July 9, 1987
Working at home is not working out. I need to find a way to start splitting my time between screenwriting and the game. It would be ideal if I could finish the game, achieve some kind of closure on that, before I move to L.A. and devote myself 100% to screenwriting.
July 29, 1987
A day of meetings set up by Virginia. One was with Hal Lieberman at Disney. Just being on the Disney lot was quite a thrill.
August 25, 1987
Gary Cosay called to tell me that Virginia is leaving the agency. I need to sit down and think about this.
Had lunch Tuesday with Ed Badasov. I told him I’ll be done with the screenplay rewrite in a month, then we can sit down and work out a new timetable for Prince of Persia.
Ed tried to talk me into staying with video games as a career. He said I have an extraordinary talent and ability, possessed by only a few people, to actually conceive, design and execute a game all by myself. I felt like he was talking about somebody else. All I could do was stare at him and nod politely.
I have no idea what will happen now with Prince of Persia. Maybe I can hire someone else to finish it? Or sell it to Broderbund as it stands, as a work-in-progress? I can’t think about it. I’ll think about it a month from now.
September 4, 1987
Gary Cosay encouraged me to write my secret society script on spec, if I have the inclination and the financial freedom to do so.
“You’re in a good position right now,” he said, “in that Larry Turman is waiting for a script from you that stands a very good chance of going. If this movie gets made, whatever you write next will automatically have a lot of interest, and potentially be worth a lot of money.”
He also said: “If you write a couple more scripts on spec, and if they’re good, you’ll be in a position to do more than just write. You’re carving out a road for yourself. You can drive your car down it any time you want.”
I want Birthstone to get made so bad… I can’t let myself think about it.
September 21, 1987
Lunch at the Skywalker Ranch with Mary Ann Braubach and Steve Arnold. GEORGE LUCAS HIMSELF came over and sat down and Steve introduced us. I just had to enter this momentous event in the record, for the sake of my 18-year-old self.
Steve Arnold, for some reason, is dying to hire me. For what, I have no idea. He asked me what I know about interactive video. I said: absolutely nothing. He said if I don’t want a job, he’d be willing to hire me as a consultant or as a freelancer – basically, on whatever basis I want.
Oh well, enough excitement. Back to work.
September 24, 1987
Virginia said Gary is “sweet” and “one of the best minds in the agency business in Hollywood,” but he can be easily talked in and out of things, and he doesn’t like to fight, so it’ll always be Jim who calls the shots. She thinks Jim will probably try to frustrate Larry off the project so he can replace him with one of his “boys’ club” buddies.
My new agent will be Toby Jaffe.
