We all look at things in a certain perspective. To view ideas, opportunities, chances and, of course…dreams — who wouldn’t want any of those?
When you’re around 21-25 years old, you tend to look at things in a different light.
Gone are the days of dreaming of becoming a fireman, an architect, or even an archeologist, mainly because your hero was Indiana Jones.
When you’re 21-25, you are given choices that will determine your future: roads that can lead you to happiness or disappointment.
Your dreams can lead to the difficult road of endless battles and so many opportunities to choose from…to dream of entering Julliard for dance, music, theater, or even the NBA or the NFL.
It could even be just going to college and acquiring the education you want.
There will be many who will tell you, “You aren’t good enough!” or “Your talent is only to a certain limit.” But maybe, if you’re lucky, there will be a certain few who will say, “You’re amazing,” and “You can reach high enough!”
What I do know is this: I’ve come to realize that, yes, there are and will always be other people that will be better than you and me. But I have also understood that no one should ever sell themselves short.
If you want something, then take it, it’s yours. We don’t dream just to dream; understand that we can always make that dream come true. (And now I’m sounding like a Hallmark card)
Now, as I’ve said earlier, we have two choices. You can either follow your dream or you can stay behind and do what you’re expected to do: take care of your family and not take any chances.
It is respectable to follow this path and live a regular life, to take care of your family and put food on the table and to have a place you can call “home.”
But I can’t live that life! I simply refuse to stay and work and become a paper-cut citizen. That just isn’t me and I need my dreams to work. I need to have that idea that I can work and get myself recognized in filmmaking and will be respected by fellow visionaries. And so here I stand today, trying to achieve my breakthrough.
I started writing two screenplays last year, based on my ideas since high school. I wrote enough to have it produced as a short film (though it will be written as a feature soon).
Last year, I started contacting various people to help me with the production. I had no funding. My resources were slim and I had to be acquainted with the schedule of those willing to help me. That meant waiting for three months. I then met a friend who informed me that I could get the project funded by federal grants. I got excited with the idea that my project could be a real production with everyone getting paid and having the quality of a real professional work. My friend who believed in me and my screenplays wanted to be part of the project and gave me examples of various proposals that I could use to construct my own. I thought at first that a proposal was simply two pages long, but boy was I wrong. I ended up with eight detailed pages of what the project was and why it should be federally funded.
My proposal stated that it will be beneficial for students. I want it to be educational and beneficial to the islands by screening the film at various festivals throughout Asia-Pacific and Oceania.
I want it to be the first professional film to come out of the CNMI, with me representing the islands through my art. I want to be recognized in the world as a creative, talented and visionary artist from the CNMI.
And so, that was how the Marianas Film Project came to fruition.
(To be continued)
