A DANCE OF DELIGHT

The Journey of A Television Pilot That Defined My Brand.

By Coli B. Sylla

I’d like to take you with me as I reflect on the journey of a project that has come to define my brand as a writer. A project that was pitched to HBO and Showtime, took grand prize in a screenplay competition, landed me a writing fellowship, been optioned twice and tied to a shopping agreement and is currently in consideration with a few prominent production companies. A project, due to it’s subject matter either sends executives running toward it, or running away from it. It’s been branded as provocative, timely, relevant, and necessary on the positive side while on the negative side, some saw it as “too Black” or “too controversial.” Nevertheless, it is a prestige project that landed in the hands of one of the most treasured consultants I’ve ever had the pleasure to work with as she breathed fresh life into it. 

That being said, I am compelled to write this as a fresh take and response to all of the unsolicited screenwriting advice that is plastered all over social media. Because none of that shit applied or applies to my writing style. Never has and never will. Instead of telling you not to write your action lines this way, or why you should avoid exposition altogether, I want to take you on the journey of what it takes to push a project forward, without a manager or agent to guide you. Yes, you read that correctly, my beloved project’s success was not the result of a manager or agent shepherding it forward. It was however, the result of one man who read it and believed in it. A man who I will refrain from naming because I don’t wanna piss him off. 

Before we begin, it’s important to know that the project is still very much in play so there may be jumps, or parts of the story I purposely avoid just to protect the project’s potential. I just feel the need to peel back the curtain on a journey that I hope will inspire and encourage you to just write it, make mistakes, write choppy, ugly dialogue, refine, rewrite, perfect your craft and stop fearing the rules. 

Now, I think it’s time we dive in. If you’re a writer, clear your mind, again, forget the rules, and watch me win and fail spectacularly. After all, I’m doing this as an alternative to the “to do’s” and “not to do” monotony of screenwriter wisdom. 

Who am I? Great question. I’m not perfect. In fact, if you decide to ride with me on this journey, I’ll call out and put my weaknesses, my faults, and the mistakes that have stalled my career for you to asses and ensure you don’t follow suit.

Ready?

Chapter One: I’m Really Not That Funny…

In the summer of 2011 I had reached a critical point in the pursuit of my dreams, I had been in LA since 2007 when I set my sights on breaking in as a comedy writer and after writing a television pilot that was produced, I thought I was set. Unfortunately, that pilot never aired despite a powerful cast and a slew of celebrity cameos. I decided to take a stab at writing drama.

After all, with everything I had been going through, depression, isolation, loneliness, and financial destitiution, drama was fitting. So I started writing a drama called “Common Misconceptions,” A drama that centered on stereotypes toward black men in corporate settings. The pilot centered on a corporate fixer named Colin Porter who was hired to handle a PR nightmare centered on racist comments fed by the company’s CEO. I knocked out the 1st draft and felt nothing. I wasn’t moved, I wasn’t impressed, I was simply glad to be done a drama that I thought had something to say. Fast forward to 2013, my reality was bleak, the time had come in my journey to leave L.A as I had essentially run out of money and opportunity.

In the midst of that storm, something made me revisit Common Misconceptions to steal a character and start fresh. Who was Colin Porter? He drove a Fisker Karma, he wore bespoke suits and was everything I was not; Confident, ambitious, assertive, and extroverted. I thought to myself I had positioned my drama incorrectly, I let the world drive the story, I let the context present as a character when in reality, Colin Porter should have been established and remained the center of the project, the story. Everything should have revolved around him. So I started over, this time I called the project “Porter.” A simple and fitting title about a prominent civil rights attorney struggling with public persona while managing bipolar disorder. That’s a refined description of what the series has become. From there, I dove in, I poured myself, elements of my life and experiences into Colin Porter. My goal was to create a character that was flesh and blood and in order to do that, I had to cut myself and let it bleed into the project. In the midst of packing and preparing for a return to Philadelphia, I completed a draft of Porter and that’s where everything changed.

While I was an unrepped writer at the time, I did have minor success in the reality space landing a few deals with FremantleMedia North America so I did have legal representation.  I had no manager or agent, my greatest asset was the fact that I was part of the Emerson Mafia. If you aren’t familiar, I highly suggest you google it. I had access to a network of very prominent, notable, and accessible figures in the entertainment industry who all had one thing in common, our Emerson College degrees that hung in our offices. 

Enter 2014, I hung up my pen and gave up the dream of being a screenwriter and took a job with a Walt Disney Owned TV Station and looked forward to the future. One day in orientation I let my mind wander and happened to check my email from a producer who literally changed my life and I owe ALL the success of Porter to. I want to share his name but again, I won’t. He’s very high ranking now and to do so would risk the boundaries set by our affiliation. Anyway, he emailed me to tell me that he had read Porter and was impressed. He wanted to know if I would be interested in developing it further with him to take it to market. And I said yes! Yes! A thousand times yes! From there, we took Porter on a year long journey that included stops at HBO and Showtime networks where I would sit across from development executives and pitch Porter.

I learned so much in that process and that journey but I had no idea what I was about to learn, experience and encounter. The journey of Porter was just beginning and it has been a career and life defining journey that I’d like to share with you if you are interested.

If so, then stick around and join me as I continue to unpack the journey and makings of a prestigural drama…

More to come.