Pitch perfect endeavors: writer Arnie Grossman hopes to give Denver a bigger role in feature film production.

• Author: Schley, Stewart
• Position: ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

ARNIE GROSSMAN WAITED DECADES for his breakthrough Hollywood moment. It took him all of 35 seconds to get it.

That's how much time Grossman gave himself last November for a carefully rehearsed pitch, describing a movie concept to the agent representing actor Bruce Dern, whose career resurgence was sparked by his Oscar-nominated role as the cantankerous Woody Grant in the 2013 film "Nebraska."

For the 77-year old Grossman, a novelist and political advertising specialist, it was one more in a lifetime of pitches, another cold-call message left on somebody's voice mail.

Ten minutes later the phone rang.

Dern's agent was on the line. He liked the idea--a story about a crusty old man, an odd, homemade boat and a 10-year-old boy. He liked it enough to ask for an emailed copy of the screenplay that night. He liked the screenplay enough to pass it along to Dern's business partner. And Dern liked it enough to greenlight it for production during a narrow window of availability this spring. The cherry on top? Grossman gets to direct his own movie. He's been flying to Los Angeles every week or so since to cast actors, scout locations and enlist a crew to start building the peculiar vessel that gives the movie its name: "The Boat Builder."

Sipping coffee on a sunny Saturday afternoon at Stella's Coffee Haus in south Denver, Grossman recounted the story:

"A thousand doors slammed," he said. "And then one...