Austin Barnes is NOW FREE TO SHOOT A COMEDY IN BUDAPEST!
Who wouldn't want to see that?
The Dodgers released Austin Barnes a couple days ago and I bet you most of you don’t care. Even the casual baseball fan won’t care. Austin Barnes is a backup catcher who plays maybe once a week. Give the starter a day off to rest those knees. And the rest of the week? IF the starter is on base when the last out is made, you grab a mask and a glove and go warm up the pitcher until the full-time catcher gets his gear on. And maybe if you are the kind of survivor, one who scraps and hustles, you become something called a “Personal catcher.” A team has an ace pitcher. Their number one guy. And not always, but sometimes, the ace gets comfortable with having the backup catcher be their main guy. Why is this? Why wouldn’t you want to pitch to the starting catcher who is probably better and most definitely is better at bat and can help the team offensively?
Because if you’re the ace, in between the days you pitch, your catcher and you can spend time together on the bench, going over scenarios or ideas on how to handle specific batters. You get locked into a routine with that catcher. If you throw between starts, it can be to the same guy who’s going to be in the game with you.
The backup catcher on a major league roster is a by definition a survivor. Someone who has stayed on the roster by doing small things. By keeping other players loose. By helping the pitching coach watch pitchers for little signs of tiring or even being the person who can be counted on to, “find a way.”
“He finds a way.” That’s me. That’s how I would define myself. I “find a way.” It’s a noble and to me a righteous compliment wrapped up in a criticism. The compliment part is that when you look up, there I am. Still grinding. Still at it. Ready to help someone. Ready to start a show idea up from nothing, or pitch on the toy you are trying to turn into a show. I’m a constant. The criticism under, “He finds a way” is that I’m not the fastest. Or the smartest. Or funniest. But I will work the hardest. And I’ll look for the small spaces that you need help on in a room. I’ll look around and see if there’s plenty of joke people, but not enough people good at story and I’ll widen that part of me and be that room’s story guy. Overworked showrunner who doesn’t have time to go to editing? Or casting? I’ll figure out what the showrunner wants in editing or casting and I’ll go make that happen. Because I’ve been the showrunner who desperately wanted and needed five other versions of what I’m describing myself as. Read the room, plug in where you’re needed and work your ass off. I’ve been on a staff several times when the boss needed to move my episode up in the shooting order because the script was in better shape than someone higher in the pecking order’s script. I’ve come in early to help the director go over a rewrite with the actors after an all night rewrite. I’ve jumped into the “joke room” during a rewrite when the boss sensed we’d need more of those and that’s where I could be helpful. I work.
The Dodgers released Austin Barnes this week. After ten years with the Dodgers. After being the backup catcher that ended up starting MOST of the playoff games in the twenty-teens. How does that happen? From bench guy to starting guy in the most pressured filled part of the season? Injury to the starter? Nope. Because the starter started getting the yips under pressure. Not able to think clearly or execute. “Go get ready. Get ready to work.” A backup catcher isn’t looking for glory, either. You want everyone else to succeed. That’s your success. So why end a ten-year relationship? Because he’s slipping further, skill wise? Let’s look.
Okay. That is what this year has been like. What does that look like in the context of the last ten years?
Doesn’t seem that different. About the same as usual.
Here’s why it ended. There’s a young guy, with incredible skills and a big upside who earned a shot. This guy is ready to take his turn.
And I bet a million bucks Austin took the news of being released as hard as anyone would. You are living a dream, you go home and they tell you not to come back to the stadium tomorrow. Just like getting a show cancelled. “TV is going to keep making TV, just not the TV you’re doing, thanks. See yourself off the lot, please.”
But like a great backup catcher, Austin Barnes took a breath and said, “What’s my job right now? Where do I put my effort in this moment?” Hoping that your ace pitcher is okay with what happened, and that the kid coming to take your locker spot knows you are rooting for him to succeed. That’s what a Legendary BACK UP CATCHER does.
Great. You like a washed-up bench player, Peter. What’s that have to do with writing, or creating, or shooting your shot? Great questions. It’s very much the opposite of something that happened to me this week. I met up with a young student who got ahold of me and wanted to get some help. From the time he started asking me for help, until I met up with him, here’s the help he wanted as it came to me in various email updates culminating in our meeting.
How much (if at all) would it cost to shoot a feature movie with school facilities and school equipment?
Okay, so maybe it’s an indy low budget something.
A big famous top ten comic read my script and loves it. It’s a go project or about to be.
Or it’s a medium budgeted comedy?
I have a director attached but the director wants more changes to the script.
I’m starting to wonder what advice I can give here.
I have someone who wants to finance fifty percent of the project but it has to shoot in Budapest.
Are these different projects or if this is the same project.
Right before the meeting, I’m not sure what I’m picturing . A comedy in Budapest, with a famous comic, but you also need equipment and possible free facilities.
At the meeting, the guy is for sure a hustler. But less of a grinder. He’s an actor with an acting agent, but no one repping him as a writer or creator. I keep re-centering the conversation around the idea of, “Start asking for a referral from your acting agent. They must know someone you can talk to about repping the project or repping you as a writer for this project.” But it seems like they are reluctant to do that because… I’m not sure why. They don’t want to cut someone in on their deal, or they don’t think their acting agent is doing enough for them. I’m surprised with all that hustle that they haven’t asked their acting agent for a referral. I keep saying, “Do you want to shoot in Budapest? Do you know anyone who’s shot there?” I don’t. But I know I’d go right to my manager or agent and ask about all these things. I’d ask if the person making promises was real. I’d refer all these people to them, and then I’d go back to writing because I love writing. That’s what I’m good at and that’s what I want to spend my time on. This guy admits he’s a hustler and that he’s “gotten this far with all cold call and cold emails through IMDB.” He’s also worried that if he asks the director to get the script to the director’s manager, that the manager may have more notes.
This is the reddest of the red flags for me. Writing is rewriting. And getting notes is part of writing. TO me, this guy may be a writer someday. But he’s not a writer yet. He’s a salesman. But sometimes SALESMEN win everything! I’m not telling you this story to have you guess this person is going nowhere We could be 16 months away from a 200 Million Dollar box office comedy hit about a guy taking his shirt off in Budapest. The thing that saves comedy and launches a new Golden Age.
It’s showbiz. Hard work doesn’t necessarily win out over hype and vibes. Not always. Maybe not ever? It feels like it some days. But I know where I can do my best job. Right here. At the keyboard. Building this place out one subscriber at a time. Writing one script at a time. Telling my story and helping others tell theirs. I suppose that’s why I continue to be…
The Most Important Chicano In Hollywood That You Don’t Know About.
Why don’t you make me happy and tell a friend about this and get them to subscribe. I’d be able to feed more interns. Word of mouth is the best way to grow things.
One final Austin Barnes story that I love. Austin Barnes was catching Julio Urias in the World Series clinching game in 2020 for the Dodgers. You can go buy an autographed print of this picture online. My birthday is in March.
They seem joyful and they seem close knit.
You would think. Now Austin Barnes is half Mexican. So you know I love him even more. And there’s this tournament that is like the World Cup but for baseball and Julio Urias played for his country of Mexico in it. And when he got to the first practice, he saw Austin Barnes in the locker room. “What are you doing here?” Austin said, “You know I’m half Mexican. My mom is from Mexico.” Julio’s response was, “Nah. That doesn’t seem right.” Austin did what a LEGEND backup catcher does. He smiled and said, “Okay. You’re right.” And then just went out onto the field to see who needed what from him. See you next week.
Farewell Austin, we'll miss you! Thanks Peter!
GREAT ending!!!