Bad News Is Relative

The good news is that we're putting the finishing touches on the new film, Lauren Is Missing. It's in picture lock needing the final score and audio mix. As we finish that up we're submitting to festivals feeling pretty good about the version they're seeing.

The bad news is that we've already started getting rejections. You always know they're coming. Including my three shorts this is the fifth film I've submitted to many of these fests, the fifth time I've gotten rejected by them. I've gotten used to it all over the years, but I can't deny it's taking its toll. If you start out making movies thinking of yourself as a stoic rock that's going to weather the hard times, these rejections are like waves that gradually take down your edges. Okay, that may be a little melodramatic.

The point of this whole post is that right after getting another rejection, in the middle of feeling sorry for ourselves, I received a call from a number I didn't recognize. I let it go to voicemail.

When I checked the message a few minutes later, it was apparent the caller had the wrong number. I listened on and learned it was from a father to his son calling to let him know that his aunt was going in for a major surgical operation. In a strange coincidence it was an operation that a family member of mine, my aunt, once went through.

I debated whether I should just ignore it, but finally decided to call back the number and let the father know his message did not make it to his son. A woman answered and I awkwardly explained what had happened. I wished her and her family well and she was grateful that I had returned the call.

I still have questions and concerns. About what I'm doing with my life, if I have the talent to keep this up or if I'm not quite at the level I need to be to make it as a filmmaker and artist. But after that call, I realized how lucky I am that these are my problems. My family and my friends, they're all doing well and I'm happy to see them when I do and they're (mostly) happy to see me too. I have an amazing girlfriend who's a wonderful and talented writer. And really this, right now, is not so bad.