ABSTRACT
I told everybody the most important thing is I want everybody to have a great experience, have a good time, and learn from the experience. It was important to me that the set was pleasant and everyone felt good about it because there are so many sets you go on that suck. You hate to be there. So it was so important to me that this be a pleasant experience for all involved. Then I said, “But one of our goals is to be the first student film from Florida State to win a student Academy Award.” I don’t even know if the crew members remember it, but I remember it like it was yesterday because it was such a hard thing for me to say. In the South, you’re taught to be self-deprecating, and when you say something like that, even humbly, it sounds like you’re being pretentious, even though at the time and even when we won the regional competition I felt we don’t have a chance. But I’ve learned in life you have to state things. Just verbalizing it. Putting it out there. There’s something about saying it that sort of puts your ass on the line. And you have to live up to it. And if you say it, it puts you in a mindset to make it happen. But I also wanted the crew to know I was taking this seriously. I wanted them to feel they were working on something they could be proud of. And it kind of set the tone.
