price of a dream

So...for a while now I've been following (with a mild obsession) the career path of a guy from my hometown. I'll give you the abbreviated version, but stay with me...there is a point to all of this.

Jody Hill grew up in Concord and then went to North Carolina School of the Arts. After graduating he directed a film that he and some of his NCSA friends wrote. They filmed The Foot Fist Way in Concord and the cost of the film was slapped on a credit card. Something like $70,000.

The movie was selected in a non-competition capacity for Sundance Film Festival. Somewhere along the way Will Ferrell saw the movie. He and his partner worked with Jody and his NCSA friends to develop a sitcom called "P.E." After a bidding war, HBO ended up with the show in what some sources say is "one of the pay cable network's richest development deals." I think shooting begins this summer and Jody will be directing it.

I find this completely fascinating. I love that this guy believed in himself...in his talent...in his friends and it worked out. Plainly....I wish I had that much belief in myself.