#57 “I’ll handle it from here.”

As I walked from Lori’s office to look for Kevin, I thought about what she said: “Producing and delivering a television series is like a runaway train. Once it starts, I’ve got to keep up with it or it’ll jump the tracks. The worst thing I can ever do is miss an airdate with broadcasters. If I don’t deliver a script on time, they’ll pull the series.”

She’d personalized it, telling me because Sandy and I were behind schedule it would jeopardize her. I wondered why she’d told me all that. She was in charge of writers. If she thought Sandy wasn’t moving fast enough, if she wanted to cut him loose it would be simple for her to do so.

No. She wanted me to handle it, I think to see how I perform under pressure.

No problem.

I spotted Kevin, the exec in overall charge of DIC’s production schedule, by a cubicle talking with an artist. He saw me and motioned me closer, telling the artist, “I need your cubicle for a couple minutes.” The artist dutifully left.

Kevin smiled and asks how I was doing. I told him I’ve done better and his smile eased. When he asked what was up, I tell him how when I started, Sandy said we were a week behind schedule and now Lori tells me we’re two weeks behind and that if we miss an airdate the broadcasters could pull the series and that I should talk to him about it. I tell Kevin “I’m just the assistant story editor. What should I do?”

In a voice as friendly as if he was asking a bartender for another beer, Kevin said, “You should take his job.” I felt a chill. The guillotine blade was ratcheting up, all right. I just never thought I’d be the one cranking it.

#56 A runaway train…

On Wednesday I returned to DIC. My first stop was Lori’s office. I handed her what I say are a dozen “amazing” Care Bears story springboards. Lori rolled her eyes, but it was a friendly eyeroll. She said she’d look at the springboards and pass them along to Jean. Then she asked what she already knew. “Where do you think you are on the delivery schedule for Care Bears?”

I told her, “When I came onboard, Sandy said we were a week behind. I’m guessing writers haven’t been streaming in with springboards and completed scripts since then.”

Lori turned grim. “Producing and delivering a television series is like a runaway train. Once it starts, I’ve got to keep up with it or it’ll jump the tracks. The worst thing I can ever do is miss an airdate with broadcasters. If I don’t deliver a script on time, they’ll pull the series and sub something else in its place.”

I’m not sure if that’s really true or it’s a boogeyman story to keep story editors on schedule. Either way, Lori was serious about this. Her voice even, she said, “You’re two weeks behind schedule. It’s like dominoes. If the storyboards are slow coming in, it slows getting scripts written. If scripts are late it holds up voiceover artists and recording sessions. If the recordings are late it holds up the animators. And if it holds up the animators it means I can miss an airdate.”

I sat in the chair opposite her and asked, “What should I do?”

She said, “Get up out of the chair and go talk to Kevin.”

#55 Tick-tock…tick-tock…tick-tock

I feel the table’s being set. And yeah, I know I have mood swings, one day thinking I’m incredibly valuable to Jean and Andy, the next thinking I’m just a small cog. But mood swings are a part of this writer’s life. I just deal with them, enjoying the ups, not getting too rattled by the downs and pushing on…always pushing on.

Monday morning Lori calls me into her office to tell me Jean’s happy I bought a computer. She says she’s happy, too; that it’s going to make a big difference for me. There’s something about Lori -- a genuineness that tells you she means it when she says she’s happy for you.

When she asks how I’m doing with my Kaypro, I confess there’s a learning curve. She nods, assures me I’ll get the hang of it. In a faux-offhand manner, she casually adds, “Writing your Care Bears springboards will give you good practice.” Lori waits for my reaction. I remind myself she knows everything going on at the studio. Just as faux-offhandedly, I say, “I’m sure it will…”

She breaks into a smile, making a mental note, I’m sure, that I’m quick on my feet and can handle scenarios that occasionally present surprises. That fact will play in later days when she gains enough confidence to take me to important meetings.

For now she says, “Jean wants you to work on the springboards from home for a couple of days.” I resist the temptation to ask what Sandy will think about that.

I tell Lori I’ll see her in a couple of days and head out, not mentioning I’ve already pounded out six Care Bears story springboards using ‘my little friend.’