Like…LOOK! I DESIGNED THAT FLYER!!! ON MY OWN COMPUTER!!! AND NOW IT’S
IN…A WINDOW!!!!
Or…LOOK AT MY NEWSPAPER
ARTICLE, MA!!!! SEE, THERE’S MY NAME!!!! ME, ME,
ME, ME, ME, ME!!!!!!!
(Uh, for example.)
It’s the opposite of say, a doctor, who, yes, can technically show off a living, breathing person he or she saved as
a “final product,” but you can’t very well parade that person around to
everyone you know or keep them in your purse for special occasions.
And you CERTAINLY can’t put them on a movie theater screen
and have everyone you know come see them.
…But movie editors can!!
And that's exactly
what my CREATIVE brother, Franklin, did last month when a movie he edited was
screened at the New Orleans Film Festival!!!
LOOK MA!!!! MY
NAME ON THE SCREEN!!!! IT’S SPELLED
RIGHT AND EVERYTHING!!!!
(OK, so Franklin didn’t actually say that. My twin sister, Joy,
and I said that. We were so proud of him it felt as if it were OUR accomplishment, too. Ha.)
Our whole family knew that Franklin had spent a considerable
portion of 2011 editing this film, a hilarious doomsday comedy called It’s a Disaster starring Julia Stiles
and David Cross.
During the time he was
editing it, we only heard from him during odd hours and sometimes not for days
at a time.
During Christmas last year, he brought the early cut of the
movie with him on the plane from Los Angeles and we all watched it after our holiday
dinner, cheering when his name showed up on the screen.
WOOOHOOOOO!!!! We screamed
and clapped, trying not to spill our wine.
“Ok, guys…” he said.
Fast forward seven months and our whole family was together
again, watching the same movie, (possibly in the same seating order) only THIS
TIME we were at a THEATER surround by friends and family and 100 strangers, watching it on a big screen. It was magical.
We cheered again when his name came on the screen.
“Ok, guys…” Franklin said.
There’s something quite awesome about being able to come
back to your hometown and share your work with everyone you know, AT A FILM FESTIVAL, especially a movie that
is funny and well-made.
Unlike some other
movies I saw at the festival that made me squirm and/or want to burst into
tears in the bathroom, the movie Frankin edited was the hit of the weekend!!!
Everyone laughed when they were supposed to!
LOOK MA!!! COMEDIC
TIMING!!!
And then, after the movie, Franklin and the film’s director did
a question-and-answer session where all the questions were not questions at all, but praise for making such a great film.
LOOK MA!!!! POSITIVE
FEEDBACK!!
It was especially gratifying for me…I mean Franklin…because our entire family was there
to see his hard work pay off.
It’s only about twice a year when all of us are together in
the same room.
Family members flew to New Orleans from opposite ends of the
country to attend the film debut. Our uncle even flew in from Pennsylvania, his
first trip back to New Orleans in over 10 years.
Our mom threw an elaborate party before the screening, with
catered food and plates shaped like those rectangular things directors snap when
they say “action.”
There were oversized
balloons shaped like film cameras and little gold sequins stars everywhere. We almost put a "You're a star!" banner on the wall.
("OK, guys..." Franklin would have said.)
Haha
As we were waiting for the movie to start AT THE SOLD-OUT
THEATER, I thought back to Franklin’s homemade movies from high school where we
would eagerly watch the final version from the couch in our living room.
(It was especially exciting when Joy and I had cameos in his movies. We
were usually cast as “girls screaming.”)
And look at him now!!!
Look at us ALL now!!!
Franklin is still making movies.
And Joy and I are still girls screaming.
-Jenny
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