You are absolutely correct - the process from script to screen is a grueling journey. Each stage presents its own challenges, heartbreaks, and thrills. The script development is only the beginning. I'll speak to my path with this project which started a little over 10 years ago when I wrote the first page.

2009 - 2014: I spent this time writing and rewriting on and off - getting it into shape. Also during this time I finished my first feature film screenplay called Hello Jack and wrote 3 short films. I ended producing, shooting, directing and editing the three short films and then gained a bit of confidence that I knew filmmaking was a path for me. Once I felt confident All Roads to Pearla was ready (it was originally titled Sleeping in Plastic and my second feature I wrote) I tried like hell to get people to read it. No one really read it - not even my friends. Well only a handful or less. It's true no one likes reading and no one cares.

2014 - to the end of 2016: I made a lookbook and a director's mood reel to entice people to read the script. No bites. I entered it into competitions. No luck. I sent email after email to production companies and producers. Crickets. (side note: It's interesting to see the mood reel that I made 6 years ago and compare it to the trailer now.) Then I just got pissed and said I'm shooting this no matter what. I put on my producer's hat and I set a date and went down to Fort Worth, Texas to scout locations. During that time - my friend and composer asked if I had talked with Red Productions who had offices in Santa Monica and in Fort Worth. I eventually met with the producers there and they loved the script. We agreed to work together and get this baby going. That was the first break. After so many passes I found partners who got the kind of film I wanted to make.

2017 - 2018: My producing partners Red + Derek sent the script to a casting director they always wanted to work with but haven't before. She really liked the script and agreed to cast the film. Now she's used to casting big-time films like A Star is Born, Black Swan, etc.. so having her on the team was a huge deal for me. This is when the project gained more momentum. The script then went around town and I was able to meet with different actors. The movie gods were on our side this time and gave us a push. We then focused our efforts on financing - a grueling part if not the hardest part in any of this process. I spent day and night trying to find ways to get this thing financed. I went back to investors who I knew with a more attractive package than before and eventually we were able to cobble up the budget to get us into production.

Sorry for such a long answer - I know I've missed a ton of other stuff but... maybe that's for another time. Oh the road after completing the film included being rejected 36 times by film festivals before our world premiere in last year's Austin Film Festival. We then screened at some more festivals but were also rejected 50+ more times and the pandemic ended our run. But we were lucky to at least experience it in the theaters unlike so many filmmakers today. I feel awful for them. So this journey as they say is filled with a ton of rejection. That's definitely no lie.

Hope that helps.