My Sunday with Sam Bailey

For the better part of this Sunday, I was working with some of the very finest actors in Los Angeles, hashing through the sixth draft of Sam Bailey. Most of the table readings I've witnessed bave been basically vanity affairs. Actors are assembled to lend a sense of import to the screenplay, and to give the writer something to talk about at cocktail parties. Feedback and the following rewrites are often treated as an earnest but ultimately useless formality. Who knows? Maybe an agent will show, you know?

Maybe my actors know me better than that. Maybe they're just good to me. Whatever the reason, I thank God they showed up.

Contrary to our suspicions, the comedy is the part that works. Most of the afternoon, we were laughing our asses off. On the other hand, I've been way too relaxed with Sam's motivations and urgency, and the characters coming from his "world," like Samantha and Father Phillip, have all suffered for it. It's the mystery that needs punching up. Naturally, the laughs and the warmth will become even more meaningful as the tension improves.

This amazing group of professionals helped me dig down to the roots of the problem, as well as finding a terrific number of details to prune. As I locked the doors of Unified Pictures, an hour and a half after I'd promised everyone they could leave, I was still cramming notes into the corners of a scribble-stuffed script.

Which leads me to the point I'd really like to bring focus to. True masters have a passion for discovery.

My reading was so productive because these amazing actors are all working to take their talents and experiences in ever new directions. Before we started, I listened in as two of my actors, taking a sign-language class together, shared their knowledge with the group. Sign-language? What actor needs to know sign-language, right?

These actors do. In fact, that's what makes them special.

Openness is only the beginning. When it comes to new skills and experience, hunger and total attentiveness are the hallmarks of a professional actor, and these actors are more than professionals. Each of these miraculous individuals is a budding master of the craft. For all of it's convolutions Sam Bailey is actually a very simple story, and that's what makes it beautiful. With a grace far beyond their years, these actors brought the breadth of their experience, their unwavering attentiveness, and their open hearts to help clean and polish that simple beauty until you can see your own reflection in it, clear as day.

That is, after all, the point.

I'd like to express my deep respect and gratitude for Sheila Daley, Irina Bjorklund, Christie Insley, Liz Southard, Dave McCallum, Shawn MacAulay, and Mikaela Jones, as well as my co-producers Aaron Lyons, Chris DeChristopher, and Gerard Marzilli.

Thank you.