“So tired, tired of waiting, tired of waiting for youuuuu…”
I know the Kinks wrote that song from the point of view of a frustrated guy whining to a disinterested girl, but right about now I’m wondering if they might also have had a movie contract in the works as they were penning the lyrics.
It was almost a month ago that I wrote the previous blog, upon finally receiving a draft of the Elfquest licensing agreement from Warner Bros. Took me just a couple of days to read it top to toe, hack my way through the denser legal foliage, and get it back to the lawyer and agent critters. They, I understand, turned it around to WB right away.
This question will be more meaningful if you’re familiar with certain classic Daffy Duck cartoons: Can you hear the sound of crickets?
Not a peep from Tinseltown for nearly a month. This, I am told, is probably normal. Elfquest certainly isn’t the only menu item at Cafe Warners. The high-ups there have lots on their minds, and plates. But it’s been nearly a month.
And it’s been a month in which we’ve seen the whole bleeding financial world drop, staggered and loopy, to its knees. Now, this is neither the time nor the place to get me started on what I think about those who, for the past several years, have been entrusted with the care and feeding of my hard-earned dollars. And have royally blown it. No, that might go in another blog, in another place. No, this is Elfquest territory, and I choose to believe that despite all that’s happening elsewhere, perhaps because of what’s happening elsewhere, the EQ movie is still on a good track. I only wish it was a faster track.
A couple days ago I got the latest “tweak” draft of the agreement. They (the various agents and lawyers) are really arguing over angels dancing on the head of a pin now. I understand why they are doing what they are doing; understanding is both a blessing and a curse. They are teasing out and clarifying fine details, points that could conceivably be large and important down the line. This is good. But each go-round takes for-seeming-ever. Because the WB team has its issues as well, things that I wouldn’t give a second thought to, but which they have a concern might turn around and bite them.
Here’s an example: If you go right now to the Elfquest website you’ll see a link to a video that’s on YouTube. I placed that there some months back, thinking it would be a cool thing to have a little homemade movie right on the EQ home page. People seem to like it. However, once the WB license kicks in I will have to take that embedded link down. Why? Because Warner Bros. wants to be in control of all moving (including animated) images of EQ, since they’re presumably in the business of making an Elfquest movie. If andreav70.sg-host.com makes little movies, I guess that can be perceived as some strange kind of competition or undermining. So I sort of understand their position. (The weird thing is that they don’t care if the videos stay on YouTube. They just don’t want them playing on the EQ site. Go figure.)
In the meantime, I suppose the “death of a thousand delays” is tolerable, if for no other reason that it allows me to keep the YouTube link active and to continue to offer Elfquest goodies via the CafePress link on the EQ site’s home page. Because that’s going to have to disappear as well, once the contract gets inked. Warner Bros. also has the merchandise license, remember, and they won’t want us competing with them – even if we are the creators of the property! You gotta love the craziness, or it’ll drive you right around the bend.
So that’s where things are this Friday evening. Who knows? Maybe Monday’s email or Fedex will bring a pleasant surprise. Everyone keeps saying, “Any day now.” Stay tuned.
