“What ever happened to that Secret Film Project you were working on? You know, the one that you hinted at while finishing REPLAY, back in 2007?”

Well, fuck. Here’s the short version:

Around the time I finished my short film, REPLAY, I began writing a feature film that I was really excited about. It was a project that could be made for a tiny amount of money and still be highly commercial. Since my writing was going very smoothly at the time, and I was so excited, I began to hint about it on this blog.

Here’s where things got tricky:

REPLAY started to get a LOT of attention. It played 14 festivals and won 4 awards. I had meetings with development executives and producers. I started directing commercials. I even got a handful of outright offers for investment. So every night, I would rush home and try to pound away at my pending feature screenplay. I kept telling myself: “if I can get this script finished soon, there’s a good chance I can get it made!” And I just started to freak myself out. The pressure was too great.

So not only did I get massive writer’s block — a horrible feeling all by itself — but I also felt really, really depressed about not delivering these goods that I had locked in my brain. Over time, I could feel the heat from REPLAY slowly dissipating and I wasn’t able to capture it. I felt like I had let myself down. And the script was a reminder of that.

And that’s how I saw it — for 3 years.

During that time, I was very busy. I directed dozens of spots (some of which were featured in ‘Boards Magazine)  and a couple of short films; I’ve even written loads of other stuff, from spot creative to short scripts and stories. But every time I would go back to that feature script, I just couldn’t get that monkey off my back.

Until now.

I finally decided to look at the situation differently. I began writing out of pure joy, without the responsibility of what will happen to the script afterwards. And I realized that I should have been writing from this place all along. Once again, the Universe found a way to steer me down the right path.

And now I’m soooooo very excited to announce that I just finished the script for my Secret Film Project!! And I am very, very pleased with it. It’s a personal milestone for me for three reasons: 1) I finally overcame some serious personal demons in order to complete it, 2) This is the first feature that I’ve written as a professional filmmaker (my last was in 2001, when I was still trying to go full-time) and 3) It’s by far the best thing I’ve ever written and I’m soooo psyched to get this thing into prep! I can’t wait to turn it into a movie!!