[THE MAKING OF] Origin Story

Crayons on paper at age 8. Cliché, perhaps.  Classic, absolutely.

So here it is at last.  My first blog post.

Should probably be some sort of an intro. Appetizer.  An amuse-bouche, for all you Food Network addicts out there.

Which reminds me.  I didn’t have breakfast yet. I’ll just be a minute.

Okay, I’m back.  What were we talking about again?  Ah, yes…  Me.

So who is this Jim Hereth guy anyway?

Well, at my core, I’ve always considered myself a creative person – drawing, acting, writing, filmmaking…  Making up excuses for why I didn’t have my homework or somehow missed class entirely.  That kind of thing.

Directing the Super 8 science fiction comedy masterpiece, “Mega Men,” in junior high.

As a kid I drew comics, shot short movies on film and video, even starred in a PSA that aired across the country in which I pretended to cry (act-ing!).

It was pretty clear early on that I wasn’t likely to become a doctor or a lawyer when – and if – I finally grew up.

So what would I do instead?

Despite my fevered imaginings, it seemed pretty unlikely that anyone was going to pay me to sleep in and watch television all day.

At least, not a lot.

The answer, it appeared, would be somewhere in the world of entertainment.  Turns out you can even get a diploma for that.  And thanks to what I can only assume was some sort of clerical error in the admissions office, this veteran underachiever managed to get himself accepted into the Film and Television program at NYU.

Working on my first feature screenplay at NYU. On a typewriter. It’s like a laptop with a paper screen.

Still, there were problems that remained unsolved.  When I actually arrived at school for my freshman year, I had no idea what particular discipline I was going to pursue.

After all, I intended to do it all eventually.

Meanwhile, other kids around me hit campus with their career goals clearly mapped out on day one.

They were going to be Directors, Actors, Cinematographers, Producers, Editors, Gaffers…

A few were even carving their niche in sound (very few, actually.  This probably needs to be more encouraged).

  Non-stop action as Creator on the set of “Mowgli: The New Adventures of the Jungle Book” in Costa Rica.

Eventually, though, I realized that a day would rarely go by without an idea for something popping into my head.  Movies.  Series.  Books.  The occasional puppet show.

I finally discovered my primary superpower lay in writing.

From there it was just a matter of working toward doing it more and doing it better.  And, of course, getting paid for it.

Creativity alone ain’t gonna cover the cable bill.

Thankfully, as an adult, I’ve managed to make a living in the entertainment business.  Not exclusively from writing, of course, but it’s all helped to keep the dream machine churning along.

And as it does, I continue to undertake my slow-moving, but inevitable (benevolent) domination of the industry.  It’s only a matter of time, really.

Flexing a few long-dormant acting muscles for the web pilot, “GROOMer.”

Maybe you’re like me.  Maybe I can share some thoughts and experiences I’ve gleaned over the years that you might find helpful.

Maybe you’re just curious about what I had for breakfast (it was Raisin Bran, if you must know.  With some Corn Flakes mixed in).

Regardless, I’ll try to at least share some thoughts every few weeks or so, and hopefully keep it entertaining.

Let’s see how this goes…