That is correct. Dave Sanchez and I made it to the semi-finals for our TV Pilot, which is a comedy. The finalists won't be chosen until October, but just making it to the semi-finals is a huge deal. According to the Shore Scripts website, only 5% of submitters make it this far.
Dave and I have been writing together for years. Here is the background about how we became a successful writing team. Years ago, I was out with a couple girlfriends at a bar/restaurant grabbing drinks and food. A rather drunk but handsome man struck up a conversation with me, and before he left the bar, he announced that I would be his next girlfriend.
No, this was not Dave. I'm getting to that.
I was already in a relationship that, honestly, needed to end. It wasn't a healthy one. And although I don't remember the details, at some point this guy, whom my friends and I fondly nicknamed Greg the Greek, and I met up again.
Now we're getting to the Dave part.
I'd written a book about online dating, and Greg had been struck by how similar it was to his friend's book that he'd written. He wanted to introduce me to this author friend of his. A sarcastic, droll guy by the name of...Harold.
Just keeping you on your toes. No, not Harold. This was the famous Dave I'm telling you about.
Dave and I swapped books and discovered the style and tone of our work were uncanny. We wondered if we could work on something together. And although it started out slow, as we both had busy lives and at some point he moved to Arizona, which is a far cry form New York, somehow we plotted out a Hallmark movie. We wrote it by going back and forth on WriterDuet and making notes as we laughed over our silly jokes and steady teasing.
That script went on to be optioned by a producer at Minor Distractions Entertainment. Unfortunately, Elizabeth Yost at Crown Media passed on it for Hallmark, although she did say it was proficiently written and was happy to look at other options.
That gave us the lift we needed to know that we were on to something. Clearly, we made a strong team, which we call the Dramatic Duo. But time is not friendly. Years passed and although we kept in touch, including contracting Covid together for New years, we hadn't made it very far in continuing to work on something. But then we came up with this comedy idea, and it grew into something bigger. And because I was tired of just writing and wanted us to move ahead, I took a chance and applied to the contest.
So, here we are now. Even if we don't win, we know the concept is strong. The writing can always be improved...any writer worth his/her PC knows that. We plan to continue. Because some day, we're going to make it.
What we make remains to be seen.