So What Do I Hope to Accomplish?

So What Do I Hope to Accomplish?

I get asked this question a lot. It's phrased differently every time but it essentially comes down to "why bother?"

Short Answer

I love movies

Long Answer

I really love movies.

Actual Answer

The first movie I clearly remember going to was The Little Mermaid shortly after I turned seven way back in 1989. I stayed home from school that day for some reason and my mom and I went to see it. It was then that my love of movies really started. It's just seeing something on the screen, getting involved with the story, investing emotion in the character, wanting/waiting/dreading the outcome, for the better or the worse.

Even though this is cliched answer, said by people over and over since the Greeks were putting on matinee showings Antigone, it's still true. People go to the movies and they want to care about what happens to the characters on the screen and they want to have a good time. They want their emotions played with without actually having to do anything besides sit in a chair.

I've seen thousands of movies, some excellent, some stinkers, but I can honestly say that I've always had a good time. As my movie knowledge base expanded and with the advent of DVDs I began watching the behind the scenes features. The how of the movie. It was there that I fell in love with what I saw. The people involved, the work, the thought, an randomness, the structure, the creativity and the sweat that, when combined and shaken well, put out movies that can boggle the mind and heighten the senses.

Haven't you ever come out of a movie saying "Maybe I should learn to do that" or "I can't believe that happened!" You're a changed person after every movie you see. Everything you take in changes you, sometimes imperceptibly, but it does, and that is what I want to do.

I know I've tiptoed (charged) back into cliche answer territory, but hey, it's the truth.

So What's the Plan?

The plan is that I want to get my name out there, get a screenplay optioned and eventually direct a movie. This, of course, isn't an easy task at all, but it's what I want to do. I hope that this blog will help me in that direction, but I also hope that it's a way for me to look back and take stock of what I've done, and what I should do to move me forward.