We talked about going to movies with our dad, 48 00:01:47,380 --> 00:01:49,570 and how we loved this growing up, 49 00:01:49,570 --> 00:01:52,110 and how we then fell in love with TV with "The Sopranos." 50 00:01:52,113 --> 00:01:54,533 And we talk about a little bit why we think it's unique, 51 00:01:54,530 --> 00:01:55,660 and why there isn't a show like that, 52 00:01:55,660 --> 00:01:57,730 and why we would like to see a show like this. 53 00:01:57,730 --> 00:01:59,590 And then, if you look at this, actually, we 54 00:01:59,590 --> 00:02:01,750 talk about a lot of things we had you kind 55 00:02:01,750 --> 00:02:03,250 of blue sky or thinking about. 56 00:02:03,250 --> 00:02:04,390 I mean, we talk about-- 57 00:02:04,390 --> 00:02:04,600 ROSS DUFFER: Inspiration. 58 00:02:04,600 --> 00:02:07,120 MATT DUFFER: --inspiration, so the kind of movies 59 00:02:07,120 --> 00:02:08,230 that inspired us. 60 00:02:08,229 --> 00:02:10,689 ROSS DUFFER: And you can see here, it says, "ordinary 61 00:02:10,690 --> 00:02:11,810 meets the extraordinary." 62 00:02:11,810 --> 00:02:14,260 It's bolded, that's how important we thought it was. 63 00:02:14,260 --> 00:02:15,760 We did not bold this for this class. 64 00:02:15,760 --> 00:02:17,710 This was bolded for the Netflix pitch. 65 00:02:17,710 --> 00:02:19,420 But again, we make it personal again. 66 00:02:19,420 --> 00:02:22,270 Because then, we say right after that, "When we were growing up, 67 00:02:22,270 --> 00:02:24,910 we were just regular kids living in the suburbs of North 68 00:02:24,910 --> 00:02:26,730 Carolina, playing Dungeons and Dragons 69 00:02:26,730 --> 00:02:27,730 with our nerdy friends." 70 00:02:27,730 --> 00:02:32,350 And we're saying this is why this show is meaningful to us. 71 00:02:32,352 --> 00:02:34,062 We're making it personal for them, again. 72 00:02:34,060 --> 00:02:36,220 So I think that is important. 73 00:02:36,220 --> 00:02:38,160 Then we get into setting. 74 00:02:38,158 --> 00:02:39,698 ROSS DUFFER: Setting, for us, was not 75 00:02:39,700 --> 00:02:41,800 the most important aspect of this storyline. 76 00:02:41,800 --> 00:02:44,350 And we summarize it very quickly, 77 00:02:44,350 --> 00:02:47,980 talking about how Montauk is this close-knit seaside town. 78 00:02:47,980 --> 00:02:49,680 And we talk about Amity in Jaws. 79 00:02:49,683 --> 00:02:51,103 We don't spend a lot of time here. 80 00:02:51,100 --> 00:02:51,600 No. 81 00:02:51,600 --> 00:02:53,040 And then we get into mythology. 82 00:02:53,037 --> 00:02:54,367 So, it's funny I'm reading this. 83 00:02:54,370 --> 00:02:55,790 Some of this is not even accurate. 84 00:02:55,787 --> 00:02:58,747 But we basically get into the Montauk project 85 00:02:58,750 --> 00:03:00,540 and why we're into the Montauk project. 86 00:03:00,542 --> 00:03:01,752 And why we love conspiracy. 87 00:03:01,750 --> 00:03:02,650 MATT DUFFER: And why we love conspiracy. 88 00:03:02,650 --> 00:03:04,180 Again, we're making it personal. 89 00:03:04,180 --> 00:03:06,940 ROSS DUFFER: We have these, again, bolded lines. 90 00:03:06,940 --> 00:03:09,760 And again, this isn't for MasterClass. 91 00:03:09,760 --> 00:03:12,080 This was stuff we had bolded, just as a-- 92 00:03:12,080 --> 00:03:13,760 I think, even though we memorized it, 93 00:03:13,760 --> 00:03:16,120 we wanted to be like, you've got to hit this moment, 94 00:03:16,122 --> 00:03:17,832 you've got to emphasize this because it's 95 00:03:17,830 --> 00:03:20,560 so important, which is, a doorway or tears 96 00:03:20,560 --> 00:03:22,240 open to another dimension. 97 00:03:22,240 --> 00:03:23,950 We talk about these entities. 98 00:03:23,950 --> 00:03:27,650 We realized multiple entities was more entities 99 00:03:27,645 --> 00:03:28,275 than we needed. 100 00:03:28,270 --> 00:03:30,580 And it became one, which was the Demogorgon. 101 00:03:30,580 --> 00:03:33,490 And we end this with saying, "This supernatural kidnapping 102 00:03:33,490 --> 00:03:34,880 sets our story into motion." 103 00:03:34,880 --> 00:03:36,730 And I think one reason that's bolded 104 00:03:36,730 --> 00:03:38,380 and we thought was so important was 105 00:03:38,380 --> 00:03:40,750 this is going back way, way, way back to early 106 00:03:40,750 --> 00:03:42,760 in the lesson when we said, big idea. 107 00:03:42,760 --> 00:03:44,650 And our big idea coming out of prisoners 108 00:03:44,650 --> 00:03:47,830 was, what if we do a show about a supernatural kidnapping? 109 00:03:47,830 --> 00:03:50,320 So we wanted to make sure that they understood 110 00:03:50,320 --> 00:03:51,880 that at the core of this, we're gonna 111 00:03:51,880 --> 00:03:53,890 have a lot of crazy ideas, other dimensions, 112 00:03:53,890 --> 00:03:55,070 and multiple entities-- 113 00:03:55,067 --> 00:03:56,277 Girls with side-eye powers. 114 00:03:56,275 --> 00:03:56,955 Some psychic powers. 115 00:03:56,955 --> 00:03:57,455 Yeah. 116 00:03:57,455 --> 00:04:00,435 Well, listen, if you're getting-- just think about it, 117 00:04:00,430 --> 00:04:02,470 at the end of the day, supernatural kidnapping. 118 00:04:02,470 --> 00:04:04,990 And then we move into talking about the structure. 119 00:04:04,985 --> 00:04:07,365 And these are really the arcs that we were talking about. 120 00:04:07,360 --> 00:04:07,960 The story arcs. 121 00:04:07,960 --> 00:04:09,790 The story arcs that we were talking about. 122 00:04:09,793 --> 00:04:13,003 We were calling them generations slash structure here. 123 00:04:13,000 --> 00:04:14,810 We're talking about the drive, of course, 124 00:04:14,810 --> 00:04:16,100 which is what happened to Will. 125 00:04:16,102 --> 00:04:17,112 How do we get will back? 126 00:04:17,110 --> 00:04:19,520 Again, very easy for them to understand. 127 00:04:19,519 --> 00:04:22,149 And then we talk about, there's gonna be three main storylines. 128 00:04:22,144 --> 00:04:23,814 And we're going to break them into three 129 00:04:23,811 --> 00:04:26,441 different generations, the kids, the teens, the adults. 130 00:04:26,440 --> 00:04:27,880 And then, we also bolded, "We like 131 00:04:27,880 --> 00:04:29,560 to think of each of these generations 132 00:04:29,560 --> 00:04:31,990 as existing in a different '80s universe." 133 00:04:31,990 --> 00:04:34,400 Well, and I think it also gives them a shortcut, right, 134 00:04:34,400 --> 00:04:34,900 too? 135 00:04:34,900 --> 00:04:35,400 Yeah. 136 00:04:35,400 --> 00:04:38,140 Because saying, the adults are in a Spielberg movie. 137 00:04:38,140 --> 00:04:39,610 The teens are an '80s horror film, 138 00:04:39,613 --> 00:04:41,533 like "Halloween" or "Nightmare On Elm Street." 139 00:04:41,530 --> 00:04:44,050 And then the kids are in a Stephen King novel, 140 00:04:44,050 --> 00:04:45,490 like "Stand By Me" or "It." 141 00:04:45,490 --> 00:04:48,580 And I think, again, these aren't-- 142 00:04:48,580 --> 00:04:50,800 these are references that we were 143 00:04:50,800 --> 00:04:53,800 assuming that they would be able to understand and relate to. 144 00:04:53,800 --> 00:04:56,720 And then we step through each of those generations for them. 145 00:04:56,720 --> 00:04:59,200 So we're like, okay, now we're gonna talk about the adults. 146 00:04:59,200 --> 00:05:00,250 Yeah, we actually say this, look. 147 00:05:00,250 --> 00:05:01,960 "Now we will walk through the storylines. 148 00:05:01,958 --> 00:05:03,278 First, we have our adults." 149 00:05:03,280 --> 00:05:04,000 It's very simple. 150 00:05:04,000 --> 00:05:07,570 Again, very simple, clean, simple introductions to this. 151 00:05:07,570 --> 00:05:08,950 You don't want them to get lost. 152 00:05:08,950 --> 00:05:11,680 If you start going into too much detail, they're gonna just-- 153 00:05:11,680 --> 00:05:13,140 they're gonna zone out, and they're 154 00:05:13,138 --> 00:05:16,088 gonna start thinking about their next meeting or whatever it is. 155 00:05:16,088 --> 00:05:17,378 Just keep it focused and clean. 156 00:05:17,380 --> 00:05:18,760 And then, basically, what we do 157 00:05:18,755 --> 00:05:21,405 is we talk about all the major adult characters. 158 00:05:21,400 --> 00:05:23,450 When we go through each character, 159 00:05:23,450 --> 00:05:25,270 we go through Hopper, and what we're doing 160 00:05:25,270 --> 00:05:27,820 is we're talking a little about who Hopper is. 161 00:05:27,820 --> 00:05:29,770 We're talking about the story arc, which 162 00:05:29,770 --> 00:05:33,970 is something in your blue sky that you've come up with that A 163 00:05:33,970 --> 00:05:37,510 to B. And we're talking about his story arc, A to B. 164 00:05:37,512 --> 00:05:39,222 And then we're doing the same with Joyce. 165 00:05:39,220 --> 00:05:41,860 So we're just hitting those huge, big points. 166 00:05:41,860 --> 00:05:44,470 So hopefully they understand who this character is, 167 00:05:44,470 --> 00:05:47,950 where they go in the story, and where they end up. 168 00:05:47,950 --> 00:05:50,860 But I think that, again, you're staying really broad. 169 00:05:50,860 --> 00:05:52,930 If you look at this outline we've got, 170 00:05:52,930 --> 00:05:55,600 it's a short paragraph for each of these characters. 171 00:05:55,600 --> 00:05:57,850 And then we sort of summarize, at the end, 172 00:05:57,850 --> 00:05:59,830 you know, this is another bolded thing. 173 00:05:59,830 --> 00:06:02,290 We say, "What really unites the adult storylines, 174 00:06:02,290 --> 00:06:04,510 emotionally and thematically, is that both Hopper 175 00:06:04,510 --> 00:06:06,180 and Joyce her parents who feel like they 176 00:06:06,177 --> 00:06:07,407 have failed their children. 177 00:06:07,402 --> 00:06:09,612 Specifically, they feel they have failed them because 178 00:06:09,610 --> 00:06:10,710 of mistakes in their past. 179 00:06:10,708 --> 00:06:12,248 But over the course of the show, they 180 00:06:12,250 --> 00:06:13,540 find a way to forgive themselves, 181 00:06:13,540 --> 00:06:15,500 to accept their mistakes, and to move on with their lives. 182 00:06:15,500 --> 00:06:17,330 So it's starting to talk about what is gonna 183 00:06:17,333 --> 00:06:18,673 unite Joyce and Hopper here. 184 00:06:18,670 --> 00:06:20,920 We're just doing the same structure that we did with 185 00:06:20,920 --> 00:06:23,160 the adults with the teams, which is we say, 186 00:06:23,163 --> 00:06:25,333 "They've got adulthood looming, and it's terrifying, 187 00:06:25,330 --> 00:06:27,880 which is represented by this 'monster' that is stalking 188 00:06:27,880 --> 00:06:28,400 them. 189 00:06:28,400 --> 00:06:30,070 And that's, again, just telling Netflix, 190 00:06:30,067 --> 00:06:32,807 hey, this isn't just kids running away from monsters. 191 00:06:32,810 --> 00:06:34,370 There's a little more depth to it. 192 00:06:34,370 --> 00:06:36,180 So that can be a helpful thing. 193 00:06:36,182 --> 00:06:37,392 And then we go to the kids. 194 00:06:37,390 --> 00:06:40,570 And it was an obvious choice by us to end with the kids last. 195 00:06:40,570 --> 00:06:43,120 We knew that was our stro-- like, really strong, probably 196 00:06:43,118 --> 00:06:44,408 our most interesting storyline. 197 00:06:44,410 --> 00:06:47,160 So we wanted to end on a high note. 198 00:06:47,157 --> 00:06:49,237 That's why we structured it in the way that we did 199 00:06:49,240 --> 00:06:50,620 or I'm imagining that it is. 200 00:06:50,620 --> 00:06:53,200 We talk about Mike, he's still got that birthmark on hi face-- 201 00:06:53,203 --> 00:06:54,193 That's right. 202 00:06:54,190 --> 00:06:55,600 --which leads to insecurity. 203 00:06:55,600 --> 00:06:59,050 And then we describe this storyline of him and Eleven. 204 00:06:59,050 --> 00:07:02,200 And we say, "We now have this E.T. fish-out-of 205 00:07:02,200 --> 00:07:03,340 water storyline. 206 00:07:03,340 --> 00:07:05,980 And with that, almost, they get it, right? 207 00:07:05,980 --> 00:07:09,700 They get how it's gonna work with Mike and Eleven. 208 00:07:09,700 --> 00:07:12,340 And we kind of step through some of the cool sequences 209 00:07:12,340 --> 00:07:13,790 that the kids might have-- 210 00:07:13,785 --> 00:07:15,165 these fun sequences they're gonna 211 00:07:15,160 --> 00:07:17,560 have with this psychic girl who's suddenly living with them 212 00:07:17,560 --> 00:07:19,580 and how she's gonna learn how to live in the real world. 213 00:07:19,584 --> 00:07:19,854 And we talk about all that. 214 00:07:19,850 --> 00:07:23,230 And we say little ideas like, "she levitates their Dungeons 215 00:07:23,230 --> 00:07:24,610 and Dragon figures." 216 00:07:24,610 --> 00:07:26,800 Now, in the show, she does, I think, 217 00:07:26,800 --> 00:07:28,360 the Millennium Falcon toy. 218 00:07:28,360 --> 00:07:29,410 Which is a better idea. 219 00:07:29,410 --> 00:07:31,510 But again, it's giving them a taste of, hey, 220 00:07:31,510 --> 00:07:32,810 this journey's gonna be fun. 221 00:07:32,810 --> 00:07:34,850 This is one of the things that could happen along 222 00:07:34,852 --> 00:07:35,442 this journey. 223 00:07:35,440 --> 00:07:38,130 Once we went through each generation and all the major 224 00:07:38,130 --> 00:07:40,630 characters, we then went into-- we started talking about how 225 00:07:40,630 --> 00:07:42,170 they're gonna combine. 226 00:07:42,170 --> 00:07:43,480 We labeled this Finale. 227 00:07:43,480 --> 00:07:46,720 We said, there's gonna be a big set piece, where the government 228 00:07:46,720 --> 00:07:48,100 agents come to Mike's house. 229 00:07:48,100 --> 00:07:48,820 Yeah. 230 00:07:48,820 --> 00:07:50,230 This is actually pretty accurate, still, for the show. 231 00:07:50,230 --> 00:07:51,080 Yeah, it is, yeah. 232 00:07:51,080 --> 00:07:52,090 They come to the Mike's house. 233 00:07:52,090 --> 00:07:54,190 That leads to the bike chasing, whatever we say. 234 00:07:54,190 --> 00:07:56,800 So that moment, we knew that was gonna 235 00:07:56,800 --> 00:07:58,420 be an exciting moment in the show 236 00:07:58,420 --> 00:08:01,840 and that whatever happened there was gonna lead all three 237 00:08:01,840 --> 00:08:04,780 of these storylines to collide. 238 00:08:04,780 --> 00:08:07,290 We're not specific about how they collide here. 239 00:08:07,293 --> 00:08:07,963 ROSS DUFFER: No. 240 00:08:07,960 --> 00:08:09,650 We just said there's gonna be a huge event of the house. 241 00:08:09,650 --> 00:08:12,150 And then we just wrote, "This is when our three generational 242 00:08:12,150 --> 00:08:14,410 storylines merge, adults, teens, and kids." 243 00:08:14,410 --> 00:08:17,140 And then we talk about a little bit what we were telling you 244 00:08:17,140 --> 00:08:18,930 not too long ago, which is, "They each have 245 00:08:18,932 --> 00:08:20,712 a key piece of knowledge, the adults 246 00:08:20,710 --> 00:08:22,270 have learned where Will is hiding, 247 00:08:22,270 --> 00:08:24,890 the kids have learned about this portal beneath Camp Hero, 248 00:08:24,888 --> 00:08:27,428 and the teens have learned how to defeat the Entities," which 249 00:08:27,430 --> 00:08:28,720 will become the Demogorgon. 250 00:08:28,720 --> 00:08:30,820 "They now have what they need to free Will." 251 00:08:30,820 --> 00:08:33,670 And then we talk a little bit about the climax. 252 00:08:33,669 --> 00:08:34,679 We talk about-- 253 00:08:34,678 --> 00:08:36,218 But again it's like five sentences. 254 00:08:36,220 --> 00:08:38,760 --how they're going to-- yeah, that they're going to rescue 255 00:08:38,762 --> 00:08:42,672 Will and how Eleven is gonna use her powers to help close 256 00:08:42,669 --> 00:08:44,889 the rift and end the horror. 257 00:08:44,890 --> 00:08:48,070 So that was us running through the entire series for them. 258 00:08:48,070 --> 00:08:50,200 Again, it's a really zoomed-out view of it. 259 00:08:50,200 --> 00:08:52,450 ROSS DUFFER: And then, we get into franchise, briefly. 260 00:08:52,450 --> 00:08:54,830 MATT DUFFER: And I think, initially, this franchise thing 261 00:08:54,832 --> 00:08:56,292 didn't exist in the original pitch. 262 00:08:56,290 --> 00:08:57,980 But it was something we kept getting asked about, 263 00:08:57,980 --> 00:08:59,560 so we were like, we better write down 264 00:08:59,560 --> 00:09:01,150 some good answers for this. 265 00:09:01,150 --> 00:09:04,120 And a lot of this we already went over, 266 00:09:04,120 --> 00:09:07,360 in terms of, we started to talk about, listen, we 267 00:09:07,358 --> 00:09:08,648 want this story to be complete. 268 00:09:08,650 --> 00:09:10,030 We want them to rescue Will. 269 00:09:10,030 --> 00:09:12,450 We don't want them to rescue Will and then lose Will again 270 00:09:12,447 --> 00:09:14,217 and season 2 is about rescuing will again, 271 00:09:14,218 --> 00:09:15,758 because we knew that would be boring. 272 00:09:15,760 --> 00:09:18,790 So we knew it would revolve around-- 273 00:09:18,790 --> 00:09:22,330 revolve around what happens with Will when he's returned. 274 00:09:22,330 --> 00:09:24,700 "How has his time in this other dimension affected him." 275 00:09:24,695 --> 00:09:25,575 That's what we wrote. 276 00:09:25,570 --> 00:09:27,920 He's going to be psychologically damaged. 277 00:09:27,920 --> 00:09:30,800 He's gonna be haunted by very intense nightmares. 278 00:09:30,803 --> 00:09:32,723 How do you come back from something like that. 279 00:09:32,720 --> 00:09:34,680 And ultimately, that is what season 2 is about. 280 00:09:34,678 --> 00:09:36,428 It's like, how does Will come back 281 00:09:36,430 --> 00:09:37,780 from the events of season 1? 282 00:09:37,780 --> 00:09:40,930 We've got 15, 20 minutes, and so we've got to be, 283 00:09:40,930 --> 00:09:43,600 every word counts here. 284 00:09:43,600 --> 00:09:46,630 And you've got to be very careful with not 285 00:09:46,630 --> 00:09:48,220 falling into too much detail. 286 00:09:48,220 --> 00:09:51,140 [DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING] 287 00:09:54,415 --> 00:09:56,295 So in addition to the pitch and in addition 288 00:09:56,290 --> 00:09:58,000 to that verbal pitch that we did, 289 00:09:58,000 --> 00:10:00,940 we sent a look book prior to our meetings for them. 290 00:10:00,940 --> 00:10:03,650 And, basically, a look book, this is optional. 291 00:10:03,645 --> 00:10:05,775 This is something you definitely do not have to do. 292 00:10:05,770 --> 00:10:07,000 You have to do the pitch, but you 293 00:10:07,000 --> 00:10:08,290 don't have to do the look book. 294 00:10:08,292 --> 00:10:09,942 But what we like about the look book 295 00:10:09,940 --> 00:10:13,150 is it goes back to the idea of tone 296 00:10:13,150 --> 00:10:15,820 that we talked about way earlier, in terms 297 00:10:15,820 --> 00:10:20,080 of giving them a sense of, what is this show gonna feel like? 298 00:10:20,080 --> 00:10:20,930 Or look like. 299 00:10:20,930 --> 00:10:21,430 Yeah. 300 00:10:21,430 --> 00:10:23,500 What is the texture of the show, right? 301 00:10:23,500 --> 00:10:25,210 So you're doing things with images 302 00:10:25,210 --> 00:10:28,040 that you just can't completely do with the written word. 303 00:10:28,040 --> 00:10:30,380 So we found this actually pretty helpful. 304 00:10:30,380 --> 00:10:33,550 And I think the studios and networks all responded really 305 00:10:33,550 --> 00:10:35,110 positively to this look book. 306 00:10:35,110 --> 00:10:36,380 And it was pretty simple. 307 00:10:36,380 --> 00:10:39,130 We did it ourselves on Photoshop. 308 00:10:39,130 --> 00:10:41,150 We're not particularly skilled at Photoshop, 309 00:10:41,150 --> 00:10:42,850 so we kept it pretty simple. 310 00:10:42,850 --> 00:10:45,760 If you don't know Photoshop, or Illustrator, or any 311 00:10:45,758 --> 00:10:47,798 of those things, maybe you have a friend who does 312 00:10:47,800 --> 00:10:49,130 or someone who can help you out. 313 00:10:49,133 --> 00:10:51,823 Again, it doesn't have to be super fancy. 314 00:10:51,820 --> 00:10:55,570 But, basically, we wanted to adopt the look-- 315 00:10:55,570 --> 00:10:57,040 if you check out-- we'll show you 316 00:10:57,040 --> 00:10:58,810 some of the pages from this look book. 317 00:10:58,810 --> 00:11:02,710 We were trying to evoke the feeling of a classic Stephen 318 00:11:02,710 --> 00:11:03,670 King paperback. 319 00:11:03,670 --> 00:11:05,200 You'll notice that the font is not 320 00:11:05,200 --> 00:11:08,530 totally dissimilar from the font ultimately used for the show, 321 00:11:08,530 --> 00:11:09,400 "Stranger Things." 322 00:11:09,400 --> 00:11:11,770 But again, this is something very simple that Matt 323 00:11:11,770 --> 00:11:14,600 and I were able to do on Photoshop. 324 00:11:14,595 --> 00:11:16,455 So we included an introduction, 325 00:11:16,450 --> 00:11:17,960 very much like we did in the pitch. 326 00:11:17,960 --> 00:11:18,460 We did. 327 00:11:18,460 --> 00:11:20,750 But the most important thing, aside from that, again, 328 00:11:20,752 --> 00:11:21,652 are the pictures. 329 00:11:21,650 --> 00:11:24,340 So this is something that we were unable to do on the pitch. 330 00:11:24,340 --> 00:11:27,310 But we show images from the films which inspired it, 331 00:11:27,310 --> 00:11:30,640 so some images from "E.T." 332 00:11:30,640 --> 00:11:33,370 We show some images from "Hellraiser" and "Nightmare 333 00:11:33,370 --> 00:11:34,180 on Elm Street." 334 00:11:34,180 --> 00:11:39,230 And, you know, we show Camp Hero, what the base looks like. 335 00:11:39,227 --> 00:11:41,557 So remember, again, when we're talking about the script, 336 00:11:41,560 --> 00:11:43,450 you're very spare in your description. 337 00:11:43,450 --> 00:11:45,430 So it's good to use a look book, we think. 338 00:11:45,430 --> 00:11:47,290 It allows a bit of a shortcut to allow 339 00:11:47,290 --> 00:11:49,930 them to start to visualize, what is 340 00:11:49,930 --> 00:11:51,400 this show that I'm gonna buy? 341 00:11:51,400 --> 00:11:52,630 What is it gonna look like? 342 00:11:52,630 --> 00:11:54,670 And we do get into some of the character stuff. 343 00:11:54,672 --> 00:11:56,582 But a lot of this is, we're trying 344 00:11:56,580 --> 00:11:59,080 to get a little bit more, like Matt's saying, the feel of it 345 00:11:59,080 --> 00:11:59,580 across. 346 00:11:59,580 --> 00:12:01,350 We do talk about the conspiracy. 347 00:12:01,345 --> 00:12:03,225 And some of the stuff we go over in the pitch 348 00:12:03,220 --> 00:12:04,780 and the basic story beats. 349 00:12:04,780 --> 00:12:07,060 But then we go into the tone and style. 350 00:12:07,060 --> 00:12:09,730 We go into how we're gonna deal with the horror, 351 00:12:09,730 --> 00:12:12,250 that a lot of it's gonna be off screen. 352 00:12:12,250 --> 00:12:14,560 And the monster's gonna be obscured, 353 00:12:14,560 --> 00:12:17,020 and you're not going to see things super clearly. 354 00:12:17,020 --> 00:12:19,090 And just, sort of, wanted to approach it 355 00:12:19,090 --> 00:12:23,050 like those old classic films that we grew up loving. 356 00:12:23,050 --> 00:12:24,850 And so, we are able to talk about that, 357 00:12:24,850 --> 00:12:26,140 which is something we didn't have time 358 00:12:26,140 --> 00:12:27,190 to get into with the pitch. 359 00:12:27,190 --> 00:12:29,170 We talk a little bit, even, about the music, 360 00:12:29,170 --> 00:12:31,420 that it's gonna have-- we envision it as having like 361 00:12:31,420 --> 00:12:34,060 a synth score, as opposed to like an orchestral score. 362 00:12:34,060 --> 00:12:36,200 We want it to sound like a John Carpenter film. 363 00:12:36,200 --> 00:12:38,590 So again, a lot of this is kind of-- 364 00:12:38,590 --> 00:12:41,570 and that was not something-- we didn't get into the soundtrack 365 00:12:41,573 --> 00:12:42,493 when we were pitching. 366 00:12:42,490 --> 00:12:45,050 And that was all about story, and character, and structure. 367 00:12:45,050 --> 00:12:47,550 And if you are interested in looking more at, it I believe 368 00:12:47,550 --> 00:12:48,640 you can just-- 369 00:12:48,640 --> 00:12:49,920 it is online. 370 00:12:49,920 --> 00:12:50,920 Someone put it online. 371 00:12:50,920 --> 00:12:52,550 Someone put it online at some point. 372 00:12:52,550 --> 00:12:55,660 So you can just Google "Stranger Things" look book. 373 00:12:55,660 --> 00:12:57,580 And it will come up for you. 374 00:12:57,580 --> 00:13:00,570 [DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING] 375 00:13:03,560 --> 00:13:05,180 We had the pitch, the verbal pitch. 376 00:13:05,180 --> 00:13:06,650 We had the look book, which we sent them. 377 00:13:06,650 --> 00:13:08,190 We did one other thing, which is sort 378 00:13:08,192 --> 00:13:10,822 of an above and beyond thing, which is not necessary. 379 00:13:10,820 --> 00:13:12,440 Our producer suggested that we-- 380 00:13:12,440 --> 00:13:13,070 Is that what it was? 381 00:13:13,070 --> 00:13:13,560 Yeah, that's what it was. 382 00:13:13,560 --> 00:13:16,020 Yeah, our producer suggested we do it, which we would do, 383 00:13:16,018 --> 00:13:19,758 like, a sizzle reel or a fake trailer for the show. 384 00:13:19,760 --> 00:13:23,620 Basically, all this is, is you take a bunch of clips. 385 00:13:23,615 --> 00:13:26,245 This is, again, something that's so simple that Ross and I were 386 00:13:26,240 --> 00:13:29,570 able to do it on Final Cut. 387 00:13:29,570 --> 00:13:33,640 We took a bunch of clips from movies that were ins-- 388 00:13:33,635 --> 00:13:35,555 a lot of the movies that inspired the show-- 389 00:13:35,550 --> 00:13:36,050 Yeah. 390 00:13:36,050 --> 00:13:37,280 --old movies. 391 00:13:37,280 --> 00:13:38,100 We had "E.T." 392 00:13:38,095 --> 00:13:39,475 We had "Nightmare on Elm Street." 393 00:13:39,470 --> 00:13:42,200 We also had new movies. 394 00:13:42,200 --> 00:13:44,420 We had-- what else did we have in there? 395 00:13:44,420 --> 00:13:45,170 We had "Super 8" 396 00:13:45,170 --> 00:13:46,700 We had like 30-some movies. 397 00:13:46,700 --> 00:13:48,590 Yeah, "Super 8" was in there a lot, right? 398 00:13:48,590 --> 00:13:49,340 "Halloween." 399 00:13:49,340 --> 00:13:50,060 "Halloween." 400 00:13:50,060 --> 00:13:51,500 Just a lot of our references. 401 00:13:51,500 --> 00:13:52,460 And we put it together. 402 00:13:52,458 --> 00:13:54,588 "Altered States" was in there. 403 00:13:54,590 --> 00:13:56,210 And we added this-- 404 00:13:56,210 --> 00:13:58,820 what's cool about it and it just further 405 00:13:58,820 --> 00:14:01,000 helps tell them or show them-- 406 00:14:00,995 --> 00:14:01,615 The tone. 407 00:14:01,610 --> 00:14:04,490 --the tone, how you envision the show. 408 00:14:04,487 --> 00:14:06,317 What do you imagine it's going to look like? 409 00:14:06,320 --> 00:14:08,070 What do you imagine it's gonna sound like? 410 00:14:08,070 --> 00:14:09,280 And it was cool, even for us. 411 00:14:09,278 --> 00:14:10,988 I don't know how much it helped, in terms 412 00:14:10,987 --> 00:14:12,137 of the selling of the show. 413 00:14:12,140 --> 00:14:14,900 But it was fun to put together and actually helped educate us, 414 00:14:14,900 --> 00:14:18,080 in terms of what this show was gonna look like. 415 00:14:18,080 --> 00:14:20,600 Was it gonna work, our idea of synth music? 416 00:14:20,600 --> 00:14:24,410 So we put, like, John Carpenter synth music over images 417 00:14:24,410 --> 00:14:28,190 from ET, which has kind of a really uplifting John Williams 418 00:14:28,190 --> 00:14:29,750 score and it was, like, really cool. 419 00:14:29,750 --> 00:14:31,710 And we were like, okay, I think, actually, this 420 00:14:31,708 --> 00:14:32,588 is going to work. 421 00:14:32,585 --> 00:14:34,465 It's definitely not something you have to do. 422 00:14:34,460 --> 00:14:36,440 Hard to know how much it moves the needle, in terms 423 00:14:36,440 --> 00:14:37,400 of selling the project. 424 00:14:37,398 --> 00:14:39,948 But I do think, ultimately, something specific to us 425 00:14:39,950 --> 00:14:41,870 is that we had wanted to direct this one. 426 00:14:41,870 --> 00:14:42,140 So-- 427 00:14:42,140 --> 00:14:42,640 Right. 428 00:14:42,640 --> 00:14:46,340 --I think it helped sell us that we had a clear vision 429 00:14:46,340 --> 00:14:49,250 for what this should look, and sound, and feel like. 430 00:14:49,250 --> 00:14:51,870 And so, I think it helped in that regard. 431 00:14:51,870 --> 00:14:55,100 So it can be a helpful thing, certainly not necessary. 432 00:14:55,100 --> 00:14:58,090 [DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING] 433 00:15:01,090 --> 00:15:02,530 We had our producers. 434 00:15:02,530 --> 00:15:06,830 We had our verbal pitch that we had memorized. 435 00:15:06,826 --> 00:15:09,516 We had our look book, we had our sizzle reel. 436 00:15:09,520 --> 00:15:13,240 So now was the time to really go out and pitch this 437 00:15:13,240 --> 00:15:14,620 to various companies. 438 00:15:14,620 --> 00:15:19,060 Which both our agents and our producing partners 439 00:15:19,060 --> 00:15:20,740 came up with a list of, hey, I think 440 00:15:20,740 --> 00:15:22,900 these are the companies that potentially would 441 00:15:22,900 --> 00:15:24,590 be interested in this project. 442 00:15:24,590 --> 00:15:28,060 So then you start a sort of grueling-- the grueling 443 00:15:28,060 --> 00:15:32,440 experience of actually going and doing these pitches in person. 444 00:15:32,440 --> 00:15:35,650 So why it's exhausting is you're doing 445 00:15:35,650 --> 00:15:37,450 this 15 or 20-minute pitch, but you're 446 00:15:37,450 --> 00:15:38,780 doing it over and over again. 447 00:15:38,780 --> 00:15:39,280 Yeah. 448 00:15:39,280 --> 00:15:40,630 I believe-- how many did we do? 449 00:15:40,630 --> 00:15:42,340 I think, in that first week, was it fif-- 450 00:15:42,338 --> 00:15:45,078 I mean, you say I exaggerate, but I feel like it was 12-- 451 00:15:45,080 --> 00:15:45,580 Yeah 452 00:15:45,580 --> 00:15:47,080 --in that first week. 453 00:15:47,080 --> 00:15:49,660 Yeah, I would say it was probably 12 in that first week. 454 00:15:49,660 --> 00:15:51,920 And what can be-- 455 00:15:51,920 --> 00:15:55,060 it can be exciting, but it can be discouraging. 456 00:15:55,060 --> 00:15:57,190 I mean, you're gonna hear stories again about, hey, 457 00:15:57,185 --> 00:15:58,855 someone just bought [SNAPS FINGERS] this 458 00:15:58,852 --> 00:15:59,592 in the room. 459 00:15:59,590 --> 00:16:00,970 Again, that didn't happen to us. 460 00:16:00,970 --> 00:16:04,870 And I would say a chunk of the places, at least half of them, 461 00:16:04,870 --> 00:16:07,180 were probably hearing the pitch just out 462 00:16:07,180 --> 00:16:10,870 of to be nice to the agents because they 463 00:16:10,870 --> 00:16:12,110 had a relationship with them. 464 00:16:12,110 --> 00:16:12,940 So like, okay, yeah. 465 00:16:12,943 --> 00:16:15,503 I'll take 40 minutes out of my day to hear this pitch. 466 00:16:15,500 --> 00:16:18,550 But they weren't really interested in the project. 467 00:16:18,550 --> 00:16:20,830 So that can also become-- 468 00:16:20,830 --> 00:16:23,380 be a painful process, because you're trying to be excited. 469 00:16:23,380 --> 00:16:25,540 And if you're not getting anything back, 470 00:16:25,540 --> 00:16:28,870 if they're just zoned out, then that 15 or 20 minutes is 471 00:16:28,870 --> 00:16:30,640 gonna feel like two hours. 472 00:16:30,637 --> 00:16:31,717 And so, you just do that-- 473 00:16:31,720 --> 00:16:32,220 Right. 474 00:16:32,220 --> 00:16:34,360 --over and over and over again. 475 00:16:34,360 --> 00:16:35,750 And it can be disheartening. 476 00:16:35,747 --> 00:16:37,327 Some people you'll pitch to, they'll 477 00:16:37,330 --> 00:16:39,290 seem completely disengaged, uninterested. 478 00:16:39,285 --> 00:16:40,665 And you're not surprised when you 479 00:16:40,660 --> 00:16:43,060 get the phone call, ultimately, that they passed on it. 480 00:16:43,060 --> 00:16:44,200 That's frustrating. 481 00:16:44,200 --> 00:16:46,030 It's more discouraging and frustrating 482 00:16:46,030 --> 00:16:49,010 when you have that person or people in the room who really 483 00:16:49,005 --> 00:16:50,385 seem to connect to it, who really 484 00:16:50,380 --> 00:16:52,860 do seem to understand it, who seem to love the project, 485 00:16:52,862 --> 00:16:54,822 and you come out of that room kind of bouncing. 486 00:16:54,820 --> 00:16:56,440 You're like, wow, I think that really worked. 487 00:16:56,440 --> 00:16:56,780 That really went well. 488 00:16:56,780 --> 00:16:58,960 I think they're going to buy-- that went really, really well. 489 00:16:58,960 --> 00:17:01,120 And you get the phone call that they brought it 490 00:17:01,120 --> 00:17:02,830 to their boss, who was like-- 491 00:17:02,830 --> 00:17:06,250 for whatever reason, kids, I don't know, kids and monsters? 492 00:17:06,250 --> 00:17:07,510 No thanks, that's not for us. 493 00:17:07,510 --> 00:17:08,960 And they end up passing on it. 494 00:17:08,960 --> 00:17:11,260 So within that first week, it was-- 495 00:17:11,260 --> 00:17:13,060 so you're pitching your heart out, 496 00:17:13,060 --> 00:17:14,980 and you're traveling all over town. 497 00:17:14,980 --> 00:17:16,780 And I think we had 12 pitches in that week, 498 00:17:16,780 --> 00:17:20,350 and it was 12 rejections, ultimately, in that first week. 499 00:17:20,349 --> 00:17:21,999 And then, on that Friday, I remember 500 00:17:22,000 --> 00:17:27,780 we got a call from our agent, who said that-- 501 00:17:27,775 --> 00:17:31,515 don't get too discouraged that it was a special project that 502 00:17:31,510 --> 00:17:33,100 was gonna find a special home. 503 00:17:33,100 --> 00:17:35,410 And it was just not the phone call you want to get. 504 00:17:35,410 --> 00:17:38,110 Because you're like, what's wrong with my child? 505 00:17:38,110 --> 00:17:40,750 Like, what's wrong with this? 506 00:17:40,750 --> 00:17:42,500 The idea that he was calling it, um-- 507 00:17:42,500 --> 00:17:43,000 Special. 508 00:17:43,000 --> 00:17:43,720 --special. 509 00:17:43,720 --> 00:17:45,510 Kind of like, it was like, okay, well, this 510 00:17:45,512 --> 00:17:47,452 is gonna be harder than we thought to sell it. 511 00:17:47,450 --> 00:17:47,950 Butt-- 512 00:17:47,950 --> 00:17:50,470 Because we did feel very strongly about the script. 513 00:17:50,470 --> 00:17:52,000 And we felt strongly about the pitch 514 00:17:52,002 --> 00:17:53,212 and the additional materials. 515 00:17:53,210 --> 00:17:55,480 And the producers had responded so positively. 516 00:17:55,480 --> 00:17:56,620 And we were just-- 517 00:17:56,620 --> 00:18:00,560 it just felt like, for a second there, it wasn't gonna happen. 518 00:18:00,560 --> 00:18:03,520 So I think what happens, inevitably-- 519 00:18:03,520 --> 00:18:06,580 and this is something that's important to know-- 520 00:18:06,580 --> 00:18:09,070 is that you do get rejected a lot, 521 00:18:09,070 --> 00:18:11,110 you get the door shut on you a lot. 522 00:18:11,110 --> 00:18:13,720 And it can be really wearing on you. 523 00:18:13,720 --> 00:18:15,210 It can wear you down. 524 00:18:15,207 --> 00:18:16,917 I mean, I know a lot of people have left, 525 00:18:16,915 --> 00:18:18,705 you know, they stopped even pursuing it 526 00:18:18,700 --> 00:18:20,780 because it got worn down so much by the rejection. 527 00:18:20,783 --> 00:18:22,863 And at certain points, it can seem impossible. 528 00:18:22,860 --> 00:18:23,360 It can. 529 00:18:23,360 --> 00:18:26,170 I think the best thing to do when you're 530 00:18:26,170 --> 00:18:29,410 feeling like you can't go take another step is you just 531 00:18:29,410 --> 00:18:31,660 got to get back up, and you have to go back out there, 532 00:18:31,660 --> 00:18:33,940 and you have to pitch it, like, with the confidence 533 00:18:33,935 --> 00:18:35,565 that this is really cool and you really 534 00:18:35,560 --> 00:18:37,100 do believe in it, which was the case. 535 00:18:37,102 --> 00:18:39,872 I mean, I think we kind of got over it over the weekend. 536 00:18:39,875 --> 00:18:42,255 I mean, we were starting to get, actually, pretty nervous 537 00:18:42,250 --> 00:18:43,150 about it selling. 538 00:18:43,150 --> 00:18:45,160 The challenge with all of this is 539 00:18:45,160 --> 00:18:50,570 that there's an element of luck and timing involved. 540 00:18:50,570 --> 00:18:52,060 So for the instance-- 541 00:18:52,060 --> 00:18:53,100 Yeah. 542 00:18:53,100 --> 00:18:56,620 --on "Stranger Things," the instance was we weren't even 543 00:18:56,620 --> 00:19:00,010 pitching to Netflix that wasn't even part of the plan Netflix 544 00:19:00,010 --> 00:19:04,600 was making shows for Dave Fincher and Jenji Kohan. 545 00:19:04,600 --> 00:19:06,970 She wasn't gonna make a Duffer Brothers show. 546 00:19:06,970 --> 00:19:08,770 That wasn't even on anyone's radar. 547 00:19:08,770 --> 00:19:10,510 They were so selective. 548 00:19:10,510 --> 00:19:13,750 So we didn't even set a meeting with Netflix. 549 00:19:13,750 --> 00:19:16,360 Someone new had just started to work there, 550 00:19:16,360 --> 00:19:19,690 had a meeting with one of our agents on our team. 551 00:19:19,690 --> 00:19:22,960 And they said, hey, we're looking for a show. 552 00:19:22,960 --> 00:19:26,440 It should be youth-oriented, but we want it to be supernatural. 553 00:19:26,440 --> 00:19:28,490 I don't remember the other key words he used, 554 00:19:28,492 --> 00:19:30,702 but our agent was like, wait a minute, wait a minute, 555 00:19:30,700 --> 00:19:33,610 wait a minute, I have the script for you, oh my God. 556 00:19:33,610 --> 00:19:35,350 And he slipped him "Stranger Things." 557 00:19:35,350 --> 00:19:38,200 This executive happened to really like the script. 558 00:19:38,200 --> 00:19:40,660 And that got us our meeting. 559 00:19:40,660 --> 00:19:42,910 But this is also where you need a good agent. 560 00:19:42,910 --> 00:19:45,400 Because then our agents are kind of going, you know, 561 00:19:45,400 --> 00:19:48,540 if you really are interested in this, it's really hot. 562 00:19:48,535 --> 00:19:50,415 Like, a lot of people are interested in this, 563 00:19:50,410 --> 00:19:51,430 you better act pretty fast. 564 00:19:51,430 --> 00:19:52,650 Like, nobody was interested in this script. 565 00:19:52,650 --> 00:19:53,260 No. 566 00:19:53,260 --> 00:19:54,890 That is the other element of this, 567 00:19:54,890 --> 00:19:57,740 which is you just need that first little bite of someone 568 00:19:57,742 --> 00:19:58,452 being interested. 569 00:19:58,450 --> 00:19:58,950 Right. 570 00:19:58,950 --> 00:19:59,920 But they leverage that. 571 00:19:59,918 --> 00:20:01,208 You need something to leverage. 572 00:20:01,210 --> 00:20:03,430 And then, suddenly, there's excitement builds. 573 00:20:03,430 --> 00:20:06,040 And then people go, oh, there's this hot script in town. 574 00:20:06,040 --> 00:20:08,680 And that led to, ultimately, our meeting with Netflix 575 00:20:08,680 --> 00:20:10,050 and them buying the project. 576 00:20:10,045 --> 00:20:10,545 So-- 577 00:20:10,545 --> 00:20:12,965 No, but suddenly, people are taking us to steak dinners. 578 00:20:12,962 --> 00:20:16,722 And, like, this from nobody was interested in this at all-- 579 00:20:16,725 --> 00:20:17,355 That's right. 580 00:20:17,350 --> 00:20:21,280 --to one person expresses interest. 581 00:20:21,280 --> 00:20:23,440 Suddenly, there's panic, everybody wants it. 582 00:20:23,440 --> 00:20:25,830 And we're getting, like, they're buying us $100 steaks. 583 00:20:25,833 --> 00:20:26,503 It's ridiculous. 584 00:20:26,500 --> 00:20:26,960 But there's an alternate-- 585 00:20:26,960 --> 00:20:28,040 But that's how it works. 586 00:20:28,043 --> 00:20:32,713 --but there's an alternate universe where that meeting 587 00:20:32,710 --> 00:20:34,760 with that new Netflix exec doesn't happen. 588 00:20:34,760 --> 00:20:35,260 Right. 589 00:20:35,260 --> 00:20:36,970 It doesn't get in his hands. 590 00:20:36,970 --> 00:20:39,830 The interest doesn't build like that. 591 00:20:39,830 --> 00:20:43,480 So the point of this story is to not get discouraged. 592 00:20:43,480 --> 00:20:45,850 Because there was definitely a version of this story 593 00:20:45,850 --> 00:20:48,520 where the script doesn't sell, or maybe 594 00:20:48,520 --> 00:20:52,190 we get a small little option fee and we develop 595 00:20:52,190 --> 00:20:53,440 it a little more at a company. 596 00:20:53,440 --> 00:20:55,010 And it just never gets made. 597 00:20:55,010 --> 00:20:57,800 So that's the scary thing about it. 598 00:20:57,800 --> 00:21:01,980 And so, there's always gonna be that element of luck 599 00:21:01,980 --> 00:21:04,190 and timing, that it's just always gonna be there. 600 00:21:04,190 --> 00:21:05,690 There's nothing you can do about it. 601 00:21:05,690 --> 00:21:08,110 So there's gonna be a little bit of crossing your fingers. 602 00:21:08,107 --> 00:21:11,077 And all you can do is write the best script possible, 603 00:21:11,080 --> 00:21:13,990 get the best pitch, and go above and beyond 604 00:21:13,990 --> 00:21:16,600 with your additional materials, whether that's 605 00:21:16,600 --> 00:21:18,610 a look book, or sizzle reel, or both, 606 00:21:18,610 --> 00:21:20,740 or whatever it is that you think you can do, 607 00:21:20,740 --> 00:21:23,270 whatever ideas you have, to get people excited. 608 00:21:23,270 --> 00:21:25,480 That's really all you can do, that's All 609 00:21:25,480 --> 00:21:26,560 that's in your control. 610 00:21:26,560 --> 00:21:29,370 The rest of it is up to fate. 611 00:21:29,368 --> 00:21:32,178 [DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING] 612 00:21:34,990 --> 00:21:38,530 Initially, Ross and I did not want to write, 613 00:21:38,530 --> 00:21:40,030 or didn't see ourselves as writers, 614 00:21:40,030 --> 00:21:41,610 I guess is a better way of putting it. 615 00:21:41,613 --> 00:21:43,843 We really wanted to direct, that was our goal. 616 00:21:43,845 --> 00:21:45,975 So it was very important to us that this was a show 617 00:21:45,970 --> 00:21:48,640 that we would be able to direct, that we at least wanted 618 00:21:48,640 --> 00:21:49,810 to direct the pilot. 619 00:21:49,810 --> 00:21:52,360 But ideally, we wanted to direct the majority, if not 620 00:21:52,360 --> 00:21:53,440 the whole show. 621 00:21:53,440 --> 00:21:57,130 And so, that's one reason we did the look book, one reason we 622 00:21:57,130 --> 00:21:59,350 did the sizzle reel, the fake trailer, 623 00:21:59,350 --> 00:22:01,780 to show that we had a vision and understanding of this 624 00:22:01,780 --> 00:22:05,320 beyond the written form. 625 00:22:05,320 --> 00:22:07,750 But it was hard, because at that point, 626 00:22:07,750 --> 00:22:10,210 we had made that one movie at Warner Bros., "Hidden," which 627 00:22:10,208 --> 00:22:11,668 we talked a little bit about, which 628 00:22:11,667 --> 00:22:13,537 was a bomb, which was a dud, which was never 629 00:22:13,540 --> 00:22:14,440 released, right? 630 00:22:14,440 --> 00:22:15,940 Which people always seem to have, 631 00:22:15,940 --> 00:22:18,250 like, sort of lukewarm responses to. 632 00:22:18,250 --> 00:22:22,600 I remember there was a company that really wanted 633 00:22:22,600 --> 00:22:25,270 to make "Montauk" or "Stranger Things," that loved it, 634 00:22:25,270 --> 00:22:26,680 like, they got it completely. 635 00:22:26,680 --> 00:22:26,980 The phone call did come. 636 00:22:26,980 --> 00:22:28,160 This feels like the one, yeah. 637 00:22:28,160 --> 00:22:29,650 Yeah, it was like, this is the one. 638 00:22:29,650 --> 00:22:30,970 This is where we're supposed to be. 639 00:22:30,970 --> 00:22:32,230 They're gonna make this show. 640 00:22:32,230 --> 00:22:33,340 Like, it really did feel like that. 641 00:22:33,340 --> 00:22:35,050 I mean, this was a studio that had money, 642 00:22:35,048 --> 00:22:36,158 that could make the show. 643 00:22:36,160 --> 00:22:38,920 And they said, yeah, we don't want the guys directing. 644 00:22:38,920 --> 00:22:40,090 So that was really hard. 645 00:22:40,090 --> 00:22:41,890 I mean, first of all, it hurt my feelings 646 00:22:41,893 --> 00:22:43,813 that they didn't like the film and they didn't 647 00:22:43,810 --> 00:22:45,020 think we were good directors. 648 00:22:45,018 --> 00:22:47,748 But secondly, we were in a tough spot, because at that point, 649 00:22:47,750 --> 00:22:51,550 nobody was interested in the show. 650 00:22:51,550 --> 00:22:53,610 And I don't know, it was a tough decision, 651 00:22:53,608 --> 00:22:55,148 but we told our agents, listen, we're 652 00:22:55,150 --> 00:22:57,980 not interested in doing this if we're not directing it. 653 00:22:57,980 --> 00:23:00,040 We believed in it enough that we felt 654 00:23:00,040 --> 00:23:01,330 we would find another home. 655 00:23:01,330 --> 00:23:02,360 We're like, if these people responded 656 00:23:02,360 --> 00:23:03,970 to it or this studio responded to it-- 657 00:23:03,970 --> 00:23:04,300 Someone else-- 658 00:23:04,300 --> 00:23:06,310 --another studio is gonna come and respond to it. 659 00:23:06,310 --> 00:23:08,540 But it was at risk, it was a bit of a roll of the dice. 660 00:23:08,540 --> 00:23:10,000 But it was like, for us, it was not 661 00:23:09,998 --> 00:23:12,678 worth making if we weren't allowed to direct it. 662 00:23:12,682 --> 00:23:14,142 It's like the whole reason we wrote 663 00:23:14,140 --> 00:23:16,310 this was so we'd have leverage to be able to direct. 664 00:23:16,307 --> 00:23:18,407 So at that point, we didn't have a lot of money. 665 00:23:18,410 --> 00:23:20,500 We had worked on that one TV show. 666 00:23:20,500 --> 00:23:23,260 We were running out of money from that television show. 667 00:23:23,260 --> 00:23:24,960 Because we kind of hoarded that money 668 00:23:24,955 --> 00:23:28,035 and used that to buy ourselves enough time to write this-- 669 00:23:28,032 --> 00:23:28,612 On the bank. 670 00:23:28,615 --> 00:23:29,115 --show. 671 00:23:29,115 --> 00:23:30,465 So with the bank, you know-- 672 00:23:30,465 --> 00:23:31,845 so we were basically gonna end up 673 00:23:31,840 --> 00:23:33,760 having to work for another TV show or something, 674 00:23:33,760 --> 00:23:34,590 if this didn't sell. 675 00:23:34,593 --> 00:23:37,513 So it was a hard decision, but it was honestly 676 00:23:37,515 --> 00:23:39,145 one of the best decisions we ever made, 677 00:23:39,140 --> 00:23:40,850 which was to walk away from that company. 678 00:23:40,848 --> 00:23:43,028 And the only lesson in that is, I 679 00:23:43,030 --> 00:23:48,100 think, you know, stick to your guns, trust your gut. 680 00:23:48,100 --> 00:23:50,560 If you really want to direct, or you want to be involved, 681 00:23:50,560 --> 00:23:52,660 you want to be the show runner, I think you should say that. 682 00:23:52,660 --> 00:23:53,630 I think you should stick to that. 683 00:23:53,630 --> 00:23:54,760 I think a lot of people, especially 684 00:23:54,760 --> 00:23:56,340 if you're inexperienced, they're gonna 685 00:23:56,343 --> 00:23:58,453 be trying to push you out of that position 686 00:23:58,450 --> 00:24:02,780 because it's just an easier sell to their bosses, basically. 687 00:24:02,780 --> 00:24:06,890 But if you see yourself in that role, you got to say it. 688 00:24:06,890 --> 00:24:09,640 You got to say that that's the requirement if you 689 00:24:09,640 --> 00:24:10,450 want this script. 690 00:24:10,450 --> 00:24:12,550 If your script's strong enough, hopefully-- 691 00:24:12,550 --> 00:24:14,350 if that company doesn't allow you to do it, 692 00:24:14,350 --> 00:24:16,180 hopefully you'll find a company that does. 693 00:24:16,180 --> 00:24:18,280 Netflix did, Netflix believed in us. 694 00:24:18,280 --> 00:24:20,440 There are two things that also lessons 695 00:24:20,440 --> 00:24:23,230 from that, which we found, at least in our experience, which 696 00:24:23,230 --> 00:24:25,390 is confidence. 697 00:24:25,390 --> 00:24:27,880 Even if you don't have it, which we certainly-- we 698 00:24:27,880 --> 00:24:30,430 didn't know how to make a show, we just said we did. 699 00:24:30,430 --> 00:24:31,410 Right. 700 00:24:31,405 --> 00:24:33,585 There is something to be said about faking it 701 00:24:33,580 --> 00:24:36,790 until you make it, which is just, project confidence, 702 00:24:36,790 --> 00:24:37,830 if don't hedge your bets. 703 00:24:37,832 --> 00:24:39,162 Do you guys know how to do this? 704 00:24:39,165 --> 00:24:40,815 Don't say, well, I mean, hopefully, we 705 00:24:40,810 --> 00:24:41,560 can figure it out. 706 00:24:41,560 --> 00:24:44,110 No, no, no, just say, absolutely, this 707 00:24:44,105 --> 00:24:45,735 is what-- we have a vision, this is how 708 00:24:45,730 --> 00:24:47,840 we want to impart that vision. 709 00:24:47,840 --> 00:24:49,900 And if you just fake confidence, you're 710 00:24:49,900 --> 00:24:51,400 gonna make people feel a lot better. 711 00:24:51,400 --> 00:24:53,780 And you're more likely to get what you want. 712 00:24:53,780 --> 00:24:56,050 And also, there's a power in saying 713 00:24:56,050 --> 00:25:00,530 no, if someone says, hey, we'll buy this project for you, 714 00:25:00,530 --> 00:25:02,230 but these are the requirements. 715 00:25:02,230 --> 00:25:05,240 If you say no, it actually gives you more leverage 716 00:25:05,235 --> 00:25:05,865 than you think. 717 00:25:05,860 --> 00:25:08,200 Because then what happens is they go, wait a minute, 718 00:25:08,200 --> 00:25:10,840 this is someone who has a clear vision 719 00:25:10,840 --> 00:25:13,050 and they're sticking to their guns. 720 00:25:13,053 --> 00:25:14,473 And I think that that is something 721 00:25:14,470 --> 00:25:16,060 that, at least in our experience, 722 00:25:16,060 --> 00:25:18,340 has actually proved pretty beneficial. 723 00:25:18,340 --> 00:25:20,380 So you shouldn't be afraid to say 724 00:25:20,380 --> 00:25:22,580 no in certain circumstances. 725 00:25:22,580 --> 00:25:25,390 What is gonna be your ally here 726 00:25:25,390 --> 00:25:29,890 is just doing everything we've kind of stepped you through, 727 00:25:29,890 --> 00:25:32,650 which is doing the work, planning, writing things down, 728 00:25:32,648 --> 00:25:33,938 like you notice with the pitch. 729 00:25:33,940 --> 00:25:36,940 Even that, every aspect of that was written down. 730 00:25:36,940 --> 00:25:38,120 We weren't winging it. 731 00:25:38,120 --> 00:25:39,070 We weren't having to-- 732 00:25:39,070 --> 00:25:41,320 that will give you the confidence when you go in these 733 00:25:41,320 --> 00:25:43,090 meetings to sound like you know what the hell you're talking 734 00:25:43,090 --> 00:25:44,590 about, even if you don't. 735 00:25:44,590 --> 00:25:45,310 Just-- 736 00:25:45,310 --> 00:25:46,390 We were so nervous-- 737 00:25:46,388 --> 00:25:46,928 So nervous. 738 00:25:46,930 --> 00:25:48,310 --going into the Netflix meeting. 739 00:25:48,305 --> 00:25:49,545 We were terrified. 740 00:25:49,540 --> 00:25:53,470 But if we got in there, uh, shaking and mumbling, 741 00:25:53,470 --> 00:25:56,140 that probably wouldn't have gotten us the project. 742 00:25:56,140 --> 00:26:00,160 But because Matt and I had rehearsed that pitch so 743 00:26:00,160 --> 00:26:02,680 many times, that once we got going, 744 00:26:02,680 --> 00:26:04,990 once we started it and said, hey, so you've probably 745 00:26:04,990 --> 00:26:07,200 seen our look book, and we started those first couple 746 00:26:07,198 --> 00:26:08,978 sentences, it fell into place. 747 00:26:08,980 --> 00:26:10,510 We had done this so many times. 748 00:26:10,510 --> 00:26:14,110 And we just pretended like we're just pitching to each other. 749 00:26:14,110 --> 00:26:16,330 That confidence just-- even though we 750 00:26:16,330 --> 00:26:19,660 weren't confident at all, Netflix saw it as confidence. 751 00:26:19,657 --> 00:26:21,487 And that's all that mattered in that moment. 752 00:26:21,490 --> 00:26:24,070 So, again, it's just, put in the work-- 753 00:26:24,070 --> 00:26:24,820 Put in the time. 754 00:26:24,820 --> 00:26:29,200 --put in the time, plan it all out, don't wing anything, 755 00:26:29,200 --> 00:26:31,800 and you know, you'll be fine. 756 00:26:31,800 --> 00:26:34,620 [MUSIC PLAYING] 757 00:26:37,735 --> 00:26:39,615 So now, you know, you've started your script, 758 00:26:39,610 --> 00:26:41,030 you're feeling confident about it. 759 00:26:41,027 --> 00:26:44,497 I think it might be worth taking the time to develop 760 00:26:44,500 --> 00:26:46,510 some of this pitching material. 761 00:26:46,510 --> 00:26:49,170 It's good to put together a look book, if you can. 762 00:26:49,165 --> 00:26:53,805 If you know how to edit on Final Cut, or iMovie, 763 00:26:53,800 --> 00:26:56,620 or any of those programs, then it's fun 764 00:26:56,620 --> 00:26:58,090 to start to put together, hey, this 765 00:26:58,090 --> 00:27:00,430 is, maybe, what my world could look like. 766 00:27:00,430 --> 00:27:02,380 Start to develop those materials you 767 00:27:02,380 --> 00:27:04,350 would need to develop your own pitch. 768 00:27:04,348 --> 00:27:05,888 And, you know, write out the pitch. 769 00:27:05,890 --> 00:27:10,270 I mean, again, look, this pitch is one, two, three, four, five, 770 00:27:10,270 --> 00:27:12,800 six, it's only seven-- it's 6 and 1/2 pages. 771 00:27:12,800 --> 00:27:13,300 Yeah. 772 00:27:13,300 --> 00:27:14,360 So it's not that long. 773 00:27:14,360 --> 00:27:16,440 It's not that much longer than the page you wrote. 774 00:27:16,443 --> 00:27:19,753 It's just basically organizing all the ideas you have. 775 00:27:19,748 --> 00:27:21,788 You're not gonna have to be generating new ideas. 776 00:27:21,790 --> 00:27:23,620 You're gonna have plenty of ideas at this point, 777 00:27:23,620 --> 00:27:25,180 writing them down, organizing them 778 00:27:25,180 --> 00:27:27,580 in the way that sounds as cool as possible. 779 00:27:27,578 --> 00:27:29,618 And then, suddenly, you're gonna to have a pitch. 780 00:27:29,620 --> 00:27:31,300 The minute you hire a producer, you're 781 00:27:31,300 --> 00:27:32,840 gonna be like, hey, listen, I already 782 00:27:32,842 --> 00:27:34,502 have a pitch ready to go. 783 00:27:34,497 --> 00:27:35,827 I have this beautiful look book. 784 00:27:35,830 --> 00:27:37,240 Here we go. 785 00:27:37,240 --> 00:27:38,170 And that's fast. 786 00:27:38,170 --> 00:27:40,920 And then they can send that out to the town.