THE BEST THING MY MOM EVER SAID TO ME

The following is an excerpt from a book I am writing about my years as an independent filmmaker

I’d just wrapped production on my first feature film, THE BIG SOMETHING, with a big (at least in terms of alcohol consumption) wrap party. Hungover as hell, I decided to spend the next day at my parents’ house in Mesa. It was a place of peace for me, where I’d go to process my thoughts. And after my biggest cinematic accomplish to date, I had a lot to think about. I won’t share the details of our celebration, at least not for now, but I will share one amusing and embarrassing story: less than a mile from my parents’ home, I rolled down the window without slowing down and puked out all the water I’d consumed that morning in an attempt to re-hydrate.

Recuperating and debriefing with my parents, I wanted to talk about what we’d accomplished the last two weeks but my mind was already on something else… my next feature film. I told my mom and dad about a film noir I wanted to make, a modern noir set in present day Phoenix. I was thinking of calling it THE DETECTIVE’S LOVER. With one feature and a handful of shorts under my belt, I still had that same hunger to create that had inspired me to start Running Wild Films with Gus Edwards in 2010. I took no time to relax or to bask in some imaginary glory. I took only a day to rest my body, but not my mind which was already spinning with possibilities about this new project.

A couple years later, my mom said, “That was the day I knew you were really a filmmaker because all you wanted to talk about was what you wanted to do next.” She knew then that it wasn’t a hobby or a phase. She knew it was real and I’ll always remember how good it felt when she told me that.

This will eventually be published on my website, runningwildfilms.com, and my Travis Mills Facebook page. For the next week, it is exclusively available here

The picture was taken on the set of THE BIG SOMETHING in 2011.