On the same night I checked out the Stanley Kubrick exhibit at LACMA, I also attended the Young Director’s Night at the museum, featuring seven short films shot recently by up and coming directors. Directors who didn’t wait around for agents to make their careers happen.
The short that stole the show – and won the audience’s vote for the Art of Film award – was Paulie, a comedy about a nine-year-old in the seventh grade who wins every spelling bee and science fair until he’s shocked to lose an essay contest to the bully who torments him. Ethan Dizon, pictured above, plays Paulie, and he was in attendance and up way past his bedtime, stealing all the attention at the post-show reception. And yes, in the movie he’s forced to eat dirt.
All of the films that night were great, with a nice range of tragedy and comedy and flat-out artsy, and I found myself majorly inspired. It’s been a few years since my film went through the award show circuit, and I think it’s time to write, produce and star in a new one. I’ve been itching to pull that trigger.
So here’s what I’m going to do: I’m still in the middle of a busy stretch of acting and writing assignments, but when a slower week pops up – possibly as soon as next week – I’m going to write seven short films in seven days, then pick my favorite script and shoot it. I may even blog each day about each idea.
There it is. Put out to the universe. Had to be done so I’ll be held accountable this time. (I’ve already broken my New Year’s resolution to tweet about Bieber more.)
Stayed tuned.
