I Paid $138 to Force Myself to Create

Hello! This is my first blog, so I’m not exactly sure how to start it, but what better way than to jump right in and cut to the chase.

To make a long story short, I am a creative person and a storyteller at heart. I learned pretty quickly after graduating college that getting a job in the creative field is difficult—not impossible, but definitely difficult. Creative careers are often exclusive, competitive, and expensive. Because of that, I pivoted into marketing—which I’m good at—but it isn’t my top passion. I don’t want to become stagnant or give up on storytelling, so I decided I needed a solution that would force me to create.

And how did I do that, you may ask? Well, I paid $138 to join a film festival that gives you 48 hours to write, film, edit, and screen an entire movie… with no real experience doing that. Yay! What a way to start the new year.

I’ve created short films before—back in college for projects and through my film club (shout out Aggie Filmmakers!)—but it’s been a little over a year since I’ve done anything like that. Honestly, maybe even longer. My very first short film was called The Trip (you can check it out Here > GMD BC3 AI Butter Copy TS 16x9 ACT 2217 250916 B if you’d like). It got over 20K views and was submitted to a film festival. Although it didn’t win, it gave me confidence—confidence that I, along with a team or group, could really do this.

Right now, it’s January, and the film festival doesn’t officially start until May. We won’t receive our genre or required prop until kickoff, and we aren’t allowed to write anything beforehand (that would be cheating). With that being said, there are things we can do to prepare. Things like gathering a team, designating crew roles, scouting potential filming locations and securing permissions, buying or renting gear, getting the cast and crew acquainted, budgeting, securing music rights, and more.

I’ll be documenting all of this leading up to the kickoff. I’m nervous, but excited, and I can’t wait to share my team’s journey—and the finished project—with you.

Stay tuned for more updates! 🎬✨