The 12 Steps of Filmmaking

For many years, I dreamed of making a film. It was always my vision, ever since I saw "Bonnie & Clyde" on television. I found nothing more exciting than the idea of telling a story on the big screen. All through my teen years I floundered, though, the result of an affinity for partying hard. These years were marked by confusion and disillusion. At one point I moved to Massachusetts to try and make changes, sometimes called a 'geographic cure'. Not much changed, but it was there my dream was renewed when, in 1986, I went to the local theatre and saw "Platoon" by Oliver Stone. I will always be indebted to Mr. Stone for reminding me of my purpose through his work, although I'm sure that wasn't his intent. I went home that night and worked on my first treatment (overview of a script).

It was a long time before I finally followed through on the dream. I was working at the post office, making more money than I ever had. I was miserable. My young son lived 100 miles away, I was working 50-60 hrs a week, 6 days a week, every weekend and holiday. I had seen a blurb in Rolling Stone magazine regarding a contest for a video commercial sponsored by Tommy Hilfiger. I sat down on a break and wrote the commercial in 15 minutes, and visualized how I wanted it to play out. The time requirement was 30 to 50 seconds in length, which was very manageable. Looking back, this lesson is repeated in filmmaking. You shoot a few minutes of footage at a time, put them together, and eventually you'll have a full-length feature film.