One afternoon, two production houses asked me to assist them with a pitch. But there was a catch – they were in the same tender. Only the timing set them apart, as each director could brief me on a different day.
Both filmmakers (let's call them Nelly and Kelly) are my dear friends. I wrote countless treatments with them. Frankly, they rarely write with anyone else. It was an ultimate dilemma.
So? What do I do?
I couldn't decide. So I told them the truth. Surprisingly, they didn't bat an eyelid. They saw no problem in sharing one writer for the same pitch. And, in the end, neither did I.
It's like trying to answer someone's ridiculous question: 'Which of your brothers is your favourite?' (I don't know what fool could pose such a question, but yes, I must admit, I myself regularly ask my boyfriend stupid questions, such as 'If you had to choose who to have sex with, would it be Trump or Putin?'.)
I love my brothers equally, appreciating their different personalities. And trust me, they couldn't be more different. One finished elementary school, the other is a double engineer. One does curling, the other does kickboxing. The one thing they have in common, apart from being assholes, is beating me in go-cart racing.
Just like my brothers, Nelly and Kelly are amazing racers. But their creative approach is entirely different. They know I would never compromise their chances of success by making two variations of the same text. That's something Chat GPT does.
I value the trust of 'my' directors above everything. The first criterion when deciding whether to take on a job is my ability to give the treatment my best. They feel it. And I guess that's why they were so chill about this dilemma.
The story ended with Nelly getting the job. I was happy and sad at the same time. But that's part of the game – the client can only pick one. Just like in my favourite sex dilemma game: Trump or Putin, Mickey Mouse or Donald Duck, Rihanna or Beyoncé?
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