John Henry asked Greg Levin:

Greg. I'm a Vegas-based author and the manager of the APO 123 Production Company. How did you manage the near impossible feat of convincing HBO to option "The Exit Man?"

Greg Levin Hi John,

My sincere apologies for never responding to your question about the HBO option deal for 'The Exit Man.' I never saw your message... until just NOW. Honestly. (I spend little time on Goodreads, as I find it a bit confusing. Great, now I sound like a grandpa.)

To answer your question (a mere seven months late), in October 2014, a TV producer emailed me out of the blue to ask about the TV/film rights to my book. (She had read a blurb about my book that a PR company had posted on Publishers' Weekly.) I said the rights were available, and she said she was very interested in seeing if she could get the book developed into a TV series. I didn't have an agent at the time, so I had an entertainment lawyer look over the "shopping agreement" the producer sent (giving her the right to shop my book to TV studios/networks), and then eventually signed the agreement. Just a few months later, she emailed me and said she had sold the option to HBO! After changing my underwear, I did a jig and sipped champagne. The producer also helped me land an agent at CAA -- a guy who is the head of TV for CAA, which is one of the two largest agencies in Hollywood. He handled the deal with HBO, and got me a very nice chunk of change for the option. Current status: A well-known screenwriter is working on the pilot script as we speak (it's taking a while), and hopefully HBO will green light the whole project, though there's certainly no guarantee the show will ever air. Fingers (and all other appendages) crossed.

Bottom line -- I lucked the f*ck out.

Again, sorry for the ridiculously delayed response. Best of luck to you and your writing!

Regards,

GL

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