How I Partnered with the Producers of The King's Speech & What I Learned Along The Way - Part 10
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Will and Gareth returned to London with the “to do” of approaching the three main UK networks:
- ITV
- SKY
- BBC
-to get one of them to partner with Shaw on the development of the series. It would be a Canada/UK Co-production.
Development costs of $120,000 would cover an initial first episode script, a writer’s bible, which I would work on with Donald, the budget development, and other considerations. Never mind my initial episodes; they were off the table, as was my commitment to remain faithful to the true events.
Revising history
(by Pia from Pixabay.com)
There wasn’t much interest in the facts (as best they can be determined after 800 years) in our script discussions characters were made younger or older or were risen from the dead or never existed, nothing to do with what actually happened. I let it all slide. I ignored my own instincts, my “Quiet Voice”. Big mistake.
Wait for it!
We weren’t given much information but the meetings with the UK networks did not go well. SKY and ITV turned it down due to other commitments and finally BBC turned its nose up at the project citing the reason – wait for it – “Because there are no UK writers involved! “
OMG!
Who is Christopher Morley they asked? We could have explained to them, shown them who Donald Martin was but as far as they were concerned this was a British story and it should be written by a British writer. We scrambled to make an effort to find a UK writer to join with Donald and we even got an endorsement from the Irish Minister of Culture who supported the initiative as we thought of a partnership with an Irish network if the UK one couldn’t be arranged. Time went on and on and on and the network partnership just never came together. We finally missed our window to start shooting in time to launch Episode 1 on the anniversary date and the partnership dissolved.
Pulling the plug
The Quiet Voice was right, we should have got a UK writer, to keep the UK networks happy. The Canadian networks I believe would have signed on with a top quality UK writer at the helm. That’s all we needed to do and we may have had a chance. But, it was too late. No criticism to Donald, he was amazing but politically we were non-starters. I was devastated.
(pixabay.com)
Michael and Will pulled the plug on the project on one of the worst days of my life. I still remember that last phone call with the team and me asking anyone who would listen, “There must be a way. There must.” And Michael saying, “No, it’s too late, it’s over.”
Shattering. But, I still learned something out of the process.
Part 11: “Reaching a Dream” is next, feel free to share!
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