Reflecting On Letters to Daniel
Dear Daniel,
I’ve been productive today. Resting from Letters to Daniel duties and focusing on writing and preparing Something to Believe to go to my editor. I’ve been idling on bitchy for the last couple of days and I’ve struggled to get out of it. This weather does nothing good for my bipolar disorder. So I’ve decided to reflect on my Letters to Daniel journey, more specifically AOF’s impact on the film Indie Gathering has had an impact no doubt, but tonight I’m reflecting on 3 years ago when I first was welcomed into the AOF family. And that’s what AOF is, a large, thriving, creative family. When you’re at the festival it really feels like home away from home.
3 years ago I could not afford a flight ticket and as the festival was being held in Monrovia, CA it was my first west coast festival. I checked out the hotels and picked the cheapest one. (They filmed a horror movie inn it while I was there, at least I hope they did). I didn’t know how I was going to pull it off. I bought the two awards show dinner tickets and the Dinner w/ Del. I had to raise the funds and my Aunt Sue and me drove three days to get there and three days to get back. I didn’t have a lot of money to eat on but my filmmaker friends I knew from Indie Gathering filled in the blanks.
I remember feeling so scared. It was my first time alone at such a large event and I knew no one. I had documented my road trip there. My little proof of concept Letters to Daniel documentary was up for two awards.
The first person to greet me was Harold L. Brown. A genius storyteller and a man with a big heart. He went out of his way to make me feel welcome and like I deserved to be there. You see when I landed at AOF I’d come off a rough year, a lying agent, a toxic manager, and a person who promised a large sum of money and lied about three important things.
Action On Film was a much needed boost. And when I met Del he was beautiful, gave me a hug, and when I was interviewed for his show I felt like a straight up star. As wonderful as Del was there was his wife Theresa, running the festival like a champ. Shepherding me to the Paint n’ Play charity event.
Del gave a seminar that would set me on fire to go out and make films no matter what I had to do. Script to screen to distribution. Each time he had an opportunity to he showered me with praise and attention. His seminar relit the fire for me to get out of my own way and make Letters to Daniel.
They bring in star movie studios and there’s even celebrities, but his focus is always on the independent creators in every form and at every age. His love is boundless and when he shines his very bright light upon you and it is a wondrous feeling.
Letters to Daniel suffered severe setbacks 2016-2017 in 2018 I finally found my producer through Indie Gathering. My cast and crew are peppered with AOF’ers in front of and behind the camera. Indie Gathering as well.
But if it weren’t for Del and Theresa Weston championing mine and Melissa Goodman’s work Letters to Daniel might still be spinning its wheels waiting to happen. Del, Theresa I already can’t wait AOF this year I’m buying my plane ticket next month. To all my AOF family see you in August! And if you’ve got a film, a script, a one sheet, a poster, music checkout AOF Megafest and all the associated festivals. They’re a great place for opportunities and recognition.
Sincerely,
Amy McCorkle
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