I am still dazed by the experience afforded by the 50 Kisses competition. I stumbled across the competition quite by accident, and immediately envisioned the story I would set out to tell. It was one of those moments when later asked ‘where did you get your idea?’ you realize you don’t know yourself. The story came together quickly and passionately, and I was thrilled when the announcement of the fifty winning scripts included “That Good Night.”
This promised to be the first script I’d written thus far to be filmed!
That’s when the heartburn began. One by one, as I watched filmmakers line up to announce the films they would be making, “That Good Night” remained unselected. My thrill turned quickly to doubt. Was my story too long? Too ambitious? Too dramatic? Too expensive?
Just as resignation was about to overtake hope, Gail Hackston put me in touch with Turkish director/producer Stare Yildirim. Stare had a captivating vision for the film she would make from my script. Over the long distance between us, and challenging time zone differences, Stare and I worked together on a rewritten script that fused her cinematic vision with the story I hoped to tell. Her ideas were inspiring, and brought the characters to life for me in a way I never imagined.
The morning I awoke to find an eMail with a link to the initial rough cut version of the film was an experience I hope to remember for a very long time.
Being able to share the completed film with friends, family and peers is a reward itself. I am very appreciative to Chris, Gail, and the 50 Kisses team for giving me this opportunity, and wish them luck in the daunting task of pulling the final film together.
