Last year I had the good fortune to work with a great group of creative folks on a short film for the 48 Hour Film Project competition. There were 92 submissions for Boston. Only one person on our team had entered the competition before. No one in our group had collaborated previously unless you count burger eating as collaborative, in which case the director and I had a great rapport established.

Regardless of the above factors, it turned out to be my most fun and challenging experience of 2007. Also, quite relevant to the direction I see for my professional life. My official role was that of wardrobe consultant. (FYI – I am the biggest Halloweenie and play the role of ad hoc stylist for those nearest and dearest.) For those unfamiliar with the competition, the film genre isn’t known until it is drawn out of a hat at 6:30pm on Friday night. Shortly thereafter, the three elements that all teams must incorporate are announced: a character, prop and line of dialog.

The one (and only) genre option that struck fear into my heart from a wardrobing standpoint was Sci-fi. Naturally, it was the option that we drew.

I won’t lie: almost birthed a litter of kittens right there. 48 hours flashed before my eyes and each terrifying moment involved fashioning aluminum foil suits for an army of robots. I controlled the urge to skew my plot suggestions for brainstorming session to fit into the caricatures I knew I could deliver: “How bout ‘Space Odyssesy of L’il Bo Peep/Beauty Pageant Contestant/Beer Wench’?”

As it turned out there was little need for costumes and I was tapped to write the background story used in the final scene. My trusty iBook (may she rest in peace) and I locked ourselves in my car and “borrowed” someone’s WiFi connection. It ended up being my first writing credit! (Look out, IMDB – here I come.)

Several of the people from last year’s Chili Willy Posse have signed on to Chocolate Gorilla. At some point during the frantic all nighter I hope to learn the origin of the team name. Regardless of the answer, I like chocolate and gorillas are cute. It’s all cool as far as I’m concerned – especially since I’m on the writing team. (YAY!)

So right now, I’m really stoked and nervous to boot. The nerves thing ought to subside once I’m in the thick of it since the whole point is to push myself and write in a format currently outside my comfort zone. You never know till ya try, right?

….right???

Write.