The Ups & Downs of David Greenberg: Confessions of a Minimum Wage Screenwriter Pt. 1

In early December, 2010, I walked into the Kimmel Center with a video camera. I got into a glass elevator, turned the camera on, pointed out the window and shot myself going up and going down. I came home, put the footage into my computer, edited it, added tons of effects, music etc. and posted the resulting minute long short film “The Ups & Downs of David Greenberg” on Vimeo, YouTube and Facebook pages.

At the time, I had no idea of how accurately “ups and downs” would wind up becoming so accurate. I just thought I was being witty because I was riding in an elevator.

It was right around this time that I found out that I was likely to be unemployed, without a teaching job this semester. My one class at University of the Arts was canceled due to low enrollment and I was not offered any classes at Drexel University.

Unemployment = DOWN.

I scrambled for work.

I responded to a post from a producer who was looking for someone to write a documentary about Bonnie and Clyde. I had two phone interviews, wrote a sample treatment, outlining the approach to the script that I would take.

I beat out 150 other writers and got the job = UP.

Next came a whirlwind of research/writing and I delivered the first draft of the the script, on time, three weeks later. I turned in a third draft earlier this week.

It paid what I would make in about 6 weeks of teaching.

However, six weeks of work was not going to cut it = DOWN

In one week, maybe even the same day, I applied for a job at a restaurant around the corner from me (owned and operated by U2's former personal chef but that's another story) and I responded to an ad placed by Philly/NYC theater company.

I had not worked in a restaurant since my early 20’s --- and, even, then, it was at my father’s place whenever he was short-handed.

As mentioned in my last blog post, I had given up on acting long ago. I think I last auditioned for something in 1985.

I never heard from the restaurant but the theater company contacted me quickly. We spoke on the phone, had a face to face and, as of this week, it looks like I will be earning a little bit of money as an actor -- sort of. Much more on on that, later.

I like to think that, when I couldn’t make it as waiter, I took a job as an actor to get me through.

Getting a chance to “perform,” to be involved with my first love: theater = UP

I banged out a good, ultra-low budget screenplay for a director friend, he liked it, didn’t love it, but planned to make anyway.

Ultimately he decided that, even with 6 characters, a handful of locations and no major special effects or set pieces, it was too big for him to mount at this time.

He still wants to make it, but he wants me to write something even smaller = UP/DOWN

A short film that I wrote, “The Audition”, played at a film festival in California = UP

But the big news was that, after two years in development at an L.A. production company, the option on my screenplay “Aftermath” expired in December.

I have retained the rights to it = UP/DOWN

The Philly production company that optioned it in 2006 has expressed an interest in it and I feel morally obligated to give them a shot if they want it because I broke my agreement with them in order to send it to L.A.

An L.A./Philly based producer who has long been familiar with it seems awfully interested in acquiring the project.

One or maybe even both of these companies could produce “Aftermath” this year = UP

Both could decide to pass on it = DOWN

The “Aftermath” story has been and continues to be an epic saga, something likely to dominate my blog posts for the indefinite future.

I am working all the time and I am still looking for a job.

These are the Confessions of a Minimum Wage Screenwriter.

To be continued...