Why Filmmaking?

I was having a conversation the other day with someone and they were asking me where my interest in filmmaking came from.

So, I thought and thought…

Most kids learn to read reading the likes of Dr. Seuss or The Berenstain Bears. Not for lack of trying on my mother’s part, but the stories seemed “childish” to me. I was more taken with the dynamic visuals and “adult” concepts of comic books. I remember comics from the time I was 2 or 3-years-old. I remember reading my first comic months before I read my 1st Berenstain Bears. Comics offered real world visuals, many comics at the time were based in NYC and The X-Men were based just 2 counties away from where I lived, as opposed to the fantastical Seussville.

Comics helped me develop my interest in mythology and science and adventure and reading. I also had to learn how to deal with the impatience of waiting for the next issue to hit the stands. I learned to “write” the stories in my imagination. For the next decade or so, comics were a large part of my life.

Somewhere along the line I started plotting out and writing long hand comic stories of my own. One of my favorite comics had an editor that came from the humble beginnings of a fan and frequent letter writer. He openly took story submissions. So, I submitted… lots of story ideas- and if I recall correctly, all received individual responses. I was 16-17 at the time.

I had decided what I “wanted to do when I grew up”. A comic book writer. So, where does the filmmaking come in, you ask?

I started looking for all the information that I could find on comic book writing. Which was virtually non-existent, at the time. I did however find information on writing scripts. At first, I started applying the screenwriting techniques to my comics writing. Then, I wrote my 1st television script. It was for a Stephen J. Cannell show that was my favorite show at the time. The problem was that I still did not have a computer at the time, but I did find a service that would type up scripts for me. That is a WHOLE other story…

Ultimately, I decided that the best thing to do was go to college. Previously, I pretty much hated school since about pre-school. I was always a good A/B student- I just was never interested. I was more interested in making notes for my own stories. I went to a community college where I was on the Dean’s List - and had the dream of going to NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts.

In my 2nd semester, I met Larry who was just a little younger as I had not gone directly from high school to college. Once we eventually started to get to know each other, we realized that we had quite a bit in common. We became a great team in our video production classes. We both had entertainment dreams. I wanted to write, shoot and photograph. He wanted to act, write and just plain all around entertain.

We branched out the Communication Arts Society to include a TV side and produced a benefit concert for the St. Jude’s Foundation. We both wanted something more. I think that that was on the top things that we had in common- neither of us could see ourselves staying in our hometowns and working retail for the rest of our lives.

Unfortunately, I didn’t have the money to pay for NYU (and I did not see student loans as a real option at that time). I allowed myself to get talked into majoring in Political Science at a state school. A professor of mine told me that I was quite a good writer but needed to broaden my knowledge. So, I went to a college that had older equipment, larger classes and less inspiring professors. All of which, along with getting a new job and catching mono, led me to focus on working and “life” and lose track of my dreams- no matter how far back they were formed.

It took sometime and a move from NY to FL to get me back on track. But, I eventually started writing again. THAT is more than one story for the future…

After more than a dozen scripts (and a few hundred ideas) we (RnD) decided to shoot our own short film based on one of our feature film scripts. The trek to filming is MANY more stories to be told at a later date…

That 1st day of shooting--- after 16-hours on my feet, no sleep for the 2 days before and being mentally exhausted--- was probably the best day of my life… that did not include my wife or children.

My passion is creating “entertainment”, whether it’s filmmaking or comic books. So, I may be struggling right now but my passion is unstoppable. I have no other options but complete and utter success.

So, to paraphrase that old saying, "help me, follow me or get the frak out of my way."

Don.