The Beginning (and creation) of WILLA - Part I

When you have to do something you have to do something! I had to do 'Willa' - I knew that from the moment I read Stephen King's short story. As cliche and ridiculous as it may sound I really felt like the story chose me and not really the other way. I actually had no idea if anyone had ever done this story before and though that probably wouldn't have stopped me I certainly was very happy to discover that whatever I created would be the first time anyone had ever made a serious attempt to make it into a movie.
  Now there are probably a lot of ways to prepare when you want to do a movie. But which one is the right way? It seems that anyone who feel they have anything to say about it has the 'right' way and are happy to tell you that this is how you do it. I also ran into a lot of people who certainly told me all the things I couldn't do. A lot of 'don't', 'not', 'can't', and 'what makes you think' were said by some of the people I met. Others were more supportive and had more constructive ideas.
  In a way I think I did the very right thing (for me) when I made the decision that this movie was going to happen regardless of budget and size etc. I think that in a way propelled me forward with the belief that if worse came to worst I could always just dig up someone with a sort-of-good camera and shoot the thing over a long period of time so it wouldn't interfere with anyone's jobs etc.
  This is probably already where some of you reading this would pull out your hairs. That's certainly not the way to do a film! Isn't it? Why not? I really think that if you look at what you have and start from the point you know you can actually accomplish you can always work your way up. And if nothing it will be an experience and something that will prepare you for other things to come. Some people I spoke to talked a lot about 'wasting other people's time'. If you do something that you feel passionate about and that attracts others - as long as you're honest about your intentions I really don't see how you are wasting any time. You're learning, you're growing and you get to know some people who believe in it like you do. And then it's already a success! Because what does that really mean in this kind of industry? Are you only a success with a film if you make millions of dollars, get a sequel etc etc? Of course those things are signs of success but, once again, since this was my first project I really felt it was more important to make it a success in the sense that people involved would feel good about it, I would feel good about it and we would know we had accomplished something, learned something and found some new connections.
  So where do you start? I started with the casting! Was that right or wrong? I don't know - but I was sure that once I found my cast I would know if they were the perfect candidates for the roles. I hadn't even begun the screenplay yet when I did the auditions but I very quickly did after!
  What a pleasure the auditions were! What an amazing experience seeing people come in and spend a few minutes showing us their personalities and talent. Within a couple of weeks I had the perfect people for all the roles and, thanks to the auditions, I even added new characters to the story. That made me even more excited! That the auditions helped write the screenplay.
  Then I wrote! I was in contact with the actors, met up with them, had lots of coffees and wonderful conversation. Once again, the actors were excited as I was and eager to tell me about their characters and how they saw them. Once again this all helped me in the writing and before I knew it we started attracting the people behind the camera.