The Movie Producer

I remember that day vividly when the message popped up on my phone. It was from a person – you know, someone I had unsuccessfully tried to work with in the past. A guy who had badmouthed me behind my back as if I wouldn’t find out. Now, here he was, reaching out to me for help on a movie project he wanted to create. Intrigued by the idea of including this in Dominate The Globe, I decided to give it a shot, treating it as a side quest to my main journey. From the minute I stepped into the project, I could sense the chaos swirling around. There was no script, just a mess of half-baked ideas and a bunch of non-paid actors struggling to adlib their way through scenes. The wannabe filmmaker seemed more interested in bragging about “making a movie” than actually putting in the work to make it happen. As I tried to bring some order to the chaos, I took a day off from writing my blog to turn his bullet points into a cohesive, 47-page script, complete with well-rounded character backgrounds. When I sent the script to him and another producer/actor, I felt a glimmer of hope that maybe we could salvage this disaster. But alas, it wasn’t meant to be. Later that day, I got a call informing me that the filmmaker was back to his old tricks, complaining that I was trying to “take over” the production. It was baffling – what did he expect when he asked for my help? I soldiered on, doing my best to fill the role of producer. But as the days passed, it became apparent that this so-called movie was beyond redemption. The filmmaker was stubbornly resistant to any advice or guidance, and my patience wore thin. Our final Zoom meeting was the breaking point. It was like talking to a brick wall, with him brushing off any suggestions that came his way. Following the call, I sent a detailed email explaining why I was walking away from the project, only to receive a curt two-word reply. True to form, he embarked on another smear campaign, badmouthing me to everyone involved in the project. I heard the words through the grapevine: “Roach has never produced a movie. What the fuck does he know?” And to that, I had to wonder: If my experience meant nothing to him, why did he ask for my help in the first place? It was like those bitter restaurant owners who call on Chef Ramsay, only to be outraged when he points out their flaws. Through this ordeal, I realized that side quests, at this point, were simply a waste of my valuable time.