After watching Star Wars over Christmas break when he was in the first grade, my son decided he wanted to be George Lucas when he grew up. He made his first movie on the last day of Christmas break.
At first I thought it was a joke. He came to me and said he wanted to make a movie. I was busy so I told him he needed to write a script first, thinking this would be too much work and he would find something else to do. He was back fifteen minutes later, script in hand. So the four of us spent the afternoon helping Drew make his movie, The Lonely Jaguar.
Soon after we discovered a stop-motion animation program for the Mac. Drew became obsessed. He was constantly making movies with his Star Wars toys. He and Jasmine filmed a Dora movie, a NASCAR short and a bunch of other stuff that we've never posted.
The video above was made back in January 2008. A few weeks ago, Drew started his own YouTube channel. Most of the videos on his channel are Star Wars/Clone Wars stories that he has written himself. He monitors followers and video views as carefully as some bloggers watch their SiteMeter stats. (You can watch his more recent videos here.) Trust me -- he'll notice and he'll be thrilled to see that more people have watched his videos :)
When this whole movie making thing first started, I was constantly being roped in to help, first with filming, then with editing. These days, he does everything on his own. Which is why, every weekend I surrender my computer and my dining room. While I clean house or read a book, my son is making movies, working toward his dream.
I'll admit it. I swell with motherly pride that he's willing to invest so much time in something that he is so passionate about. It also kicks my butt in gear and makes me want to work harder for my dreams, too.
Today I challenge you. We know it isn't all fun and games. It takes a lot of work. So do the work and make your dreams come true.
