IRL Update no. 1

The guest of honor was screenwriter, producer, and director, Jessica Bendinger. 

While I hadn't heard her name before, I've certainly seen her work. Until recently, I hadn't really paid much attention to who wrote and directed movies and shows, but Bendinger certainly had a presence in my youth with 2000's Bring it On and 2006's Stick It and Aquamarine, released the same year. Even though a young boy was hardly the target demographic for these movies, I do remember seeing them as a kid channel surfing for something to watch (I can still recall the song Hey Micky even after all these years). Hearing that Bendinger had to pitch, the now classic hit, Bring It On 28 times before someone agreed to make it was oddly comforting. These execs didn't understand. Bendinger had to bring in statistics to support the fact there would be an audience for a movie about gymnastics and cheerleading (millions of people are into gymnastics) but the executive men weren't, it is a largely female sport. As we see, Bring It On saw huge success, it almost didn't get made just because a bunch of men didn't "get it". Screenwriting is hard, even with a stellar story, but with enough determination, you can make it. 

I graduated college, despite all the shitty exams, and having to retake courses, and the occasional breakdown, I got my Bachelor's. I'm used to having to brush myself off, and try again. At least with screenwriting, I enjoy it (side eyes all the math classes I had to retake). I'm determined to hone my skills and get my stories made. And Bendinger was nice enough to write a book to help a beginner screenwriter like me, The Bring It On Book. I look forward to reading and learning from it. 

Pursuing any creative career path is hard. You're having to learn and hone your skills over the years, possibly dealing with unsupportive parents who think it's better as a hobby, and tech bros constantly trying to make machines make art for you, so you can work a soul-crushing manual labor job (it's literally the opposite of what we should be doing, give robots the hard labor jobs, and no intelligence, so people can do passion projects and art). It's hard, but you aren't alone. Find your peers, find people who blazed the trail before you and learn what you can from them. With an age of technology, researching and teaching yourself is easier than ever. If you're old school and prefer books, I'm sure there's a local library or bookstore with books on whatever medium of art you're looking to get into. Don't let anyone dim your light while you're trying to let it shine. 

Shout out to Eventbrite for letting me know about the event, highly recommend using their site or app if you're looking for events in your area (not a sponsor, just a cool service, that's free to use. And many of the events are free to get in).