“Starlight
I will be chasing it
Starlight
Until the end of my life
I don’t know if it’s worth it anymore”
-- "Starlight" by Muse
Every time I hear that song on the radio, I think of lovers and screenwriters. I think of people chasing their dreams despite the odds. I think of Steve Janas.
Screenwriters may be the biggest dreamers in Hollywood. Their job is to sit in front of a computer screen and create. It’s just them and their imagination. It can lead to a form of tunnel vision.
The town is full of writers who cling to that one perfect script, positive that it’s their ticket to immortality. In some cases, these writers are just deluded. But others really do have stories worth telling. Some are even very special -- which brings me to Steve Janas.
A few years ago, I got the notion I could be a manager. I worked well with writers and gave killer notes. I figured it was just a matter of signing a few screenwriters and banging on doors.
Note to future managers: Unless you already personally know 20 people in agencies, production companies or studios, you won’t get very far.
Anyway, I got the list of Nicholl fellowship semifinalists and sent off some emails to various writers.
One of the scripts that caught my eye was "Tolltaker" by Steve Janas. It was a heartfelt coming-of-age story about a boy in the 1970s whose father is MIA in Vietnam. I loved it.
I contacted Steve and got to know him a little better and got some of the story behind the story.
Steve was part owner of Reel Stuff Entertainment in Philadelphia. He and his partner made short documentaries for cable TV outlets such as HGTV and the Travel Channel.
The screenplay was based on a novel I had never heard of, written by a man named James Sneddon. Sneddon, it turned out, had tragically lost his longtime battle with drug addiction. He died just before the Nicholl semifinalists were announced.
I was stunned by the news and felt an added weight of responsibility. I could only imagine what Steve felt. He had known Sneddon through his half-brother. That’s when "Tolltaker" became more than just a good script. As Steve put it, the story was James Sneddon’s one shot at a legacy.
I gave it my best effort, but as I later learned, trying to get one particular script sold in Hollywood is like trying to hit the lottery. Soon after that, the company I was working for then closed and I was preoccupied. I had to give up my managing sideline and lost touch with Steve for a few years.
Flash forward to today. I started doing research for a freelance article on indie filmmaking. One of the people I reached out to was Steve. I thought he’d be furious with me for dropping him, but instead he was as friendly and as enthusiastic as ever.
It turned out he had not given up on "Tolltaker."
