How My Short Film Made it to the Cannes Film Festival

I found out four days ago that the short film I wrote, THE DARK OF NIGHT (directed by Robin Wright and starring Leslie Bibb, Sam Rockwell, Callie Thorne, Michael Godere and Nini Le Huynh) will be opening the Cannes Classics film block on the seventieth anniversary of the Cannes Film Festival. We premiere on May 18, just prior to the digitally restored version of "All That Jazz", which won the Palme d'Or in 1980, and the director of the festival, Thierry Fremaux will introduce us.How in the hell do you wrap your head around that? How do you buy a dress, and some shoes, iron clothes you haven't worn in years, pack a bag (you just bought by the way, because the last time you went to Europe, you wore a backpack and stayed in youth hostels), then fly off to Cannes to spend two days with the woman who directed your film, a woman who is still one of the hottest actresses in Hollywood, a woman you have admired since the first time you saw her on screen, and act like its all no big deal?I'll tell you how.You launch yourself at this adventure like you have nothing to lose, because at the end of the day, you don't. And how many times in my life am I ever going to get to say I had this kind of experience? I am 57 years old and I work hard. Harder than most people I have ever meet in my life. I don't give up and I don't take no for an answer. I didn't get here by myself, but I sure as hell didn't wait around for someone to hand it to me either.And now here I am, on the precipice of an adventure most people can only dream of. 80 people from the TV series, House of Cards, volunteered their time, their resources and their shared love of film to breath life into THE DARK OF NIGHT. I can't believe that a goal I set for myself when I was fresh out of college turned into a ten minute film with this kind of pedigree. The director of photography, Dave Dunlap,the costume designer, Jessica Wenger McPhail, the editor, Alphonso Carrion, the set decorators, the sound guys, the stand ins, the production assistants, the first AD (Todd Halvern), the UPM (Sharif Salama), and the caterers - everything about this production was beyond anything I could have ever comprehended.And what's crazy is that every single person who worked on this film took the time to thank me, and the man who really made it happen, Michael Witt (an executive producer on the film as well), for the chance to work on this movie. I feel like I didn't do anything, that I wrote as few words on a page, and a bunch of really talented people swooped in and made MY dream a reality.I owe every one of them a debt of gratitude. Movies are a collaborative medium and too often you hear horror stories about prima donas on a film set, but the crew from House of Cards, the amazing cast and most of all, Nini Le Huynh and Robin Wright, turned the dream I'd waited so long for, into the most remarkable experience of my life.And now I get to take in the spectacle that is Cannes. The funny thing is? I feel like I was born for this moment. I can't wait to see what happens next.