Playing Catch Up

Wow. I'm bad at blogging. So much has happened, and yet, I have shared nothing. I knew this was happening, of course, all along filled with the dread that too much time had passed for my news to be news; a sticky, guilty dread that accumulated and multiplied with every day, week, month, season. But now I stand up and say, "No! I will write of things that transpired in May, and that's that."

May was one of the best months ever. I was lucky enough to go to film school at the AFI Directing Workshop for Women. There were just 8 of us, and we would gather every morning to learn how to make movies, until evening came and we were full of coffee and inspiration. (We drank a lot of coffee. I developed rosacea and a permanent crazy look in my eye). The whole thing was like summer camp for smart, creative ladies: ghost stories about hook hands replaced by horror stories about pitch meetings with Hollywood types; the magic of a first kiss now eclipsed by the excitement of our first casting.

All of our teachers were amazing, but I want to bring special attention to a few of them. Joan Darling (dead center in the photo below) is a pioneer for women directors and one of the warmest, most original and funniest people of all time. Like a smart-ass grandma hedgehog. Lesli Linka Glatter, who started at this very program and has since directed episodes of every single one of your favorite television shows, made us feel that we we were all as smart as she is, and that anything is possible. Also, she started out as a dancer and choreographer, which is super cool. And lastly, Bruce Block, whose full-day seminar based on his book The Visual Story blew my mind open, so that little saturated red chunks flew into deep space on the diagonal plane. (Buy the book if you don't understand this last joke.)

Thank you AFI and thank you ladies of the DWW!