Overnight Success

I was reading about the new movie 9 the other day, and was surprised to discover that the feature film was based on director Shane Acker's student film of the same name.

He completed the 11 minute short film in 2004, received an Academy Award nomination for the film in 2006, and was awarded various honors from film festivals all over the world.

Nurtured by producers Jim Lemley, Tim Burton, Timur Bekmambetov, Dana Ginsburg, and Jinko Gotoh, 9 was released on 9/9/09 and it's on my must-see list.

It also made me think of a student thesis I did quite a few years ago called Sincerely Yours, which won various honors at NYU (including an acting award for yours truly) and how, if the right producers had picked up the film, perhaps it could have grown some "legs" like 9 did.

Then I came upon an interview with one of my favorite authors, Charlaine Harris, whose books include the popular Sookie Stackhouse series, upon which HBO's show True Blood is based. Apparently, Ms. Harris got her start by taking a creative writing class in St. Louis! And after twenty-five years of getting her books published, she is now "an overnight success."

I just love these instances of people doing what they love to do and putting their work out there. And how many years it took for these projects to really zoom!

Some projects only take a few years to catch on while others require growth over time, and it's a great lesson to keep investing in yourself and what you love to do, and to put your work out into the world.

Speaking of, I'm doing a reading of a new play called Got You next week at the HOWL Festival. I'm working with some of my Kaboom folks from last summer: Penny Ayn Maas is directing, Fred Rose (pictured far right) is performing with me, and Michael Small is the playwright. I'm also working with the delightful Heather Laws (seated right) and Jeremy Ellison-Gladstone (left).

Performances for Sept. 24-25 at 9:30 PM at 45 Bleeker St. Lobby Theatre. Tix are $10.

Hope to see you there!