I’ve wanted to have a career in film for a long, long, long time. Really, it’s the reason I’m a writer. I’ve had brushes here and there… writing gigs that never panned out, production assistant positions, etc… But then life got in the way and I walked along a different path filled with new adventures. There were even times I told myself the dream of film was behind me, writing it off as fruitless and not worth the sacrifice. That was before I knew what sacrifice really meant.
I should be thankful in a sense that I lost my job over a year ago. I wasn’t happy working for such a bloodsucking company, that’s for sure and especially considering the prejudiced and cruel manner in which I was dispatched, it’s hard to have anything but vile contempt for the organization I gave two years of my life in the span of only one year. That’s right, I’m talking to you Blockbuster. Have fun with liquidating.
But I’m not bitter. (Yes I am) The inevitable depression that followed being ejected onto my ass when I was still struggling to walk from because of a highly invasive medical proceedure pushed me back towards the creative. I picked up stories I couldn’t complete and completed then with passion. I started writing screenplays, looking towards production and even wrote my first novel which is now in the hot hands of “eager” agents and soon to be even “eagerer” publishers. It’s been a rought road wrought with near suicide attempts endless days spent in bed, but the year is finally paying off in a way that has my work beginning to see the light of day. Maybe the past fifteen years bumbling through screenplays was not a waste.
And so as a continuation of good events, I stumbled upon a scholarship competition to the Columbia Academy and was immediately drawn to their Film & Television program. Not only could I put myself in the environment I really wanted to be participating and learning in, but I would be back in Vancouver, the place I’ve always considered my home. I had looked at attending Vancouver Film School previously, but the $50,000 tuition made it an impossibility for me. So I quickly entered the competition and as the deadline was already almost up, I quickly put together something I felt was creative and heartfelt, the result of which you can see below.
The result? I won. The scholarship doesn’t cover the entire tuition, but it does put it within reach of student loans. It’s hard to imagine how gratifying it is to be recognized like that. I don’t know if they were moved by my situation and felt I was more deserving than the average entry or if they saw any sort of raw talent in my quickly produced video (I see so many things I’d like to fix, but it’s pretty good considering the time constraints), but they ultimately they decided they wanted to give me the opportunity.
It’s hard not to lay in the summer grass and entertain lottery ticket fantasies that my novel will rapidly find it’s way to publication and success, giving me a supportive writing career while I work on my film career. That would definitely be counting my chickens, but it’s impossible to escape the feeling that after the last fifteen years of dreaming, scheming and training for this moment, that perhaps my creativity is finally coming to fruition.
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