Yes, that’s right. This blog post is about the first time I fell in love. You may be wondering:

“What juicy story do you have for us!?”

I should clarify: My first love was not someone. It was cinema.

You see, I was 4 years old. By this point in my life, I loved watching movies and shows on TV. Even before I could speak, I would point at the TV, moaning, trying to tell my Mom to keep the TV going. Anyways, back to 4 years old - One day, my Dad decided to take my older brother and I to the movies. Here’s the thing: I had never been to the movies before. My only knowledge of going somewhere for a movie was going to Blockbuster to rent one. Ahhh, the days of Blockbuster and the video rental store…

So, my Dad, brother and I pack in the car. As we’re driving, my young mind starts to wonder: Where are we going? What’s “the movies?”. All my mind could comprehend was that at Blockbuster, they had those big tube TV’s hanging off those arms from the corners of the ceiling where they’d play ads and clips from the movies in-store. So I thought, “AHA! I got it! We must be going to Blockbuster! And maybe they’re gonna set up some foldable chairs in front of one of those TV’s and we’ll watch a new movie that way!”. THIS IS COMPLETELY TRUE. I 100% THOUGHT THAT THIS WAS WHAT GOING TO THE MOVIES WAS.

Albeit, it was an odd sight to imagine, in some crude way, it’s not completely inaccurate from what going to the movies is actually like. With this now in my mind, my Dad proceeded to drive straight past our local Blockbuster. I immediately asked him why he didn’t stop there for the movie. He laughed and proceeded to tell me that we weren’t going to Blockbuster, but that we were going to a movie theater. A movie theater? What on earth is that? Needless to say, I was confused for the rest of the car ride there.

As we arrived to our local movie theater, my confusion was about to be decimated. We were now walking up to a quintessentially 90’s era theater: bright neon lighting, big glass windows in the front, and as I found inside, a giant space full of posters, marquees, concessions(CANDY!) and absolutely everything devoted to movies. I had never seen a place like this before. I’m not being sacrilegious, but it truly felt like I was stepping into a church: the Church of Cinema. As this is all soaking in for me, we go to get some concessions(You’re telling this 4 year old we can get candy and popcorn and soda to watch something!? Mindblowing).

With our snacks and drinks in hand, we proceed into: THE THEATER. If the building itself was like the Church, this part was like entering into the Inner Temple. I looked at the room in amazement. There was this large amount of stadium seating all facing a giant blank screen. Little did I know that my life was about to change. You’re probably wondering by this point, “What movie did you see that day!?”. Well, my Dad got us tickets to see the 1995 friendly ghost classic, “Casper”, starring Christina Ricci and Bill Pullman. For those of you who aren’t familiar, I can’t claim it is the greatest film of all time. But for this 4 year old, it was about to put me through all my paces.

Suddenly, all of the lights in our theater dim, turning off completely, and the screen immediately floods with image and sound. The trailers roll and I’m beginning to sit in amazement, in this large theater full of myself, family and strangers. This wasn’t like at home, watching something on a small screen while life is still happening all around you. Here, in this place, what you’re seeing is literally larger and louder than life, and you and this group of strangers sit together, in the dark, with only one focus: CINEMA. By this point I was already hooked…and then the movie started…

…This movie, especially for a 4 year old, had everything for me. It made me laugh, cry, tense up, get scared, get excited, empathize, sit in wonder of the 90’s CGI, and by the end of it, feel a deep joy and tenderness in my heart. What happened to me during this film was not simply watch a movie, but have my first truly religious experience, which made me do something new: Fall in love. Sitting in that theater and watching that movie, I had fallen completely head over heels for cinema; for film and the spectacle that was the theater experience. I had never experienced anything like this before in my life. It was so pure. And at this point, there was no career ambition, nothing I figured I could get out of it, but I simply, wonderfully, fell for cinema, purely for what it was. Nothing more. Nothing less.

What really happened to me on this day was God. This was the day He orchestrated for me to stumble into my life’s greatest passion. And while it would come, He didn’t want that day to be about knowing what my life career was going to be, at least not consciously. He just wanted me to fall in love first. He wanted me to love cinema purely for what it is and not just what it could do for me. Needless to say, from this day on, it started a journey of discovery and pursuit of becoming a filmmaker.

I’m so grateful my Dad took me that day and it has never left me. Honestly, my happy place is at the movies. Whether with people or even by myself, that is the place I feel the happiest and best understood. It’s where life makes sense for me. It is the greatest gift from God. So no matter where my journey will take me, hoping I can share my films with all of the world, one thing will remain true the rest of my life: Cinema was my first love, and I will keep going to the theater to keep that love alive.

SIDE NOTE: Fred Rogers is one of my heroes and someone who I take great inspiration to live my life from. Crazily enough, there’s a clip straight from his show in the movie, “Casper”! How crazy that the first movie I saw in a theater had Mr. Rogers in it, and his calling would change my life!? Enjoy the clip below!