Day 16

Wholesome Goodness

www.51in51days.blogspot.com is a blog about the journey of getting my life back 

on track in the 51 days leading up to my 51st birthday on January 13, 2013.

DAY 16

I bought a box of Triscuit last night. I think it's the first time I have done that in 20 years. I don't buy snack crackers, but last night, I had this yearning for cheese and crackers. Swiss cheese to be exact. I had the Swiss cheese and crackers as an appetizer before dinner, prior to my omelet being prepared this morning, and now again for lunch. The box is almost gone. I was eating my Triscuit while I was working on a new short film I wrote. It's an animated 5 minute social commentary comedy. And how it came about is an interesting story.

Just how I remember it

It was the night before Thanksgiving, when I went to have dinner with a few friends. During our stirring conversation, I recalled this idea I've had for over a year. A concept for  a short film. A very short film, what I would call a micro film. It needed to be animated. No dialogue, no voice over,  just animation and some music. Simple enough, but I had not bothered to flesh out the script. However, the next day I get an email from a guy who is an animator. He knows I'm a writer, so he sends me this email asking if I want to collaborate on a film. I will write, he will animate. So, I say, "As a matter of fact I have this very short film, I do need an animator." So we set a date to meet, and in the mean time I flesh out the script and actually finish it. The day comes to meet him, and he stands me up. I emailed him and called him, and nothing. I don't hear from him for a few days. He finally emails me, apologizes and says, he still wants to collaborate. So I write him back, "No worries.  How does next weekend sound?" I don't hear from him for days. A week. Two weeks go by and I feel like the project is dead. Until...

I am on Facebook and I see my friend Daniel online. He coincidentally is also an animator. He created the animation for my first film, Eating Matzoh. I write him a chat message, "How busy are you these days?" The next day we meet for lunch at the Calabasas' Sharkey's.

Over a burrito and a quesadilla, I pitch my short film idea. Fortunately for me, Daniel liked it and said, "I'm in." The two words you always want to hear when you are pitching a project.

The other piece I needed for this film to work was the music. I listened to everything I thought was public domain in my iTunes. I came across this piece of music just titled arrange. I loved it, but it did not sound familiar to me. It did not have a composer's name on it either, so I had no idea where it came from. I emailed Zach the composer for Eating Matzoh, and I write, "By any chance did you compose this?" Within a few minutes I get an email back from him. "Yes, I did."  The music was apparently rejected for Eating Matzoh, but it's perfect for this film. So I now have a completed script, a wonderful animator, and a very talented composer who is graciously letting me use this piece for my new film, all because the original animator who approached me to collaborate flaked. I still have not heard back from him. So the moral of the story is, the flake oddly goosed me into making this film. Without him nudging me, it never would have gotten started. Odd how things happen. At the time he stood me up I was obviously not happy. But in the long run, he did me a huge favor. He got me off my ass. So the next time someone flakes, consider it a blessing. They have just told you a world about them in a short amount of time. A better person wont' stand you up, and in some weird way it just might be the impetuous for something great.

Elissa is a freelance writer & graphic designer somewhere in Los Angeles.

Until tomorrow and Day 17 of my blog....