I'm helping a client on the East Coast find a great production company for his promo reel. Not a huge challenge, except that I live in Los Angeles and the client wants a firm in his city.

New hats

Normally I just write scripts. This time I get to wrap my head around a whole new role, wearing the project manager and producer hat. So I'm calling friends in San Francisco and Atlanta for referrals, following up on leads, checking out reels, and learning how it's done while I'm doing it.

Short list

I'm tossing my script out selectively, listening to what companies say and how they say it, editing the real from the fantasy, and looking at what they've done and how they did it.

The one?

This guy gets it. How to do it, what works, what doesn't. This is fun. And he's cool. No pressure. No brag. No rush. Great attitude. Pure service. The dollar question hasn't even come up.

Appreciation

Project managers and producers deserve a lot credit. They find people, match personalities, heed schedules, make things happen, and turn the impossible into happy clients.

I think I'll keep this hat.