Heart Attack, Hallmark and Hopefulness

               When you wake up from a coma after having your heart defibrillated almost twenty times inside of ninety minutes – and being awake for the first six blasts – you think long and hard about the changes your life needs to take going forward. Before the incident, my life was all about hustle, push, climb, claw, stress and winning. What could I do to make a change, make a difference in how I approach life, going forward?

               At the time, I was all about the 24/7 news cycle and keeping up with the latest point of political turmoil, or the latest popular crime series broadcast by one network or another. When my doctor came in – that first morning I was actually lucid enough to watch my news programs – he immediately took the remote control from my hand and turned off the television. “Stop,” he said. His edict was followed by his instruction that I find something to watch other than programs that stressed me out, exacerbated my blood pressure and agitated my heart.

Based on my then present knowledge of the other types of programming that might hold my attention I started off with cooking shows. Then it was DIY-type programs and finally re-runs of 70’s sit-coms.

I swear; if I’d been ‘plugged in’ I would have pulled the plug myself!

Then, that first Saturday morning after coming to, I came across a channel that showed back-to-back-to-back made for TV movies. They were funny. They were warm. They were light-hearted. They were entertaining. But most of all, each one ended on a positive note. Why had I never seen these movies before? It didn’t register at first but I finally picked up on the channel’s logo in the bottom, right-hand corner of the screen.

It was Hallmark Channel.

Now, for the purpose of context, you need to take the following into consideration. I’m one of those people that had has his hands in as many different opportunities and projects as possible. Part and parcel to the heart problems? Perhaps.

My longest lasting endeavor had been trying to get produced a movie script I’d written. The first iteration was written back in 1979. I novelized the story in 2010 which received great acclaim among my fellow NFL Alumni brethren. Over the years since, more than 250 active and retired NFL Players have endorsed to film project and I get at least a couple of calls each week checking up on the progress.

I make mention of this only because of what started happening about six months after I was discharged from the hospital. My nearly 40-year, non-stop effort to get my NFL project produced started getting side-tracked by a new endeavor.

I started writing a Hallmark-style movie.

As those who know the unique details of both me personally, as well as my NFL project, will attest, I don’t think outside the box. I think outside the building in which the box is being kept.

In the late-70’s TV Guide published an article which stated there are only 106 original storylines for any TV or movie plot; that the differences in every TV show or movie made are time-period, location, class or status, innovation, consequences. Etc. What made my project unique – given how any storyline I came with would be a rehash from one of these 106 options – were my lead characters.

Regardless of the season or setting, Hallmark movies are always love stories. The lead characters are always people who have been in and out of love, who’ve dodged the proverbial bullet of a bad relationship and/or found their way into the arms of their opposite character through any number of mechanisms open to us all. So what was going to make my Hallmark characters different; distinctive?

Well… my lead characters are two people no one wants or they can’t trust. Inimitable physical traits make each character undesirable in their own right. And yet, the issues that keep others at bay are the very qualities that bring them together. Pure Hallmark! Right?

So now I have to find a way to overcome the biggest obstacle of all.

Hallmark itself.

For reasons I completely understand, Hallmark wants to protect itself and its image. As such, they don’t consider any project that doesn’t come to them through an industry-accepted agent or manager. ANY project.

My biggest obstacle is that I live in Houston, Texas. It seems I’d have better luck picking the winning Powerball numbers three times in a row than getting an L.A. agent or manager to look at the project, let alone represent me.

At one point I even called and left a message for Michelle Vicary, Hallmark’s EVP of programming, just to ask if she could recommend one. I sent a Linkedin message to Bill Abbott, Hallmark’s CEO, asking for help. I can only hope that between the two they haven’t put me on Hallmark's version of a terrorist watch list.

I write this article to both expunge my frustrations (can't let them build up) and to ask for suggestions, guidance (an offer to represent me ) and/or direction from Linkedin connections within the industry.

And even as I’ve tried so hard to get this first project in front of the right people at Hallmark, I’ve recently finished a second Hallmark-style script; this one centered around a timeless, iconic 70’s love song.

Help!