We Are Celebrating!

It's almost fall. It doesn't feel like it in Los Angeles (or in Howell either, as I look at the weather report and see photos of my parents in shorts). But alas, it's mid-September and summer has been over for Angela and I for months. We spent six weeks in Howell, and they were wonderful. We swam three times a week with my parents and their friends. We ate and drank and laughed on the patio for hours on end. We saw family and friends and caught up with everyone we miss while we're on the other side of the country. We put together jigsaw puzzles and played cards and watched baseball and played Giant Jenga. We went through old photos, we cleaned out closets, we walked and we napped and we shared milestones.

And we also celebrated.

We celebrated that the web series I wrote, and that we filmed last year, won not one but two awards at the Oniros Film Awards. The Couch won for best web series and for best screenplay. And I was beyond stunned. I was so excited just to hear that we'd been nominated! What a surprise! Honestly. I've spent over ten years applying to writing contests. Submitting for fellowships. Sending in script after script, check after check, keeping a list, crossing out those contests when I find out I've lost. It's not a big deal. Rejection is par for the course in Hollywood. I know this. I expect this. So when I found out we'd won...

Well, that was something.

We had to submit three finished episodes of our series to be considered (we'll have seven episodes total) and the complete script. They liked what they saw, and read, and so, we won. Really, quite unexpected. This is not the norm.

But it is amazing. It's amazing because the words that I wrote, several years ago now, the stories I created, are being shared. Not just between Angela and myself. Not just between my best writer friends and myself. Not just between the cast and crew of The Couch and myself. But the stories I created are going out into the world. Literally. The Oniros Film Awards are in Italy!

Also, I love that while my words are being heard and my stories are being told, our entire Couch Team is being recognized because without them, my stories are just files on my MacBook, maybe pages I print out to run my hand across. And in particular that another female is being recognized for being behind the camera.

In August, right after we got back from Michigan, we headed off to church to hear Mark Stephenson preach on the film Wonder Woman. (Yep, if you go to Hollywood UMC you get sermons about movies all summer long!) And during his sermon he mentioned some statistics I'd recently highlighted on social media -- that of the top 100 movies in 2017, only 7.3% were directed by women. That's it, 7.3%. So I am super proud of The Couch for adding to the percentage of film and television being directed by women!

Also, it was so sweet of Mark to shout me out during the sermon. He mentioned my awards and The Couch and I love how supportive the Hollywood UMC community has been and continues to be of me and all females in this business.

So we won a couple of awards -- that's great! Everyone was so happy for us! BUT...they wanted to know when the series would premiere.

Well, last week we made a big announcement! We invited the world to the premiere of The Couch! On October 25th! We are so excited!

We're going to have a big, dress up affair! We're going to have a red carpet! We're going to have a screening! We're going to have live music! We're going to have a Q & A afterwards!

My parents are coming into town for the event! My friends, even those of them who go to bed super early because they kick butt at super early morning jobs, are going to come! I've already tried on my dress! I am EXCITED!

Because something I made is going to be shared. Again.

See this isn't the first time I've shown the world The Couch. Well, technically I've shown it to my world. In July, I got my hands on some almost finished drafts of the seven episodes and was able to show them to my parents and Angela. I was so excited. And so nervous. Because that was the premiere I'd been waiting for forever. These three people - Angela, Chris, and Tom, have made this possible. Without their love and support (SUPPORT, again, for the people in the back! THIS DID NOT HAPPEN WITHOUT ALL OF THEM) The Couch doesn't happen. These people, my people, my world, encouraged me. They saw that this was the most important thing I could do professionally with my life and they let me do it. They made me do it. They didn't let me have any excuses. They made the space in this world for an artist, a writer, to write. And that's a VERY RARE gift. I know that. We all know that. And I am so grateful for that gift. (P.S. - They loved it. They are biased but they still told me they loved it. They said it looked like a TV show (yay!). They wanted to know what happens next! I said well we'll have to see if season 2 is a go...)

But now we are ready for everyone to see our show! If you're in Los Angeles, RSVP, put on your best frock, and come on over! If you're elsewhere in the world? Well, don't worry -- you're going to see it in October too! Please watch. Please share. Please enjoy. Because we made this for you. We made this to share women's stories. And we made this to entertain.

#awomanwrotethat
#awomandirectedthat