As a college student, I find it harder and harder to convince myself that I'm not crazy. Trying to combine what I'm passionate about and how to make that into a life supporting career gets increasingly difficult as graduation draws closer. Sometimes you just have to be a little relentless with yourself and realize that maybe your passion is not crazy and can actually become a career that won't leave you in a cardboard box on the side of the street.
Jacob Sziraky calls himself "a man without shame" as he courageously takes on his capstone and long-term goal of creating a feature film. I was lucky to sit down and work with him through this creative process as a student filmmaker and am sharing his thoughts with you as an encouragement to take on your passions no matter the cost -- literally.
After months of screenwriting, "Dulcy and Red" is the feature-length film Sziraky is currently in the process of creating. You can imagine how difficult it must be to work with a small budget on a college campus, and there's always that point where you ask, how much is this going to cost me? Sziraky's life as a screenwriter extends beyond the logistics of filmmaking as he's created many short films that no one has seen before, yet continues to do for his own love.
"Dulcy and Red" tells the story of Donald Richmond finding his humanity again through escaping reality with his beloved Dulcinea. Sziraky explains, "[Donald] is content, but only living half his life. Life picks up for him after meeting someone, but then he struggles with whether a flawed reality is better than a perfect fantasy." The craziest part of the filmmaking process has surprisingly been more along the lines of the story itself. Choosing to be a filmmaker may not be the easiest field of work, but certainly a deep passion and lifelong infatuation of Sziraky's.
For Sziraky, the inspiration to begin filmmaking really had nothing to do with college at all. He explained, "I think it's human nature -- we all communicate and learn best through stories. Even Christ taught in parables...we all respond to stories in some level." Through this project, Sziraky expressed, "I want [Dulcy & Red] to reflect how joyous life can be. Finding love, happiness...I want people to leave the theater with a smile on their face. People are going to be happy and at the end of the day that's all I care about."
As "Dulcy and Red" takes on a new realm in Sziraky's filmmaking career, his future plans will consist of his passion. When asking what life will look like after college, he answered, "I don't make films for other people. When I film, I feel God's pleasure. After this, I'm going to make more films -- don't know if they'll be feature or short but as long as I'm on this planet I'll be holding a camera."
So whoever told you you can't have a "glamorous" career because it'll cost you too much money and you'll never get anywhere, just tell them to sit back and watch.
