Years ago, I attended a friend’s house party where I met a legitimate Hollywood producer. He had already produced several well-known films and would go on to produce a few more.

Naturally, I mentioned that I was writing screenplays. One of them — Wolf Trap — caught his attention. He liked the premise and said something every aspiring writer hopes to hear:

“You should come out to Los Angeles and we’ll talk about it.”

I wanted to be sure he meant it. He said he did.

So, I did what any rational person might do — I booked a flight, reserved a hotel, rented a car, and let his assistant know when I’d be in town. No problem. I arrived in Los Angeles ready to talk about the script.

And then the messages started:

“Very sorry, he’s on set.” “Very sorry, he’s at lunch.” “Very sorry, he’s tied up today.” “Very sorry…”

Five straight days. No meeting.

Anyone who knows the business knows the Hollywood Shuffle is real. But experiencing it firsthand still stings a bit. For a while, it made me skeptical of every positive response to my scripts. Was interest real? Or just polite encouragement?

Over time I realized something important. The lesson wasn’t that Hollywood is unreliable.

The lesson was this: serious writers can’t rely on someone else’s enthusiasm to validate the work.

Ironically, Wolf Trap is now undergoing a polish with a terrific, trusted script doctor — stronger than when I first pitched it all those years ago.

You keep writing, and eventually the right conversations will happen.

And that, in this business, may be the most important lesson of all.

Pitch Decks for Dutch Treat, Homegrown and The Coffeyville Two Step available upon request – tim@dreampoolproductions.com