We were already losing so why give up now?
BTW I am going to be on Jay Kogen's Podcast!
Last week I promised updates. Updates on projects. I also didn’t tell you that I was going to be in Mexico City and Guadalajara last week, either. Was a wild time. I had never been to either city and I was representing Arizona State U. and The Sidney Poitier Film School, as well as my other job of showrunner and writer/producer. And when I was in the airport in Guadalajara, a very cool thing happened to me I want to tell you about, before we get into updates. I was with a new friend I made on the trip, Mani. And an older couple had a couple of bags and seemed lost. Mani speaks fluent Spanish (I do not. No sabo kid fo sure). We stopped and he spoke to them. They were lost and looking for the right gate. He told them, and they smiled and nodded. But didn’t move on. Then he said in English to me, “Oh. I bet they don’t read.” They were taking the first plane ride of their lives to see their kids, or grandkids. I gestured to the man who was carrying a very heavy bag. “I’ll take that for you. We can walk to the gate with you.” Why did I think he’d understand English? But he understood the gesture. Someone with a smile was asking if they could help with his burden. Kind of a universal thing. So off we went, to walk them to their gate before we went to ours. WE ALL NEED SOMEONE TO HELP US WITH OUR BURDENS. And boy do we have them, right?
Production is down, numbers are down. The wavering buzz that always resides in me – “They’ll never make anything ever again” versus, “They have to make something!” continues to hound me. How is this at all important to you? My loyal and smart readers. Moving outward, gently from the navel gazing concerns of TV writers, I bet you all have places where there’s a feeling of hopelessness. Here’s what I do about it. Maybe it will give you some thoughts about what you can do when you hit those spots in your life.
I work. One of the things a mentor once told me long long ago, “You don’t have to ask anyone’s permission to write a thing. Actors need a stage and an audience. Directors need actors and a script. Writers? Pen and paper.”
Now getting the thing you write out into the world? That’s where impossible starts. That’s what I think. But the barriers to getting the thing out in the world are dropping. Even so, you got to do the work, first.
I wrote a feature screenplay at the end of last year and turned it into my managers and agents. I’m into a rewrite of it and it is really grabbing at my heart as I do it. Probably will finish this draft (my 6th) end of this week. I REALLY REALLY REALLY want to get this movie made. And that, is where that hill is that a lot of us go die on. Falling in love with a story and running up a hill with it, getting pushed and kicked and hit in the face by the business and then realizing you’re at the bottom of the hill, but you’ve also been pushed and kicked and hit in the face a bunch of times. It sucks. Now what? The what is I have a new piece of material, is what.
Remember? A writer’s job is to write. And to have people in your corner. Those people read your stuff and get excited about it on your behalf. And if you’re good, and they’re good (caveat that some of them out there aren’t good) they start talking about this new thing you wrote to bunches of other people. Since I’ve turned in that screenplay, I’ve had a meeting with two producers and studios who want me to pitch them on a property or idea they have in their pocket. Why? Because they read my screenplay. Loyal and smart readers will also remember the 3 Joaquins pilot I shared with you all in three parts a while back. Well NBC said no thanks, and of course I’d love nothing more than to find a home for it. But in the meantime, that script has gotten read and produced a bunch of meetings with TV drama executives that I had not known before. It’s hard not to take those “NO’s” as defeats because they are defeats. But if you keep your head pointed in the direction of, “If I write something special, someone will notice and it will give me other opportunities,” you start to live on a continuum, not a wins and losses column.
Guess what that’s better for? Your head. Guess what that helps? Your writing.
Remembering that the writing is the thing.
I am struggling with something, though. I want to tell you about these projects that are bubbling, but I have signed an NDA on a couple, and they aren’t jobs in my hand, yet. Miles to go and I could end up not getting it, right? As much as I’d like to tell you that I’m working on a movie pitch for a reboot of Major League (which is a dream project btw), I can’t.
But I can tell you that:
Rafael Garcia: Henchman has found a home, with a comic publisher. The deal hasn’t been signed yet. But the new issue one is slated for the first of 2026. If I can get the signed deal, I’ll tell you all who it is and give you specifics, next week.
I can tell you that it’s been a long journey. We published issue one with Starburns Comics, but they went under/merged/got bought by another company. And try as we did, we couldn’t get the new place focused on us. We tried. Oh boy, did we try. My co-writer and I had emails, and we’d find out if the reps were going to be at a convention and we’d go see them. They’d return an email or two, give us a line like, “We’re getting our bookstore distribution agreement signed and then we’ll talk to you guys.” We didn’t think we were the biggest deal in their world, but we love our book, and we also had the rest of the first arc already written and drawn. They kept pushing us off, but without ever saying, “Nah. Bug off.” There were times I wished they would. Just tell us. So, we started approaching other companies. And we got some feedback on it. Some liked it. A couple loved it, but it wasn’t the right tone for them. A couple thought it wasn’t as ‘fresh a concept’ as they’d hoped. That last one made me laugh. A story about a Mexican-American Henchman who works for a Super-Villain who is Elon Musk combined with the Murdochs as a way to talk about the haves and the have nots of the world. Seemed like it was a concept that was aging really well, even if the reality around us was aging super poorly and making us all wish this was a fever dream we’re currently living in. But the lesson here?
Stay the course, and don’t give up hope. We found a home, the books are coming out, and by the time they do, they may read less like satire and more like a documentary.
And then there’s the BIG PROJECT. One that I’ve been mulling over for a while. Doing research on the BIG PROJECT. That got started by this very substack! I don’t want to tell you what it is, yet. I want us to get the official word from the publisher, and my editor, who happens to be a loyal and smart reader. What I can tell you is what research I’ve been doing on this project. That should whet your appetite without giving it away.
I think that’s enough of a tease for now. This is the thing driving me every day. But as much as those books and my trip last week would make you think it was why I went to Mexico, it’s not.
My trip was to meet with the government/film commissions/producers of movies in Mexico City and Guadalajara in a whirlwind trip that was so quick I didn’t get to any museums, or Frida’s house, or any ruins. It was about building bridges between artistic communities. But while I was there, I just had to steal away from a meeting or two for a few moments to take these pics.
And today I get to do a pitch of a new half hour comedy with a new pal, who I think is one of the funniest, hardest working dudes I know. Fingers crossed. Plus I get to do some writing on the top secret project I can’t tell you about, and the next draft of the movie I can’t tell you about. Yet. But I will. Stay creative my friends. Take chances. Don’t let the rejections turn into affirmations of your value. You’re an artist.
More cool things that come from substack department before I go. Someone just got named one of the Most Influential Latinos In Media for 2025. I know what you’re thinking. Weren’t you already that in 2024? Back to back baby! All because you are reading and telling people about –
The Most Important Chicano In Hollywood That You Don’t Know About
If you like this, tell someone. We are about to hit another big number here, and you can be a part of it. Word of mouth is the best way to grow things.
Thanks, Peter, for the uplifting and encouraging post — pirate care, indeed! And thanks for the pic of María Félix. It brought to mind one of the interviews from the great book, Objects of Desire: Conversations with Luis Buñuel, by Jose de la Colina and Tomas Perez Turrent. When they were discussing the film, La Fievre Monte a El Pao, a film that Buñuel was not fond of or particularly interested in making. Don Luis mentions a scene where Gerard Philipe's character declares his love for the female lead, played by María Félix. Buñuel says in the interview, “How do you film that without falling into wordiness? It came to me to have María Félix break a glass case and order Philipe to pick up the glass. She reaffirms her domination over him, no? Philipe then declares his love while picking up the glass like a servant.” It’s such a great Buñuel moment, not unlike the scene in El Bruto, where an old man says he’s not allowed to drink tequila anymore, so Katy Jurado dips her finger in a glass of tequila and lets him suck it off her finger. Both of these are mere details or moments, but add so much, even to a film as objectively uninteresting as La Fievre.
So much great stuff! I'm so grateful that you are so keenly aware of your/our mental health while climbing those hills. Keep it positive, and come home for a visit sometime.