By virtue of you reading this first post, I assume you tick one of the following boxes: you’re a prospective film student; you’re a current student at Columbia College Chicago; you’ve an interest in filmmaking; or you’re my mother. Whichever the case, it’s nice to kick this off safe in the knowledge that we share a common ground.

I’m in the throes of last-minute preparations before I head back stateside. Between the paperwork & meetings required for both international-student-visas and securing funding for my studies, I feel as though I’m road-testing some of the skills I’ll be heavily drawing upon these next two years as a student in the Film & Video – Creative Producing MFA program at Columbia. Only, if this were a film, it’d be a low-octane, mind-numbing anti-thriller called ‘Come on Conor, get your life together’. It’s a working title.

The brief for this first post was threefold: firstly, to introduce ourselves; then to divulge a little on where we are coming from; and finally, where we are going. By now you know I’m Conor and that I’m from Ireland. In terms of where I’m coming from, if you scroll up and click ‘Meet the Bloggers’ that will provide a more detailed rundown that I could fit in here. In terms of where I’m going, I’m not too sure how to answer that. If I had the answer, somehow I don’t think I’d be pursuing these studies.

My main reason for wanting to produce is that I love story. Columbia itself states that the role of producer requires artistic vision, business acumen, and management skills. In my limited experience, having a grasp of those three areas is key in producing a film, but if there isn’t a good story at the heart of the film, what’s the point?

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Last Friday night, I was hanging out with some friends in Dublin. A writer friend of mine told the following story, which I hadn’t heard before. In the 1920s, Ernest Hemingway’s colleagues bet him that he couldn’t write a complete story in just six words. He considered it a few moments before replying, “For sale: baby shoes, never worn.” There, in six words, lies a story with so much depth and character. If you stripped a bunch of feature films of their frills and down to their most basic form, I doubt so many would have such an impact. His colleagues paid up, and Hemingway is said to have considered it his best work.

Having gained what I consider a fairly solid understanding of the production process involved in film, I now hope to delve deeper into all aspects—from concept & development through to marketing & distribution—to garner a more encompassing understanding of the forces at work within the film industry. One area in particular I look forward to tackling is story structure & narrative progression, exploring how best to tell stories. With that understanding, I want to develop and produce meaningful films. So, I guess that somewhat answers the question of where I want to go, but for now, in order to get there, Columbia is where I feel I need to be.