30 Days of Turning 30: Day 27

When everyone asks me why I don't get starstruck when working on a set, I think the best answer I can give is that most of the time I really just aspire to have the people I work with view me as a peer. And a peer doesn't ask for pictures or autographs. Plus to be honest, I really find myself more starstruck by directors and DPs than I do by actors and actresses. Having the privilege to go to work and see iconic directors go about their day focused on making a show, commercial or film be the best possible piece it can be is amazing to me. At the Tribeca Film Festival, I had the opportunity to attend a panel where Doug Liman was the guest of honor and he has now risen into my top five favorite directors, not just because of his movies but his fearless attitude when it comes to filming them. When I was running around getting things situated for my first short film, I was operating under the assumption that I was simply the writer and producer with a small (but pivotal) role. But suddenly we were there "on the day" and somehow I ended up directing it as well. It was exhilarating, terrifying and exhausting. And after our two days of shooting while the film was being edited and I would wake up in the middle of the night, panicked that I did a terrible job as a total novice director, I would think about the old adage, when you want something done right, do it yourself. When you're personally invested in the success of anything, no one can do a better job, I really firmly believe that. Do I think I have a future as a director? Not really. But the experience has taught me exactly how focused I want the director to be on the next project that I write and produce. And that he or she really needs to believe in the material and have a vision on how to make it great on film before we can decide to work together. On Day 27, I got to screen and hold in my hands the final edit of a short film that I conceived, wrote, raised money for, casted, rented equipment, hired a crew AND directed for the first time in my life. It was a crazy feeling to see all the work and preparation whittled down to less than twenty minutes on a DVD and I was so proud of my cast and crew for all their hard work and great performances. I want to thank everyone again who donated on Kickstarter and made it possible to create this project. And I want to know...who is ready to work on the next one???!!