Phew. The movie just flew by (even for someone whose seen it at least 100 times before that moment). Normally, whenever I get situations where I get to be sitting with an audience watching my film, I love to watch the expressions of everyone around me. It’s not all the time where you get to be in situations like that and to be able to see people reacting and being affected by something you created… there’s no greater rush in the world. This time it was kind of different though. Instead of watching everyone else, I got sucked into my own movie. I became part of the audience. If the people around me were feeling remotely what I was feeling watching our film, then I’ve done my job.
After that, the final two films played, and it was time for the awards portion to end the night. They had a couple of new awards this year which included CEC Awards for Best Actress and Actor… not necessarily linked to CMF but a nice gesture anyway. After Best Comedy, they announced the nominees for Best Drama. The music for “Stockholm Syndrome” came first. Then, the notes played and Moose’s face and the titles for our film showed up. We’re nominated!! That in itself was a rush, and then, the nerves hit… hard.The third film nominated was named, “The Perfect Pitch,” I believe. Eerie film.
The time came. Heart… POUNDING. The hosts of the evening opening the envelope… the award for Best Drama at the 2009 UCLA CMF Finale goes to
……….
LIFE (IN V MINUTES)!!!
I think I just erupted, jumped out of my seat, hand turned into a fist and whispered, “Yes,” to myself. Next thing I know, I’m walking up to the stage with my cast/ crew in tow. A microphone gets handed to me. The next few sentences that came out of my mouth I honestly can’t remember to well. Hopefully I thanked my cast and crew for their hard work and expressed how grateful I was was to win this.
As we were walking back to our seats, I remember hugging members from my team and thinking to myself, “We did it.”
For me, that moment literally felt like 3 years in the making. From the first time we did CMF to any other film I’ve made, I try to have a balance of not only have a great story to tell but to tell it well. I always feel that the films that represent what should be the BEST films should have that balance. Finally, to have my work and the work of my team be recognized just meant so very much to me. We even got nominated for Best Picture a few minutes after that.
Having this be my final year at UCLA and my final chance to do CMF, things just felt right. This just felt like the right time. As we head to San Francisco in the next few days for the Western Regional Grand Finale to go head-to-head with the Best Dramas of the West Coast and 75 other films from Washington to Southern California, I’m happy and proud with what we’ve accomplished. Anything else that happens from now on is extra.
At the end of the day, I’m just happy if people get a chance to watch something I’ve had a hand in creating and hopefully be affected by it.
Thanks for reading and wish us luck as we head on the road to San Francisco.
