How Does it Feel?

I recently completed principal photography on my feature film debut, Raspberry Magic. Many people have asked me how it feels, and I say that it feels amazing, I'm so, so happy to not be thinking at every moment, is it going to happen? Then the next question many people ask is, how did it happen? It took many years and there were a series of many different events that I believe really helped pull it all together. In my past, say, 7 years ago, I graduated from the UC-Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism with a Master's Degree in Documentary Film Production. I had done quite a lot of journalistic writing throughout my youth, and simultaneously was involved in web/graphic design. Also, I was very interested in social issues, and decided that earning my master's in the documentaries would be the way to go--it combined visual storytelling with meaning, depth. While there, I continued to write for a number of publications, and I also wrote some fiction, which I had been doing already. I also interned in documentary film in many different capacities--assistant editor, researcher, etc. Then I made my thesis doc, Dreaming in Code. It played at some festivals and got some press. Then, I got a grant to make My Narmada Travels. It played in some festivals, won some awards, then aired on television. But around that time, I was burnt out on docs and feeling like I really wanted to expand my world. I didn't feel like docs were my calling, like I could keep doing it. So, I worked as a Production Coordinator on a film called Happily Even After. I loved that experience. I loved narrative filmmaking, everything felt so succinct, clear cut and I loved that everything was planned, there was so much room for creativity. Also, by that time, I had been writing screenplays and I realized that this was my calling, I loved it. So... I ended up becoming friends with some people from the film and shot my narrative short, This Moment. That film screened in some festivals and ended up being purchased by some schools. Around that time, I had written Raspberry Magic. It was a mess, my writing was all over the place, but it was a finalist for the Sundance labs, and I had a few people who thought it had potential. I kept re-writing and revising it, and wrote a few other things in between. A few agents liked it, but said it was too small and too indie, and that I should find a indie producer to help me. It took years of hustle, struggle, stress and self doubt, but finally, we got the film in the can...