I get it!
I get it, I GET it, okay? As the jazz cats would say, “I heard you
twice the first time.”
Yesterday, I was having a party. It was a small party, because when you
restrict the guest list, you can really get your groove on. To be clear, it was a pity party (“…pity,
party of one, pity, party of ONE.”)
It had been one of “those days,” where
you don’t have a major disaster, just a string of little things. My mother always tells me not to sweat the
small stuff, but I was not listening that day.
I love my job, but it was a struggle going in yesterday. The work in progress screening is breathing
down my neck and I have a finite amount of time to be prepared. Add to that, the scale was not my friend that
day and I have a 5k race looming in the distance.
After settling in at home, the last
thing on my mind was editing, even though working through the story consultant’s
notes was on the schedule. I went
through the mail and there were three envelopes. There were two donation checks and a letter
from someone requesting tickets for the screening in Norfolk.
One check was from a donor who has sent
a check every month since February. Not
only did she send another check, SHE THANKED ME “...for being so appreciative of
my donations.” There was another check
from a first-time donor in New York.
However, the letter requesting tickets
drove the message home. After requesting
tickets, she tacked on the following postscript:
“P.S.:
I am looking forward to your next film and many more after that.”
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BAM!
So here I am, feeling sorry for myself,
whining about work I have to do on this movie, and here is someone out there
waiting for my NEXT movie. Add to that,
two people, one a complete stranger, took the time to send their hard-earned
cash to some guy in Baltimore complaining because of some numbers on a scale.
It was a transformative moment. Once the implications of these acts set in, I
had to humble down and knock out that editing.
I put in a solid three hours on the consultation edits and got a lot
done.
Do I still feel pressure about the
screening? I still feel the pressure,
but it is not a despairing pressure. It
is the pressure to do well because I have many people expecting good things
from this project. It is a pressure to
bring “The TQ Project” home, literally and figuratively. It is a pressure to look at where all this
started and moving it to the next level.
I get it. It is not about me. It is about honoring TQ, honoring all the
people who loved him. It is about all
the people who support this project, and in doing so, say they believe in
me. It is about not letting them down.
I get it.
The Trouble with TQ
DONOR ROLL
(thank you all)
Carrie J. Hughes
Toni Fesel
Minnie Thomas
Nancy Dixon
Mary Emmert
Bruce McKenna
Eugene Strelka
Fr. John Dorgan
William J. Griggs
John & Katie Zawacki
Eileen Kanzler
Hank & Claire Tessandori
Pete & Margie Langlands
HaveScripts.com
Richard Mooney
Rev. Francis J. Gargani
Hal & Sally Neher
William T. Prince
Tom & Mary McFeely
Linda & Garry Cooke
Ed & Maureen Marroni
John Lane
Christopher Schafer
Walter and Alveta Green
Rich and Gina Wightman
Joan Williams (continuing donor)
Bridget Browne
Elnora P. Green
Sal Vitale
Kathleen
Waugh
Joseph
McDonough
Jone
Langlands
Young Ja
Jun
Mary
Minkowski
Rev. David
Ungerleider
Jean and
Bob Young (continuing donors)
Sisters of
Notre Dame
Bob &
Adele DellaValle-Rauth
John
Buford
Kathy
Heatwole
Mrs. Jean
Thompson
James
Wilson Jr.
Valerie
Wilson
Eileen
Lyver
Charlotte
Pacheco
Rev. Louis
Benoit
Kim Howell
Kathy
Dowdy
Bridget
Browne
Amber
Medalla
Howard and
Sarah Malloy
C. Douglas
and J. Claudette Starrett
Arthur T.
McNeill
Virginia
D. Williams
John &
Mary Ryan
Mary Moran
Winnie
Flora
Monica
Serra (Serra James Studios Inc.)
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