Part 36: Netflix Officially Passes on THE ONLY WAY OUT
- Amy Giaquinto
- Jun 8
- 7 min read
Updated: Jun 18
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May 2025
I received word the other day that Netflix passed on THE ONLY WAY OUT, which was a head scratcher for me, Marty, Steve, Stephanie, and Eric.
A couple years ago, they'd loved the script so much that they went out of their way to help us find another studio to help finance it, but now we were dealing with a completely different team of execs.
Marty said, the new Netflix executives LOVED the script, but had to pass because unfortunately they had, "a similar project in development."
Dammit! Dammit! Dammit! If only I had a penny for every time a studio has used that line as a polite pass on THE ONLY WAY OUT...
Frustrated, I stomped around for a few hours thinking about how to move forward now that Netflix was officially out. I reached out to my team.
"What about Amazon?" My manager, Stephanie Rogers, suggested.
"What about Universal Pictures?" I suggested.
"What about trying to contact actresses' managers to get the script to them without having to go through their agents and offer pay to play money?" I offered.
"What about contacting Kerri Washington's production company, Simpson Street Productions to see if they'd be interested in joining THE ONLY WAY OUT." I blathered.
After some back and forth, I asked if anyone had any other suggestions on how to breathe life into THE ONLY WAY OUT, how to get talent and financing attached and the response was no.
No, that's not in my vocabulary when I have a goal! I kept thinking there has to be something more we can do to move forward and generate investor interest, even though Hollywood is a trainwreck.
But hey, all trainwrecks eventually get cleaned up, don't they?
And so, as soon as Netflix passed, I called a local producer friend of mine, Meryem, for some advice. It has, after all, been 5 years of ups and downs with no forward progress and that doesn't sit well with me. I was wondering if it was time for a change.
I was wondering if it was time to reconsider the original vision of a $35-$45 million film and just make the thing on a $2 million budget instead. I was also wondering if it was just plain time to walk away and move on to something else altogether?
On the inside, I felt like an insecure emotional trainwreck. I asked Meryem if she had any ideas for financing or finding A-list talent to read the script, but she only mentioned doing the things we were already doing. However, and here's where she sensed exactly what I needed and gave me "the talk."
She reassured me that a lot of movies take forever to get made. 5 years isn't all that long in film business time. I know that, inherently, but that doesn't make it any easier, especially with the changes we're seeing in the film industry and with the current political landscape (potential tariffs on films, soaring prices, Hollywood still recovering from the fires, etc).
In a nutshell, our conversation boiled down to her telling me to dig deep and make a choice and stick with it. If I want to move forward with the $35 million budget version of my film, then do it. If I want to cut and run and shoot the $2 million version, do it. But don't waffle and don't half-ass either.
It has always been my dream to shoot a movie like THE ONLY WAY OUT and see it on the big screen with A-list talent attached. And with Marty, Steve, Stephanie and Eric on the team...
I was primed for my dream to come true, at some point and logically speaking, I'd have to be insane to throw away an opportunity like this. I knew in my heart I had my answer, but that didn't make the day-to-day any easier.
I just kept thinking there had to be a way forward, there just had to be, but what was it? My brain was mush. Absolute MUSH!
It was the end of the school year, the second busiest time of year apart from the holiday season and I was completely burned out.
I had zero desire to write and when I tried to write, I failed epically. I could not focus! See, I'm still recovering from major cervical spine surgery and as soon as my neck brace came off and I could drive, I jumped back into the craziness that's my life with both feet, despite the fact I have at least 6-12 months of healing and PT to go before I'm officially healed.
I was fried, between PT appointments, ENT visits, running my own business, endless meetings, the kids' ever-changing year-end schedules, appointments, activities 7 days a week, and all the work that goes into getting two 2E kiddos through school while keeping up with household chores, cooking, cleaning, laundry, shopping, etc. Worse, my husband was also fried.
Every day was Groundhog Day, but with different obligations I couldn't pass off to anyone else. Life was flying by, and I was a passenger hanging on by a thread for dear life. Thanks to my emergency surgery, I hadn't been more than 60 miles from home since last summer.
I was BURNED OUT to the max and found myself double and triple booking appointments and then completely forgetting others. Most of the time, I couldn't even tell you the date, let alone what day of the week it was.
I was a MESS, and it was clear that my current pace was unsustainable. I needed to get out of town. Thanks to Colorado Matters on NPR, we heard about the UFO Watchtower in Hooper, CO celebrating its 25th Anniversary on Memorial Day weekend. My daughter begged us to go.
A few years ago, we were the solo campers at the UFO Watchtower where we met the owner, Judy Messoline, and her partner, Stan (who drove the kids around the property on his tractor, letting them help wrangle tumbleweeds).
Judy and Stan are the most wonderful people you'll ever meet. They're former city folk turned cattle farmers, home builders and UFO Watchtower creators. How they got here is a great story of determination, resiliency, and what happens when your dream implodes, and you need to find a plan B. You should definitely check it out in Judy's book, The Crazy Lady Down the Road.
I digress. The UFO Watchtower is a special place for us. The San Luis Valley is an incredibly spiritual place. It's incredibly quiet and peaceful and is surrounded by the spectacular Sangre de Cristo mountains. Best of all, it's DARK at night, so dark you can see the Milky Way! There's almost nothing more magical, fun, and relaxing than hanging out on top of the watchtower at night while searching for UFOs with our kids.
What makes the area extra special for us is that it's also near The Great Sand Dunes National Park and Reserve, Colorado Gators, and Sand Dunes Recreation and Joyful Journeys hot springs resorts and the Best Western Movie Manor, a motel in which you can watch a drive-in movie from your hotel room, a thing that's been on my bucket-list for years.
And so, I booked a room. The minute school got out, we ditched all technology and hit the road. The trip was exactly what we all needed. We didn't do a whole lot, per say, but that was the point. We relaxed a lot.
We played in Medano Creek at the Sand Dunes, climbed the dunes, buried each other, rolled down the hills, built sand castles, and just plain enjoyed every moment.
The next day, we went to the UFO Watchtower and celebrated the UFO Watchtower's 25th anniversary with Judy, Stan, their family, friends, and a bunch of total strangers.
It was a really nice party with free food, drinks, people watching, lots of stories of UFO sightings and alien encounters. We also had the opportunity to read about UFO sightings and animal mutilations in the area in the Watchtower's small museum. And finally, we left small objects in the Vortex Garden and made wishes. Can you guess what my wish was?
On Sale Now!
Since it was a holiday weekend and the hot springs was crowded, we went to Colorado Gators and hung out with giant tortoises, alligators, turtles, snakes, other reptiles, birds, and fish.
I even got to watch a turtle dig a hole to lay her eggs and, since we chatted with the owner and his family and hung out for so long, we were given the opportunity to put the giant tortoises to bed.
What an experience! There's nothing like hanging out with animals to help you recenter, especially animals that have a direct genetic connection to some of the oldest and largest land animals that have ever existed, the dinosaurs.
At night, we watched LILO & STITCH on the drive-in screen from the comfort of our hotel room. It was great! Although brief, the trip was exactly what I needed, what all of us needed and I finally I felt like myself again. So, with a clear head, I called Marty to make a plan.
For even more fun, check out my MAMA FIX IT™ videos!
As always, thanks so much for your support!!!
I used to produce wildlife programs. I had a show about cheetahs that I pitched to Animal Planet. They passed saying they had too many cheetah programs already. A year later, a different executive told us they were desperate for cheetah films! Take what you will from that, but we did get the show made despite what we were told a year earlier. I wish you luck!