Cynthia Gregory 15 minute Writing Exercise PROMPT: After the end
After the end credits roll, what happens to the movie. Sometimes the audience claps, sometimes they sit in silence, they always get up and leave, leaving behind their trash – sodas, popcorn boxes, candy wrappers, bent tickets - that they could have easily gathered up and disposed of on their way out. Then the employees enter to do battle with the soda sticky and popcorn crunching floors, setting up for the next credits to roll. Then the theater counts its receipts and reports the Revenue to “the Studios” and “the Industry” and thus begins the assessment of the movie's worthiness and if there will be a future franchise development. Meanwhile, the Masses have their own popular assessment of the film and may or may not correspond with the Industry Critics. My career has been a movie. I have allowed myself to follow the Studio Release narrative - what that product lifecycle should be when all along -- and I always knew this -- I wanted my life to be an Independent Film – an Arthouse Film – cycling on my terms – okay, with some trash collection involved – but with the outcome being Life affirming not being Corporate Profit. When did I fall into the main stream film release schedule? Oh yes. When Fear halted my courage to try again after failure – a Box Office flop. When will my courage conquer the fear?
Nov 8, 2025
