STEPTOE & SON - Steptoe and Me

I was ten years old and I randomly came across an old TV show on the BBC. It was black and white, which is not something I had time for. But before I had a chance to change the channel, it had me laughing.

It was STEPTOE & SON. I remember the episode very specifically, it was the episode where Albert turns 65.

Everyone has that story about how they first saw a movie when they were 4 and it changed their life forever. I don't have that story. But maybe this was that moment. I don't remember much TV or film from my childhood, at least not in any special way. But I do remember Steptoe & Son.

I would get to school early on a Tuesday, or whatever day it was, and I would sit up against the old shed at the back of the playground and recall the previous night's episode with my friend, Stewart. I don't remember much about Stewart, if anything at all, apart from the fact he also loved Steptoe & Son.

I wasn't a screenwriter at ten years old. I didn't direct films. And I didn't consciously have any tastes (although I was developing a bit of a taste for a girl called Victoria, but she showed no appetite). I wasn't as limited back then. I was free. And Steptoe & Son was glorious. We would watch every episode we could find, and we would talk about it non-stop, and I would impersonate Harold's voice.

Around a similar time, I found The Beatles. There I was, ten years old, and everything I loved was black and white. I didn't have to justify my preferences to anyone, and I didn't feel the need to tweet about it. I'd just watch and laugh and love.

I watched that episode yesterday. When Albert turned 65. It's not as funny to me now, but it has so many of the seeds that bloomed into things that would become a huge part of the essence of who I am. My sense of story, and character, and my love for comedy. Maybe it began that one night, when I accidentally caught an old episode of Steptoe & Son. Maybe that's why this blog is called Kid In The Front Row. Everything I've done since, is just about finding my way back to that feeling of joy that I felt when I discovered Harold & Albert Steptoe. 

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Nora Ephron on Screenwriting

'The screenplay is the big plain pizza, the one with tomatoes and cheese. And then the director comes in and says "you know, it's needs mushrooms." And you put mushrooms on it, and the costume designer throws peppers on. And pretty soon you have a pizza with everything. Sometimes it's the greatest pizza of your life and sometimes you think 'that was a mistake, we should have left it with only the mushrooms.'

-Nora Ephron

Sleepless In Seattle, You've Got Mail, Julie & Julia

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No Fantasy

We're locked in, numb. We don't love enough. We don't risk enough. We don't fight for things.

That's where films come in. They paint our lives in all the colours we don't quite see.

We were better when we were kids. That's why we keep watching. We know It's in us.

Maguire. Brockovich. The Tramp. Gump. They're us. We see ourselves. We see our dreams.

Maguire took the risk. Brockovich fought the man. The tramp kept his curiosity, and Gump talked to strangers. They're the us we wanna be. The us we pretend to be.

We don't talk when we sit next to each other on a bench. We don't take the risk. And we don't fight the man and the injustice he perpetuates, we just write tweets about it.

Films show us the road to our better selves. They're all the parts we keep locked up in our broken hearts and resentful minds. The world fucked us over, again and again. Didn't get the job, didn't get the girl, didn't get to change the world.

Films are not unrealistic. They're not fantasies. They're more real than the bullshit that leaves us at home, all alone, complaining about everything the world did wrong.

Watch your favourite movie and then take that feeling, that essence, that thing that resonates with you and use it in your life.

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New Permanent Sections On The Blog

I have added three permanent sections to the blog. Industry Interviews, Inspiration, and Short Stories. I hope you check them out. If not now, then you'll be able to find them forever more on the top left of the blog. 

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What Projects Are You Currently Working On?

I do this occasionally here -- just a chance for us all to share a little bit of ourselves. You are more than welcome to share links but, more importantly; I'd like to hear from you personally on your creative projects. What are you working on or considering working on? What is inspiring you? What obstacles are you facing? 

Share anything you'd like to share about your projects in the comments section; It'll be great for everyone to read, and hopefully very inspiring. It doesn't have to be film based -- and, it doesn't have to be something big; maybe you have a poem you've been working on for a few months, or maybe you're about to start designing birthday cards, or maybe you're writing a screenplay for a studio and you're struggling on the third act. 

Whatever it is you're focusing on, or thinking of focusing on, or struggling to keep momentum with--- tell us about it! I look forward to hearing from you all!

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