Part 41 The Only Way Out Screenplay Wins Best Feature Screenplay & the Upcoming Investor Meeting
- Amy Giaquinto
- 6 days ago
- 4 min read
December, 2025
Last week, I received great news. THE ONLY WAY OUT screenplay won BEST SCREENPLAY at the Women's Film Festival in Nashville, TN. Talk about exciting! That's one more win for this incredible script! YAY!
So where are we at turning this puppy into a film? That's a great question. There are a lot of days during which I wonder if there even is such thing as a Hollywood journey anymore. It's been weeks since I've heard from my film's producers, Marty Katz and Steve Schklair.
In terms of Steve's radio silence, I understand his situation. He's busy trying to get back into his house after the Pacific Palisades fire destroyed his entire neighborhood and rendered his house unlivable. For Steve's part, he has kept me posted about his involvement in THE ONLY WAY OUT, but with all that's going on in his life, he simply hasn't been able to accomplish anything in terms of finding financing, distribution, or packaging. Argh!
Where's Marty?
As for Marty, Stephanie and I were growing more and more concerned that something terrible had happened to him since the last time we spoke. He wasn't returning Stephanie and I's emails or phone calls, which was highly unusual.
About a week ago, Stephanie called Marty and, thankfully, Marty answered. Thankfully, he's healthy. He apologized for being out of touch and explained that he'd had "some things to take care of" that resulted in him becoming incommunicado.
Stephanie didn't press him for more info. Instead, she asked him if he was ever able to reach Jane Rosenthal or Kathryn Bigelow to ask them if either of them would be interested in joining the team as producer and/or director. He said he'd left a message with Jane Rosenthal's office but hadn't heard back. I'm not sure Stephanie ever got an answer about whether he was able to reach Kathryn Bigelow or anyone at Sandra Bullock's company, Fortis Films.
Marty did tell Stephanie that he has been making calls, but his calls are getting nowhere due to A-list talent agents stonewalling him because we don't have any financing or distribution in place. 10 years ago, this wouldn't have been an issue for a producer of Marty's stature. 10 years ago, Marty's name would have opened all necessary doors. Today, it doesn't.
Frustrating as his news was, he did have some encouraging news. He will be meeting with investors who specialize in financing feature film projects. I'm not holding my breath. He said he's going to pitch THE ONLY WAY OUT and another script he's developing. I hope it goes well, but I wonder if pitching to financers is like pitching to agents and managers in that you pick your best project and pitch that one project and that's it, unless you're asked, "what else do you have?" I hope not.
If this is the case THE ONLY WAY OUT might not stand a chance. I don't know. It'll all depend on what the investors are looking for. They'll probably want A-list talent officially attached before putting money on the table which will send us back to chasing our tails, yet again.
Can you tell I'm not exactly holding my breath? Just like I wasn't holding my breath for Gigi Pritzker to actually read the thank you email I spent 3 days composing. (For that story, check out my previous post.)
Sylvester Stallone, THE ONLY WAY OUT Screenplay and the CLIFFHANGER Reboot Saga
I prepped a submission package for Marty's investor meeting and mentioned that the movie poster was now out for Stallone's CLIFFHANGER reboot (which Stallone is no longer a part of). I asked Marty if this meant good news for THE ONLY WAY OUT and he said he didn't know, but thought that nobody would be interested in THE ONLY WAY OUT until the box office numbers were out for the CLIFFHANGER reboot next August or September.
I screamed so loudly in frustration that I think my in-laws heard me 1,800 miles away. With a clearer head, I then asked what the plan was. I was wondering if this was Marty's way of telling me he was shelving my script until next year? I wondered if this man, the literal Energizer Bunny of the film industry, was finally giving up.
He wasn't. He emailed me back and emphasized that no, he hadn't given up, and he was going to continue to try and package, find financing, and distribution for THE ONLY WAY OUT in the hopes that if CLIFFHANGER's a success, we can hit the ground running.
I suggested not marketing my film like CLIFFHANGER at all. It's more A QUIET PLACE meets 127 HOURS. He agreed but said that even though my film is nothing like CLIFFHANGER, investors, A-listers, distributors, etc. might look at the logline and decide that it was "similar enough" to drive them away until the numbers for CLIFFHANGER were out. There's not much we can do about how the logline is perceived. That said, if CLIFFHANGER is not an absolute success, THE ONLY WAY OUT is screwed... SHIT!
As an aside, can I just say that CLIFFHANGER has been chasing my tails since I first wrote this script? Seriously, I wrote my script and two years later, the CLIFFHANGER reboot was officially announced. Because Stallone is Stallone and I'm... ME, a virtual nobody in the business, Stallone was able to get his film cast, packaged, and (I believe distributed) while mine is drifting around Hollywood caught in the inevitable Hollywood Catch-22. ARGH!
Dammit Stallone! You beat me to the punch.
This time...
But I'm not done punching, yet.
"Nana korobi ya oki."
"7 falls, 8 rises."
Speaking of "7 falls, 8 rises," be sure to check out and subscribe to my YouTube Channel where I'm detailing my motivational recovery story from ACDF Surgery. Surgery, undifferentiated connective tissue disease, hypermobility, fibromyalgia and documentation of my motivational journey as I begin training, once again, to test for my black belt in karate. You won't want to miss it!
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