I think we've all been here... And and for some of you, probably because of me ;). Endless Rewrites are the bane of the creative mind. I feel like this only comes up when we are doing something for someone else. When I'm doing my own, I generally have an idea of what I'm working towards, so it's easy-ish to achieve that goal. But what really cooks my biscuit is when the goal posts keep moving. I think this is just the reality of working in television, there never is just one layer of decision making. We can please the producers, but those producers have to please their distributor, and that distributor has to please the broadcaster. For those of us on the ground, doing the real work, it feels like we're a slave to three masters. My trouble is just keeping up my desire to want to dive back in every single time a change needs to be made. Of course, this would become one of those "that's what the money's for" things... But sometimes I just don't care about that. What are your guys' thoughts on this? Angus, I know you're embroiled in this nightmare right now with me. And Carolyn, I know you've seen the script notes from hell more than a couple of times from those American showrunners, anyone else? I'm also curious if someone who is working on a private project has felt like they were engaged in endless rewrites on their own idea? Was this from your own volition? An editor? Perhaps publisher? Let us know!

Here's the thing that's been driving me bonkers lately - be prepared to get out your tiniest violin... unless you can relate: Paid writing work is stealing creative energy. Not in some metaphorical way. Literally. You spend your best hours making someone else's words work, and by the time you sit down with your own project, there's nothing left in the tank. My Dad used to say: "Build your own dream, or just get paid to build someone else's..." Ouch. We all need money, that's for sure. But more and more I feel like by the end of the day... I'm done. This is the brain drain problem. And I think the biggest reason personal IP projects stall out. It's not that we don't care about our work. It's not laziness. Creative energy is a finite resource, and we keep spending it on other people's projects first. Then we wonder why our own stuff isn't moving. So here's what I actually want to talk about: how do we stay on track? Not the motivational poster version. We all know we "should" make time. The real question is how we do it when the paid work is eating our lunch every single day. The scheduling piece is trickier than it looks. Blocking off an hour for your personal project isn't enough, it's not just about when you write, it's about what state your brain is in when you sit down. Grinding through hours of interviews or the soul sucking accounts of true crime and then jumping straight into your feature script/novel is a great way to stare at a blank page and feel like garbage about it. I feel like I need a buffer in there... just some time to do nothing (or drive the boys to soccer, which is more likely). Some people protect their sharpest hours for personal work first thing in the morning, before the paid stuff even starts. Some do it late at night when the day's noise has finally died down. Some break their paid work into smaller chunks spread across the day instead of front-loading it all at once. None of these are magic formulas. But you need something, a system, a rhythm, whatever you want to call it, or your project just keeps sliding to tomorrow. And then tomorrow becomes next week.

I find it very interesting that the posts that I have specific branding on and font that I love seem to be the ones that get the least amount of traction. A perfect example is the two images below. the first photo show that after 7 days it still under 300 views... the 2nd has over 1600 in less than 24 hours despite having plain fonts and arguably less 'business'. One opinion I received was that the first video appears too 'ad' like... the branding making it seem too commercial, and hence something one skips... Any other thought?

Ok, as someone who always feels like they need to apologize for their own feelings or for simply just having them at all. I often question whether or not me getting so hot under the collar is warranted. But in this case, I feel vindicated - because the production team just didn't even realize that I had all this other stuff going on. And completely backed off and revisited the release date. We are now looking at an official release date of April 3, 2026! What a huge change from them trying to say February 3rd. Which, frankly, was just way too soon and didn't give me any time to build up all the resources we needed to.

I got an email from my distributor yesterday, saying they suddenly want to move up the distribution date to February 3! This is a nightmare scenario for me. They went so far as to include a link where people could purchase pre-sales! Because, don't you know, they have it all set up already without ever touching base with me. Well, that's not true. I spoke with them last week, and everything seemed to be on track. But now, for whatever reason, another faction of the company is going off rogue. My response to them is attached below (it's an attachment so that it's not publicly searchable). So what really going on here? Why would they decide to do that? They are telling me that "It's a good time for Genre Streaming" - I feel like it's its the exact opposite and we are getting pushed without proper marketing. I was so mad last night I was shaking! So I did what any person in 2026 would do... I asked AI. ;)! It's response did not warm me up inside - because I may have just screwed up: February for TVOD Horror/Thriller: Actually Strategic Your distributor is correct for TVOD (transactional video on demand). Here's why - TVOD operates on completely different rules than theatrical: 1. No "dump months" on VOD - Horror/thriller fans consume year-round on platforms 2. Less major studio competition in Feb means better platform visibility 3. Valentine's weekend can work for horror (couples watching thrillers together is a thing) 4. Platform algorithms favor early year - fresh content gets featured, less crowded than fall 5. Tax refund season (mid-Feb onward) = people have money to spend on rentals For ultra-low budget horror TVOD, February 3rd could actually be smarter than April because: - April has major theatrical releases that dominate all marketing oxygen - February = quieter social media landscape for you to make noise - Horror doesn't need "prime" months on TVOD - it just needs audience Real Questions for Your Distributor: 1. Platform placement: Which platforms? (iTunes, Amazon, Vudu, etc.) Any featured placement commitments? Pre-order window? 2. Your marketing role: Do they expect YOU to drive awareness? What's their promotional support? Who controls social media marketing? 3. Pricing strategy: Rental price? Purchase price? Any promotional pricing windows?