When I started writing this column, I thought I was going to tell you all about movies you should plan on seeing over the summer/next year, (“The Dead Don’t Die,” “Little Women,” “The Last Black Man in San Francisco,” “Midsommar,” among others) but I had a change of heart when I sat down. I wanted to talk about filmmaking, passion and time.
I started my time as a filmmaker this year, my senior year (yes, I know that seems kind of dumb to a lot of you, but I’m not too worried about how it sounds.) And filming is one of the most fulfilling ways to make art in my life. I love the whole process, from writing scripts, casting, paperwork, creating shot lists, storyboarding, filming, to post production. And yes, you read that right, I love the paperwork parts of it— the papers that tell people where to be and when and give directions about behaviors on set. There is just so much there and so much that someone can do. And it’s all cool. I don’t even mind being the person holding the boom mic; that’s actually one of the most important jobs on sets. I love it, and I love every second of it, no matter how long the days are or how tired or cold I am on set.
The ability to forge your own piece of something on a set is amazing, and to get to do it with other people who are just as passionate as you are is undescribable. And that’s what I want to really talk about. I started my filmmaking late because I convinced myself that I could be passionate about something that I wasn’t actually passionate about. And no matter how hard I tried to pretend, it never worked. But when I got doing something I wanted to do and that I was passionate about, I didn’t have to pretend how I felt about it. I just got to do it.
So the whole point of this article is to tell you that you’re not too late to do anything. I wish I had heard someone say that to me in my junior year as I contemplated changing my entire career path and learning how to exist in a new and completely different field. And I won’t lie to you, it was hard work, like a lot of late nights and worrying. But being able to do something I love so much made all of it worth it, and it made me closer to being able to do what I wanted. The piece of unsolicited advice I’m going to give you isn’t necessarily drop everything and become a filmmaker (even though, I’d love to have you on set), it’s that if you don’t care about something and it doesn’t make you feel passionate, maybe you should think about what does. You are not late to your calling, that’s not how this works— there is no real time table. But some things take time, and you are worthy of the time that it takes, especially if that time gives you something you care about and love. So, go for it, whatever it is for you.
Thanks for reading, and check out those movies I mentioned in the first paragraph. You’ll love them. And see you around at the movies.