By this time next year

There are some things that will happen every New Year's Eve. You will be invited to a party and ordinarily, whether or not you want to attend, you go. You drink, or don't. You have fun, or don't. You make a New Year's Resolution, or two, or three. The clock strikes twelve, you sing, or kiss, or both, or neither.

These occurrences hold some risk. Risk, which, is usually so minimal you ignore it. You could get a cold-sore or glandular fever from kissing at midnight (at least, that's what someone at school once told me). You could have a terrible hangover on New Year's Day (usually followed with a new promise to never drink again). But of all of them - only one New Year's Even activity holds real risk. Resolutions. They carry the often realised risk of failure.

No one wants to fail. Everyone, I believe, truly has faith that they can give up smoking this year, or lose weight this year, or be less something-or-the-other this year. Then they have a smoke 'just to see if I hate it'. They have a slice of cake 'just because my body was craving sugar'. Or they slowly become something-or-the-other because some so-and-so did such-and-such. And then they feel a failure because they broke the promise they made themselves - and resolve never to make another resolution....until New Year's Eve rolls around again.

This is why I never make New Year's Resolutions - until this year. 

Last Year - I was lucky enough to catch up with a long-time friend with whom I'd lost touch. She is clever and creative, and makes me feel like I could be clever and creative too. Such is her way. Her name is Lisa, and she lives with her equally clever and creative partner in an apartment in Sydney. She was recently made redundant (curse the global recession), but maintains her creativity by doing slightly off-the-wall, but fabulous stuff - which you'll find at her website, Crowd Goes Wild. 

Part of catching up with someone like Lisa is the way that we instantly start reminiscing about how fabulously clever we used to be together (or at least thought we used to be). And this means ideas start happening again, ideas that tend not to happen in ones ordinary day-to-day routine. And I had an idea, and shared it with her, and now it's our New Years Resolution.

We will (note the will) write, shoot, edit and release a movie. that's the idea. We just have one small hitch. Lisa, as I have stated before, was recently made redundant, so has no money for such endeavors. I have a mortgage to pay, and several pets to feed, and find myself in a similarly cash-poor situation. So this film, this triumph of cinematic brilliance, will have to be made for a quite-tight budget. Between us - we will contribute the grand total of zero dollars.

No cash. None. Not a bean. We will write, shoot, edit and release a movie for NO MONEY. Well - no money of our own. We will not apply for any funding - but we will beg and borrow locations, wardrobe, sound, cameras, actors - the works.

And we'll test the only technology that's available to us. Our Macs. I'm a Mac convert (sorry!), but I want it to prove its mettle. 

So, armed with nothing but a Mac and a resolution - we'll see if it can be done.

Wish us luck. We'll need it. If you live in the Wairarapa in New Zealand - expect us to knock on your door if we want to borrow, and borrow we will!

I don't know how this will work - I don't even know what the movie's about. I'm reading a book on screenwriting by Lew Hunter, who I believe is very good, and am hoping that'll be enough.

We have one year. By this time next year we want it to be finished. Like every New Year's Resolution, this one has a significant risk of failure. But I think we can do it. 

At least I hope we can. 

Fingers crossed.