Thursday, March 16, 2006

Hey! That was MY idea!

I realized that I've been in a wee bit of a funk since an idea reallllly similar to something I was working on was announced as a big project in Variety one day two weeks ago. Quelle bummer! (And no, there's no chance it was stolen from me.) This isn't the first time something like this has happened, and it probably won't be the last, but it truly is a drag and does make you think someone's "listening in" to ya. I suppose I could wrap my head in aluminum foil to prevent idea leakage. But since I'm always looking for an angle, I'm thinking I should market some kind of toupee with a foil liner. Or better yet, if there's some way to tie it in with the iPod....

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I experienced a major bummer like this today.

But I'm still trying to figure out if there's any hope of salvaging (and selling!) my idea . . . so . . . I'll probably tell you about it next time I see you.

I can't keep enduring these disappointments. How do you do it??

Greg Pincus said...

Oh, make no mistake -- it's horrible and sad and upsetting when it happens. I've finished entire screenplays and in the week they were about to be sent to the world, I've learned about other projects that kibosh mine. There's nothing to do other than to say "next time I'll be faster" or "next time I'll trust my instincts and pursue this idea RIGHT WHEN I GET IT not wait three years." Ideas are out there in the ether, unfortunately, and even though we all bring our own stuff to a project, some ideas are just too similar and ours die a miserable death. I don't like accepting it, but I can't think of what else to do.