A Colton-Hawkins Story: Part One

George Colton-Hawkins is my name, and currently (June 25th 2019) I am a first year college student who has made two short films (in college) and is in the course of making a third. My first college short film was the first twelve minutes of a story fathoms deeper and eons more vast to which I intend to make later in my career with a more esteemed budget. Here I will be sharing knowledge, lessons, opinions, and even simply conversing with you, unseen, people. Why? I don't really know 'why', but I believe it will clear my mind and allow me to give a truly real view on stories.

One thing to establish is why I will write and create until... 'the End'. I went to a very kind and intelligent school; not a grammar or a private one, but one filled with kids who where unbelievably smart. Kids who could not only recite their 1, 2, 5, and 10 times tables, but their 7, 9's and even these awful things called 'powers'. I didn't know a thing about any of it. I was uninterested, and my brain had other things to think about such as a franchising of obscure movies you've never heard of called... 'Agents'

When I was in primary school, I felt quite directionless. I was an under achiever, not because I wasn't smart, but because I didn't have a care for anything academic. Rather I liked monster's, war's, horror, other films considered 'taboo', and a horror where armageddon was the opening and where monster's where planetary, and only men stood in their way. I named it 'colossal horror', however, I would later learn that I was dwelling on a pre-existing and far more mature version called 'cosmic horror', coined by H.P. Lovecraft.

Primary school, more specifically the early-years, was a drab time. To satisfy my mind I created plenty of worlds of my own, as a kind of escape. To pull my self back to a point in which I was satisfied I told my best friend of a film franchise he'd never heard of. Hidden, obscure, and mine; I told him about, my totally real, 'Agents' franchise. When the other seven year old's where Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and Darth Vader, my best friend Jacob and I, where the dynamic duo of agents out to stop the villainous and creativity-named one-handed foe, 'One-Hand' and his leagues of super soldiers and assassins.

I won't delve into the upside down, inside out plot, but it was bizarrely childish and complex simultaneously. For every childish moment of ridiculous stunt, the plot was intricate and interwoven. Similar to the Marvel cinematic universe; stupid yet thing's seemed to click into place and work in one great big structure. I used to talk to my Mum and attempt to persuade her of the existence of 'Agents'. I'd run her through the ins and outs of these mad mad stories built around cool images and action set pieces I'd conjured.

She loved it, but which mother wouldn't? Though the two compliments she never forged out of sympathy was that; 1. It was creative. 2. There are theme's integrated into it.

Now I never meant to put themes into it, but when reflecting back on the nine main episodes, there were themes that seemed very much intentional. I began thinking, believing it would take me years to ponder how they ended up there; yet it didn't. Ten seconds and I knew: the themes of family, heroism, and responsibility weren't weaved in, but mixed into the molten foundations of why I made them. They ended up in there because that's the power of a passion for a story.

Stories! That's what I wanted! Stories, epic and grand and sweeping! My own Star Wars, my own Indiana Jones, my own epic's that people would love. Up until this point a job seemed incredibly dull and quite a way to waste a life so I wanted to do what my Dad did, because he was happy and pulled the wages in working as a 'Dad'. Dad's job was Dad and that made sense. But now I didn't want to be a Dad I wanted to be a storyteller. I told my Mum, 'I want to make stories'.

She asked 'Do you want to be an author?' I didn't know what an author was, but when she told me I felt sick. What kind of boring person writes books, I thought; nine years later on Sunday October 15th 2017 I'd begin writing my coo-de-gra (Coup de grâce). Today in mid 2019 the book is 404 pages...

My Mum then said the most influential words in my life (up to that point); 'So you want to be a director?' Yes. Yes I do. Very much so. More than you could believe, I would've said.

She had to explain what it was, but before I knew, just from the word I felt it. That feeling of purpose. One person said that 'Cellar-door' was the most beautiful combination of words. 'Cellar-door' my asterisk, 'Film-Director' is divine, shortly followed by 'Screen-writer'.

"I have no official, press-prized quotes to finish on... yet."