Wed, January 11^th I got to experience a fantastic evening with a team of amazing people I am so happy to call my friends.  A year ago, I had asked a couple of friends to help me build my reel.   We sat down, started to brainstorm, and came up with a storyline that is very close to my heart- about grief, denial, process, love and life.

Richie, my amazingly talented childhood friend, wrote it for me.  Shane, a wonderfully talented actor and classmate agreed to be my co-star.  And Robert, another generous friend from acting class took charge of directing and camera work.  After filming and discovering the excitement the day had brought, we decided to take it a bit further.  Robert, Shane and I took on the role of producers, and decided to nurture our little project into a short film.   Jim, our fantastic editor, worked his magic and brought it to a level beyond our imagination.  Kevin donated time and support to help us move forward connecting us with our amazing editor, and helping us with location, and feedback on clips.  I can’t forget Chris’ fantastic son who played my child in the movie and donated his day for our art, and Chris who helped us tremendously by working with Shane to put together the day of our screening and marketing supplies.  I even got to use a bit of my art background to design the DVD cover and post cards, which was a fantastic experience.  Taylor was a huge help on the day of filming, keeping us organized and assisting our director.

Amazingly, our little project blossomed into a piece of art I am very proud of.  January 11^{th 2012} marked the day of our screening, thanks to Shane and Chris’ support and pursuit, where I got to see our project on the big screen for the first time among a roomful of amazingly supportive, talented and established industry professionals. They gave us their time, support and wonderfully productive feedback, which I feel extremely grateful for.  What a way to start the New Year!  I had no expectations, but the experience of seeing my concept grow to this point, felt extremely rewarding- while  embracing a night of celebration for all of our hard work.  It is amazing to me, just how far you can build a goal, when such a powerful and supportive collaborative team stands behind you.