things that brought me joy in '24 & things i hope to do in '25

Inevitably, the list dissolves into the stuff I usually write about & think about...

I started out jotting a list of stuff I enjoyed in 2024. It quickly spiraled into more self-reflection, gratitude and regrets but mostly gratitude.

1. A Different Man (2024)

Just a really smart movie. Subverted expectations, really well-written, well-directed and it stayed with me in a nice, surprising way. Adam Pearson is incredible.

2. Monster (2023)

I love Kore-eda's movies. It's one day told in three parts — from these teachers' perspective, then parents' perspective, then the kids' POVs. It's really beautiful. The composer, Ryuichi Sakamoto, died before the film was released, but he paired with the director so well. Highly recommend.

3. Framing things

I’ll print these glossy stills for 40 cents at CVS Photos, then place them in frames and mount ‘em. I’ve never been one to do much decorating, but I’ve found it to be a nice hobby in 2024. It’s fun to think about how to curate the images — finding little meanings in why certain ones are arranged together, making themes and threads. Most are films, but there’s music and comedy on other walls. Above is one that started as a couple images and gradually snowballed. If you’re curious about stills you don’t recognize or think there are others I should add, let me know via comment or whatever.

4. Basketball

I’ve started to play basketball again regularly, at least once/wk, and I love doing it. I look forward to it every week. I never made it to the NBA, which is probably for the best. Too much travel & I’d get bored dunking daily… but once a week is perfect.

5. Filming

This month, I filmed a doc that’s the silliest thing I’ve ever made. A weird situation was presented to me and I just followed the impulse. Within a week, it came together and we filmed the entire project. I really can’t express how fun it was and how excited I am to share it. I hope to make more purely fun shit like that.

6. Writing

I love to write. Every day, for hours a day. I’m not particularly fun. I write feature scripts, half-hour scripts, everything. I hop between Google docs where I’m doing detailed outlines, Final Drafts of scripts at various stages, work through to-do lists that I think of as ‘tricking my brain’ into chipping away. I work hard on everything I do and, again, I’m not that fun. Anything I write, I write with the intention of making it. It’s helped me finish 2024 with scripts I’m very proud of and projects where I can see the pathways to becoming very proud of them.

It’s challenging, though. To find routes to fund something. To get paid to do the thing you enjoy doing the most. Which — I guess it should be hard to do that. What sometimes feels tough is this fact:

I’m the most confident I have ever been in the internal within my control — my ability to write and to create and to set the tone that I’d want set in a work environment. Yet I’m the least confident in the external — the status of the industry, the availability of resources, the entertainment influencer economy that runs on a wobbly stack of Jenga pieces to be knocked over in 0.5 seconds, and how to tread water through those crashing waves.

I’m glad to find joy in the writing. I hope you all have something or things within your internal control that brings you joy, that you can focus on, so you’re not waiting for the external to come save you. That said, please subscribe to my Paid Substack, or just like and share some posts, so more people can find my stuff.

7. Teaching

I taught two once-a-week intermediate screenwriting courses at a college this fall semester. I hadn’t done that before, but I enjoyed it. I like talking about films and scripts and breaking them down. It’s interesting seeing what undergrads choose as the topics for their scripts, what the common mistakes are, how to set up a good environment for productive feedback. There’s also a nice feeling of pride when you can see a script improve from Draft 1 to Draft 3.

8. World getting smaller — in a nice way

I was talking to someone and described getting older as your world getting smaller — but in a positive way. Someone’s ‘world getting smaller’ is often used in a negative connotation, but there’s positives to it. Smaller means more focused, more zeroed in on what matters, more efficient, more discerning.

In my 30s, I’m better at identifying the people I want to be around. I’m better at maintaining connections with the friends whose friendships I find to be nourishing and positive and healthy. Sussing out negative dynamics and either pulling back from them entirely or, if it’s worth it, calling them out and putting effort towards repair.

We just spend a lot of time in life trying to get approval from people who don’t want to grant us that approval — whether it’s personal or professional dynamics. Sometimes these people intentionally withhold their approval to feel a sense of power. A lot of toxic shit that it can take time to realize you need to sprint far away from that nonsense. At least, it took me time.

A lot of things took me time. To overcome a lot of shame and embarrassment I felt about everything. To stop distancing myself from people who did nothing wrong, when their biggest infraction was them knowing a version of myself that brought me discomfort, that hated myself. To forgive the people who had hurt me — to forgive them out of empathy and also because it’s more exhausting to hold onto those things. Sometimes, I beat myself up for not reaching these places of growth sooner, for mishandling friendships and connections in my ‘20s with people I love — but it is what it is. I’m grateful to still be here, to have had the chance to reach that place of growth, to find these outlets and sources of joy. I’m fortunate to be able to invest in connections that matter to me, with the people who are still here, alive and in my life.

In 2025…

• I hope to write more fun things.

• I hope to film more fun things.

• I hope to film my Cramming feature, based on my short.

• I hope to sell this half-hour show in development.

• I hope to find some renewed excitement for stand-up — not necessarily like I used to, but in a way that reflects where I am now and how I want to live. That one’s probably for a different essay.

• I hope to work with friends.

• Most importantly, I hope to continue to grow in all the ways I wrote above.

Happy ‘25.

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