Growing up in the 80s, I was surrounded by the pinnacle of pop-culture cinema. I experienced the Indiana Jones, Back to the Future and *most* of the Rocky franchises films sitting in a theater.
I knew back then I wanted to "make movies".
But what was "Making a movie"? Was it holding the camera? Writing a script? Building the miniatures?
I grew up with my parent's shoulder-mounted VHS home movie camera and made silly shorts with my friends, then YouTube came out, then digital cameras with a low-quality video function; I finally had an audience and an easy way to share with them.
After posting a number of 2-3 minute short son my Youtube channel, a friend asked me to film their wedding back in 2011. With no gear and no experience, I of course said yes.
That started a career in wedding filmmaking that I have yet to find a way out of (www.jamisonashleyfilms.com). About 6 years into that industry I decided that my dream of becoming a "filmmaker" was hopeless; I knew nothing about the industry, it seemed to cost way more money than I could make, and while I had many film ideas, I didn't "know how" to write. So I committed to being the best "Wedding Videographer" in my region.
After that commitment, my bookings increased, my prices went up, and my income rose.
About 2 years ago, a local filmmaker and I had a chat. I told her all the ideas I had floating in my head and she told me I should write them. My excuses were endless; "I don't know how to format a script, what font do I use, what indentations do I use?" and on and on.
She told me "Take a pencil, take some paper, and write. The story will come".
So, I did that with my first film and it was like magic. Once it was all written out, I discovered that folks have already developed script writing software that did all the formatting for you so, my fears were all unwarranted (And lame).
Once I shared that script with two friends who work in video production, their excitement exceeded mine and the journey began.
I saved up $6,000 and got as many friends on board as possible and we made Hit on the Head which got 100,000 views on YouTube in the first 10 days.
Riding that wave, less than a year later, I wrote, directed, and produced Night Mommy, which cost twice as much, with more actors, and twice as many shooting days.
Since then I have written 6 more scripts, 2 of which are features. The only road block of course, is money.
Whether I make another movie or not for the rest of my like, at 45 years old, I finally able to fulfill a boyhood dream of "Making a movie"... or two.