aging out

Where to begin?



My recent surge of potential energy, so to speak, found me sitting out front of a Starbucks earlier this evening. I had been in touch with a recent college graduate who'd shown interest in putting together a short film this summer.

Having decided to check into it on a whim, I found myself unexpectedly intrigued by an overly thick (non-horror!) script written by a passionate, idealistic twenty-four year old. We met for the first time tonight to talk about the production I am helping to produce and the script I am helping to settle down into a workable blueprint.

It's been nearly twenty years since I began my film quest with those days of clipping movie-related articles, taping full-page New York Times film poster ads to the walls of my bedroom, typing up fake entertainment pages about sequels to my favorite flicks and reviews to others, drawing out storyboards to un-produced James Bond blockbusters during my science class, and overdosing on American Movie Classics. To say the least, the mythical road that got me here has taken some surprising turns.

Tonight was no exception. I held a quiet protest against the evil corporation by even forgoing a cup of triple-filtered water, while we sat there chatting, catching a decent rapport with one another. I felt free and easy with knowledge and advice, saying things I wished I realized or thought about at his age.

Simply put, I've become an older version of myself. I know chronologically this should be expected, but that's not all I mean. I see something in this twenty-four year old that feels strikingly like me at that age. I had a bulky 140 page screenplay and a great many ideals about the world and the industry. That was me. I saw my first short production crumble to shards of dashed hopes at twenty-one, but nothing jaded me as much as bringing my big ol' first script into the unrelenting battle of the film business.

That wasn't all, though.

As I was describing a qualm I had with the main character, I pointed out that his age of twenty-five didn't seem to realistically correspond to the life experience and disappointment described within the script. As challenging as it might be to cast locally for this, I expected a graying man, beat down by bad decisions and a broken heart, but didn't state this in so many words. The answer came quickly, easily, and with much conviction.

Thirty.

The character will now be thirty!