An Interview with Who?
A while back I was going through a box that contained old television scripts I had developed when I came across one I developed with Ken, a producer who had become a friend. I immediately called him as we had not connected in sometime. Ken shared that he had finished his first script in February of 2015. I was impressed! Ken has been in the entertainment business for a long time and has brought to life many writers material, however, he had never written his own feature script. Ken humbly stated he didn't know what would happen next with it, but felt a sense of accomplishment. I loved hearing that! A sense of accomplishment is a rare but delicious state of mind, one that I often forget to savor in my own life.
I asked, "What is the title of the script?"
"An Interview with God," he replied.
"An interview with who?"
He laughed. I asked Ken what questions he had asked God in the script, while wondering what my own questions might be. There was a brief silence and Ken said, "Read it."
I did. And liked it. I called Ken and told him so and a fascinating conversation followed about our religious views. However that’s not what this blog is about. It's about how I allowed my admiration for someone else's bold steps to inspire me to take a deeper look into my own creative desires.
Over the next few months I kept in touch with Ken and tracked the progress with his script. A few weeks after our initial conversation he told me he had found the financing to shoot his script. A month later casting and pre-production was starting to take place. Before long he was back in Los Angeles, fresh off a plane from New York, where the film was shot and is now in post-production. For those of you not in the film business, writing your first feature script and witnessing it move into post-production in a 17-month span is a rare happening. Talk about accomplishment!
Ken has had a successful career in the entertainment business but it was an unusual travel experience that inspired him to take a big step out of his comfort zone. He engaged in the unknown, found the courage to take his creativity to another level, and his ideas swiftly took form. For those of us in the producing and executive ranks of the media world, we often don’t find the courage to explore creative ventures beyond the boundaries of our job descriptions. His journey made me reflect on my own.
I asked Ken to write a short essay about his creative inspiration for An Interview with God and in a split second he agreed. I think you will see why Ken’s story inspired something in me. For the last few years I have been working on deepening my own creative experiences and I make it a daily practice to do something new, something that tries to raise the bar - or “up-level” - my own life experience. So I stepped outside my comfort zone and stretched, and then I stretched a bit more. I then remembered to ask God, "What should I do?" I heard a whisper.
Write a blog
To writers and bloggers, friends, and colleagues who write professionally this may not sound like a big deal. For me it was a terrifying adventure. I have never considered myself a writer - my bi-lingual mind can stumble on words - but I do have a voice. That voice wanted to express itself in a different way than I had in the past. This desire pushed me to peak over this “creative ledge” of my comfort zone and just write. And then I hit send.
I did experience that delicious sense of accomplishment. This time I remembered to savor the moment and enjoy reliving the interview I had with God that day.
