They Shot my Movie!

I'm just back from probably the biggest day of my screenwriting career. I was on the set watching my movie being shot.

Yes, even though they bought my script and they've made changes along the way — it's a collaborative process — it still feels like my story.

I was apprehensive when I arrived. I wanted to be excited, but was worried that the final product would be so different from what I had originally imagined that it might be depressing instead of inspiring. I shouldn't have worried.

Imagination Come to Life

All I can say is OH MY GOD!! It's the coolest thing on earth to have the characters you created on paper walk up, shake your hand, and tell you they love the script. It's surreal to have the folks who have inhabited your imagination suddenly 3D and getting coffee with you at craft services.

It's not just the actors, there are the sets too. I had guessed they would fabricate pumpkins for a "giant pumpkin movie" but it was the little stuff that caught me off guard. The product labels on products I had come up with and the banners with the town's name.

The last piece that stopped me in my tracks was all the people working on this. There were trucks full of equipment, folks (aka crew) running around doing all kinds of things I only half understood. It was hard to grasp that all these people were getting paid to work on an idea I thought sounded kind of funny.

In fact, the Canadian producer came up and told me and another producer, "If you didn't write this and you didn't sell it, I wouldn't have a job. Thanks!" I didn't know what to say, but looking back I should have given him a big smooch and said, "Right back at you!!"

I could go on all day. But in short, it was an event that effected me more than I ever anticipated. I spent the whole day keeping myself from shouting "THIS IS SO AMAZINGLY COOL!!!"

Maybe this is old hat for other writers with lots of produced scripts, but I can't imagine that every happening in to me.