Introduce Yourself : Back again! by Christopher Neal Fisher

Hiya, folks!

After taking a little break from Introduce Yourself weekends (last time I posted, it was 2021 and Christmas was a few days away), I’m back!

So who am I? Christopher Neal Fisher; 61; husband of 34 years to Judy; no kids, but 2 grown stepdaughters, 6 step-grandkids, and 2 step-great-grandkids; retired since 2016 (not by choice) from a 32 year “career” with my state’s Department of Transportation as office support; now finally able to try and make a go at what I’ve really wanted to do ever since I was 6 years old, namely screenwriting.

My main project I’ve been working on is a TV series concept I’ve created; called Bayou Noir. I describe it as “A Southern Gothic Soap Opera; Dark Shadows (original series) meets The Sopranos in the middle of Louisiana’s famed Cajun Country”. This is my logline for it:

A dynastic Louisiana Creole French family with both legitimate businesses and illegal involvements must deal with enemies human and supernatural and its own dysfunction to ensure its survival and that of its "empire" — or face the end of both.

The pilot episode script, “Made in Louisiana”, was a finalist in Stage 32’s 6th Annual TV Writer’s Contest in March 2021, and was named one of Stage 32’s “Top 1%” scripts for 2021. (It was also supposed to be in the 2021 lookbook, but for some weird reason my e-mail client, which normally put everything from Stage 32 into my inbox for some reason — maybe because I had switched to a different computer after my old one died — dumped it into my spam folder, where I didn’t see it until two weeks past the deadline for submissions to the lookbook).

So where am I right now? Spinning my wheels and trying to get some traction, I guess would be the best way to describe it. I am working on a script for a second episode, working title “Baltimore”, but other than that, I’m at a loss as how to proceed. About a third of the 13 pitches I’ve done have gotten positive reviews (the others were so-so), but all got “passes”. I’ve been told that I should work on networking, and while I’ve got a decent sized network, I’m at a loss as to how to connect with people and make having a network be of benefit both to me and to the other people in it. Like many creatives, I’m a bit socially awkward (yes, even at my age I still am), and the pandemic has really done a number to boot on what hard won social skills I’ve managed to acquire over the years. And of course, I’m absolutely terrified of coming off like I’m just trying to use people (something I hate doing, or have done to me), especially since in a sense I’m still a “newbie”, and haven’t much in the way of anything I can reciprocate with, other than maybe my opinion if I think a script or whatever is any good (not that I’m sure that’s of much value). I’ve seen some blog posts on here about how to go connecting with people in your network, but they’ve been things like contacting people, introducing yourself, asking them about themselves, their interests. At a party that’s perfectly sensible, but on a site like this, often people put out a fair amount of personal information about themselves in their profiles, I think it would sound awkward. To me it sounds perfectly sensible to bring up things you have in common, like the genres you like to write for, common backgrounds, interests (both entertainment related and not), etc. For example. I do have some people in my network who are from Louisiana, where my series idea is set (and which is pretty much impossible to believably recreate elsewhere), and involved in the film scene there. It would seem to make sense to start by mentioning the things they’ve accomplished, what I think of them (positive comments, naturally), and ask about things like what the film industry is like there, and so forth. Also, I’m thinking that leaving comments on FB pages of production companies located in Louisiana (if I’ve seen any of their productions, of course), where I might mention briefly my own Louisiana-based series idea might help, though I’m not sure — it could be off-putting too, especially if I handle it the wrong way. Also I’m willing to look into things like doing a proof of concept/sizzle reel, but I have no idea how to go about making one, or how to raise the money to finance it (I’m aware of Indiegogo, etc., but I’m not sure how to effectively use social media to raise people’s interest in my show, or to contribute financially to making such a reel).



So anyway, that’s who I am, what I’m doing, and where I am now. I totally believe in my creation, Bayou Noir, in its possibilities as a storytelling vehicle, and in its potential as an entertainment property, and I’ll keep trying until I get it made, or am planted in the ground. I just need to find a way to get myself “unstuck” and moving again with it.



Have a great weekend, folks, and whatever your dream is, whatever you’re working on, keep at it and never give up!