Lights, Camera, Action!

          I’m proud of all four of my children, but today I must tell you about the one who’s a filmmaker.  

His name is Cassidy (so named five years before it became a girl’s name, and yes he has done a standup routine about this in college).

          When Cassidy was three years old, I was folding laundry in my bedroom and heard him out in the hall, crying.  I dashed out to see what was the matter.

          “I’m just practicing my fake cry,” he said.

          I went back to folding.  Soon I heard him crying again, only this time it sounded even worse.  I couldn’t resist—I went to check on him.    With a peeved edge to his voice, he told me I did not need to keep checking on him, that he was simply practicing his fake cry.   

          “Well, knock it off,” I said.  “It’s too convincing.”  And that’s probably the moment when I realized he was destined for entertainment.

          Mind you, St. Bob and I were living in L.A., were in “the biz,” and it was the last thing we wanted for our kids, right?  But then and there I knew I had an actor and a storyteller on my hands, and as he grew I saw unmistakable talent. No way could I steer him in some other direction, any more than he could fake cry less convincingly.

          He made the morning videos that were broadcast into all the home rooms in his high school, and from there began making documentaries, corporate videos, kickstarter campaigns, and short films (see them on his website). His latest short film was inspired by the song, Fix You, by Coldplay, and I hope you’ll take five minutes to watch it here. As soon as it posted, it got 5,000 hits.

          The only thing missing is a middle-aged mother bursting onto the scene and saying, “Stop it, all of you—you’re too convincing.”

Cassidy  is married to Tiffany, an equally talent artist and stylist, whose fashion blog, Oktopodes.com, is also a must-read.  Cass and his siblings are in several of my books, by the way.  Check  ‘em out here.