“Do one thing every day that scares you,” said Eleanor Roosevelt. Perhaps she meant skydiving. Or fighting city hall. Though in Ellie’s case, it may have just meant attempting to sleep with a man for a change.Either way, it’s a great thought, and when I read it, my mind began racing. I had just attended a special screening of Garden State, followed by a Q&A session by the writer/director/star of the film, Zach Braff. A struggling actress asked Zach what one piece of advice he could give. “Write your own film,” he responded.
Zach’s theory made plenty of sense; why be just one of 100 actors who shows up for every audition, when you can write yourself a great, tailored role?
The problem was that I didn’t think I had any interesting stories to tell. But with Eleanor’s quote resonating, I set a daily goal, refusing to go to sleep each night until I came up with a movie premise.
Some came easy. I was following my friend Jamie in her car when she was cut off by an armored truck, and that sparked the idea that went on to become my produced featurette. Many nights, however, I was up until 2 and 3 a.m. wracking my noggin.
465 days, and 465 ideas later, I finally gave myself a well-deserved break.
One of the premises, by the way, involved Eleanor’s quote. I wrote a short-film about a guy that becomes addicted to scaring himself.
Gotta hand it that Roosevelt chick– she sure could motivate.
