Three years ago this very day, I had a sudden inspiration for a story that no one had ever done before… a feature film that I could write and direct myself, and possibly even raise the money to shoot. Given that I’d never done any of those things on that scale before (especially the money raising part), it was pretty crazy to think I would be able. It required a pretty big leap of faith, especially on the part of my very supportive wife, who thought I was nuts but went along with it anyway.
One year ago today we started shooting that movie. A small legion of people descended upon executive producer Joe Woskow’s house and we shot 14 pages (plus two hours of unscripted improv), and still managed to wrap an hour early. That’s how badass our cast and crew were.
Today, I’m in the process of finally finishing the film. I have a checklist of everything that needs to happen by the end of this week in order for us to submit the film to the Toronto International Film Festival on Friday. The movie won’t be done done at that point. There’s still a bunch of work left to do between now and when we premiere (hopefully in September), but this will be the first time I allow someone outside a close circle of friends to see the movie. The first time that it will be judged.
It’s very easy (and common) at this stage to only see the things that are wrong with it, and be blind to all of the stuff we got right. The movie is not flawless, and in a lot of ways it falls short of my rather absurd expectations from a year ago. But in watching through the whole film last night, I was once again struck by all the things that we got right. Is this the best film that I will ever make? Hopefully not. I plan on bigger and better things in the future. But it is the best film I can make right now, with the resources I was given, and I’m very proud of it. Soon it will be time for the world to judge it as well.
It’s been a long, difficult, exhausting three years, and it probably took ten years off my life, but in the end, it was worth every minute. Can’t wait to share it with you.
