May 29, 2013

I THINK I DO (And Me!) On Public Radio's STUDIO 360

Over Memorial Day weekend, a story about my "Aha Moment" as a filmmaker aired on WNYC-FM's arts show STUDIO 360. The "Aha Moment" is a regular segment on Kurt Andersen's show as artists, authors, and (in my case) filmmakers talk about a specific moment in their creative life when a light went off and inspiration struck. In my case, it happened when I was in college and I saw the Merchant-Ivory film MAURICE.  It was the first time I had ever see a gay love story and, even more remarkable, one with an actual happy ending--at least for the title character, that is.

My piece aired on public radio stations around the country over the holiday weekend and I got some wonderful responses, hearing from a lot of folks some of whom I'd lost touch with even (including the editor the first short story anthology I was in, NOT THE ONLY ONE). But I also heard that a lot of people didn't get to listen it due to vacation/family events. So here's the link to listen to it online at STUDIO 360's website. Also you can get STUDIO 360 as a podcast, which highly recommend.

Anyway, I had a great time talking with the producer Jenny Lawton about my moment and she did a wonderful job editing the piece, to include clips from TV movies about AIDS, the film MAURICE, and my first feature film I THINK I DO (including the wedding proposal that Tuc Watkins makes!). While I had always been interested in movies and filmmaking since I was a kid, it was seeing MAURICE that really set me on my course as to what types of films I was interested in making.