This was the dilemma facing religions this week.  Harold Camping and a handful of his followers (the secretary at Family Radio said she would be back at work on Monday and has continued to make appointments for even the most ardent church members) believed the rapture was going to happen on the 21^st May 2011. Of course people joked, mocked and had fun with the improbability of the event happening on that date. However a Time magazine poll reveals that 59% of Americans actually believe the rapture is coming – you’re just stupid if you think it is on the 21st  - even Harold Camping scoffed at people who think the world is going to in 2012 “That date has not one stitch of biblical authority. It’s like a fairy tale.“. In the lead up to the event dedicated followers sold their worldly goods to pay for billboards and travel the country spreading the word only to wake up on Sunday morning to find they had horribly misplaced their faith and instantly rejected their religion… or did they?

So let us exchange the doomsday predication for your script – the script that will make you famous and earn you millions. You have faith in the script and you just need someone to see the light.  You put everything into the script, maybe quit your job, maybe spent out on Final Draft, Syd Field Books, lectures from Robert McKee
and a script writing degree.  You preached your gospel at networking events, did your mail outs to likely converts and entered competitions would lead to an endorsement of your word.

Then the rejection letters come.  You look at it and question… “I do not understand why… I do not understand why nothing has happened.”  Maybe they didn’t get it, maybe they didn’t understand you vision or maybe you are wrong.  Finally you give up on that script, “Obviously, I haven’t understood it correctly” you say. Then you have a choice…

Do you take the path of the followers of Samuel S. Snow, a preacher in the Millerite movement who predicted the end of the world in 1844.  When it failed to happen, the followers disbanded following a slightly less risky faith instead.

Or do you go the route of Harold Camping who first predicated the end of the world would occur in 1994. When this failed to materialise, he didn’t blame God or his faith, he blamed his own errors and set a new date. On Sunday morning many of the followers of Harold Camping and Family Radio were far from giving up, the faithful regrouped and saw the rejection as a test from God.

Back at the London Comedy Writers Festival, 300 faithful sat, many prepared to throw everything at ensuring their faith was not misplaced.  Rejection awaits every one of them and when it comes, will they pack up and leave or double down.  It is a tough call – wannabe writers and doomsday predictors have a sad habit of dying before their faith is rewarded.

When we all met up I handed it over knowing it was piss poor, but something that could be built on.  Damn, someone had written it all up, but phew someone hadn’t. For me that was a turning point, I felt I had let the team down by not putting in the required effort, the fact that others had put less effort in didn’t help either.

So out of frustration a couple of us sat down and crafted a contract jam packed full of our hopes and dreams for what working in a group should really be like. Some of the stuff sounds crazy and may only have relevance to one of us; seriously “refreshments that match people’s requirements” relates to soya milk, hows that for picky.

• WORK HOURS
  • The day starts at 10.30 and finishes 5.30.
  • Lunch break is 1 hour.
  • Breaks are permitted and rightfully needed, but shouldn’t get out of control.
• HOME OWNER RESPONCIBILITIES
  • Sets the schedule for day.
  • Keeps order and times breaks.
  • Takes notes (as best as situation allows).
  • Provides refreshments that match people’s requirements.
  • Provides 1 meal a week.
  • Makes sure that everyone synchs up at end of the day and that notes are cleaned up and e-mailed that night (after all, they don’t have to spend the next ½ hour getting home)
• SEMANTICS AND DISAGREEMENTS
  • In the case of ongoing disagreements someone may call “Semantics” in order to get the point resolved.
  • Disagreeing parties must listen to the mediator who will give each person time to express there point before making a ruling.
  • The ruling does not have to be agreed to, but must be honoured and respected so the process can move forward.
• DEADLINES
  • Mini deadlines must be set on a regular bases.
  • Deadlines must be agreed on by all parties
  • All parties must do their best to reach said deadlines even if this means longer hours or homework.
• HOMEWORK
  • On occasion homework may be set, either to help reach goals or because independent work must be set.
  • Homework must be presented without excuse.  Even if the work is incomplete it must still be handed over to fellow writers so they can keep up to date with the progress.
• WRITERS BLOCK
  • The primary aim is to keep writing and keeping hitting deadlines. Even if work ends up not being great it must still be carried out so that least there is a base to build on.
  • When all seems lost the writers should call a “fuck it day” where they get out do something totally unrelated to the script to clear their head and have fun.
• NETWORKING
  • We must build and maintain contacts within the industry, this includes writers, directors, producers, agents and actors etc..
  • This is also linked socialising and seeing screenings, talks and other networking opportunities.
  • Maintain a database of contacts, what we know about them, what our relationship is and how suitable they are to the project.
• FUTURE GROUP PROJECTS
  • The ground work for future projects must run in the background of the writer’s mind.
  • Keep notes of any new ideas or expansion of old ones.
  • This should over time build into collection of treatments that are ready to go if requested.
  • Future projects must never come at the expense of the current project.
• EARNING MONEY AND SIDE PROJECTS
  • While the project is important, earning money and fulfilling other creative outlets should not be ignored.
  • There has to be an understanding that time may have to be taken out for work.
  • These dates should be stated as early as possible to aid with future planning and forewarning of any extensions should not be left to the day.
  • There should be a clear understanding of the stake in any creative outlets and what everyone’s roles is how they are expected to be involved and treated.  Unlike the main project where everyone has equal footing side projects can be weighted differently, but never outshine the main project.
• CONSEQUENCES and REWARDS
  • Failure to meet any of the above criteria will be met with a negative mark
  • MVP awarded to anyone who has gone above the call of duty will result in a positive mark.
  • At the end of the week the writer with the best rating gets to pick his/her choice for days at their own house.  Second place gets to pick two days and the loser gets what is left.
  • Trading for days is also allowed at the discretion of the individual writers.
• SOCIALISING
  • In order to remember why are doing this we must do things other than work.
  • Orange Wednesdays – seeing films on regular bases.
  • Seeing theatre.
  • PS3 tournaments.
  • Sunday Roasts
  • Playing games.

All in all I think we stuck to most of this and it really helped solidify our commitment to each other and the project.  We met up again today after our Christmas break and it will be interesting to pull this out and reaffirm our commitment to one another.

Looking at the contract now it still embodies my hopes for the project and our working relationship. anyone who says that working other people is easy, are filthy filthy liars. It is hard work, you need to swallow your ego and when everyone has an opinion that is hard to do. You need to take the time to understand what is happening their lives and know that perhaps getting this monster done is not the most important thing in the world.

A year on we are still hard at it. Looking back at the trails, tribulations, fears and tears I can say that it was worth it. Although we may fight, bitch, argue, back stab, hair pull, these are a couple of my finest friends.