@sarahthack: What’s a defining moment in your life? I feel like life is a constant string of defining moments, one after the next, and sometimes you don’t realize they’re defining moments until much later on. When I was 21, I flew to LA for a screening of a short I directed, and ending up meeting a lot of really great people briefly. Everyone seemed to love the short, I got a meeting or two out of it, and I felt like, “Wow. My career must really be taking off.” Fun fact – it wasn’t, but I got an email at the time from a director who’d made several critically well-received indie movies, telling me that he really liked my short. “It was terrific. Great production and shot design, well conceived and very entertaining – great storytelling all around.” I was more than flattered and thanked him. Then I went to film school, did a billion internships and several jobs assisting, editing, and directing digital media, all in pursuit of the dream. I also followed up with that director several times to no response. I couldn’t blame him though – I probably wouldn’t respond if I were directing Looper or the follow up to JJ Abrams’ Star Wars movie. It wasn’t until nearly 7 years later, and in a time of artistic self-doubt that I randomly stumbled upon Rian’s email. It was defining and uplifting to me in a way then that it wouldn’t have been all those years ago, both because I’ve watched what he’s been able to achieve since we met, and also because I now have an appreciation that a 21 year old doesn’t about how tough it is to achieve those things. Now, I keep a screenshot of that email in a corner of my desktop, just in case I ever need a little encouragement from one of the greats. #thereelwomen #girlboss #women #womenoflight #picoftheday #photooftheday #female #love #film #television #TV #media #art #FilmEquality #womeninfilm #femalefilmmakers #empoweringwomen #womenempower #betterhollywood #womendirect #girl #movies #movielover #me #happy #ladyboss #bosslady #goals http://ow.ly/i/kqVZE