I’ll start this off by saying I watch way too much of everything. Favorites go from literally anything that has aired on Showtime or HBO (you think I’m joking) to anything that has won or been nominated for basically any awards (I’m a sap when it comes to golden statues). After realizing a couple years ago that most of my time is spent in front of the TV I decided to turn that time into an investment. Instead of just watching movies, I decided to study them, by always asking myself “why?” Why does Modern Family make me laugh so hard I can’t eat while watching it for fear of choking? Why did those last three episodes of Six Feet Under make me wail uncontrollably? Why do I root for Carmela and Tony when they’re really terrible, awful, disgusting people? Why is it that every time they replay Titanic on TNT (which is more often than you’d think) I clear my whole schedule just to re-watch scenes of water destroying so much fancy china?
Over the years of taking in all those performances, all those stories—good and bad—I feel like I’ve come to value film not only for its amusement but also for its difficulty. Since realizing freshman year that the only thing I’m truly talented at is watching movies, I began investing more of myself into it. Now, three years after waving a happy goodbye to med school and never looking back, I have since interned at a studio, a management company, two production companies, written three feature length screenplays, filmed my own short movie, and read dozens of scripts in the process.
And while I still might not be able to intelligently answer all those questions—I’m getting closer.