First a couple of apologies: I couldn’t resist aping J.R.R. Tolkien for this posts title. I’ve always been a big fan of Lord of The Rings, and NOT just because I looked like a Hobbit when I was a child (it really was uncanny: if you didn’t know any better, you would have thought I had spent my elementary school years partying in Hobbiton and single handedly ruining the Fellowships journey.) And the second apology is for the lack of posts on this blog, which will be explained further in this post:

One year ago from this time period, I had the opportunity to pursue something that I had never been able to really committ too: writing a television screenplay. Its a thought that has always been prevalent in my mind, ever since I thought about pursuing humor for a living. But between pursuing my athletic “potential” (which was about the equivalent to Paris Hilton’s potential as a successful musician, but…I needed to at least make sure.) and other things, I never really had the time to outright committ to the project. Writing a sitcom is a lot more than just writing episodes: You need character and story arcs, season synopsies, an overall direction of how long you want the show to potentially go and the direction it should go in as well. It takes time, which as an ADD rattled high school student, I did not have much of.

But towards the end of my Senior Year, we were given the opportunity to puruse a project for a couple of weeks, whatever we wanted. Finally, I had the opportunity to write what I had always wanted too, and with some help from the Seattle Film Institute, I finished the first episode and synopsis of a series, titled “Senioritis”. It had its moments,  but it by no means was exceptionally funny. and I was fortunate enough to get some polite rejections from some people in the industry. Enough so not to give up entirely on the dream of running my own television show at some point in my life.

A year later, I once again found myself with all the time in the world: stuck in summer job employment purgatory, I found myself with literally nothing to do. When people asked what was up, I would say “Not Much” and that would be an actual reflection of what was going on in my life, not just an awkward deflection from having an extended conversation. Not a lot was going on. And while getting through the first two seasons of The Sopranos in two weeks was a pretty impressive accomplishment, it was not exactly productive. I knew at some point I had to get up off my ass and write something.  And from that feeling, I revisted that first draft, and completely gutted the thing. I rewrote virtually every part of it, beyond the core concept and understanding. From the ashes of “Senioritis” has come the Phoenix of “Freedom Hall”, which currently consists of a Pilot Episode and a series treament, with Episode 2 on the way. From there, I’ll decide what to do with it.

But the ultimate fate of “Freedom Hall” isn’t all that important to me, at least at this point in time. I’m not certain exactly what will happen to it. But the process of coming back to a project after year, with a new perspective and understanding was encouraging. I felt a sense of progress, sharper, and it just felt so much more fulfilling to write. Seeing it be produced on a big screen would be a beauitful thing, a dream come true. But its also good to just see how far a year can really take you. I’ve come a long way from “Senioritis” and I feel like I know a lot more about not just my craft, but myself. And while it might take another whole year after this summer before I can approach it again, its truly been a pleasure to see where I’ve been before, and get a further glimpse into hopefully where the future will take me.

Plus I’m sure my parents are pretty happy I’ve decided to get off my ass and do something. That and our house’s collection of Cheez its, which can now stop shaking in their proverbial boots whenever I enter the kitchen.