All That Promise, and So Little to Show For It......

A long time ago, in a city once known for it's absence of stop lights and ever present odor of cow manure, lived a very chubby 11 year old named Loma who was in love with her big hair bows, pegged Guess? overalls and really, really big hair. Loma and her fellow 6th grade Draper Elementary Dragons were given the exciting assignment to rewrite, direct and film a movie adaptation of a popular movie (we're going waaayyy back to 1988 here). Loma's class chose "Ghostbusters" and she was excited to be given the assignment of screenwriter (mostly because she didn't have to actually act). She did, however, get forced into being one of the extras in the "Thanksgiving Dinner" scene- you can see her playing the role of the big brown head with a giant white bow on the right hand side of the screen.

Thanks to dedicated preservation over 21 years by a classmate, the award winning "Ghostbusters 4" recently made it's way on to YouTube (it really did win an award at our 6th grade movie reveal/Emmy night. I think we were assigned to make our own awards though because I distinctly remember having to make a giant sugar cookie notebook and pen for the screenwriting award, and then being presented it at the assembly. It was very yummy). The film quality may not be as good as today, and the sound is spotty at best, but the brilliance of the acting comes through perfectly.





If you found this movie enthralling, there are 3 others posted on YouTube by the same student, Stryxad. They are "Revenge of the Nerds", "Summer School" and "Ferris Bueller"- but I must say, none holds a candle to "Ghostbusters" for it's dedication to great film making. For a good 3 months after filming, Loma was determined to move to Hollywood to become a famous screenwriter. But then her class was assigned the task of publishing a 6th grade newspaper and her ambitions turned to the fast paced and dangerous world of investigative journalism.

Update: "Where is she now??"
Loma is now 32 years old and is a stay at home mother of three. Despite all the promise she showed first as a screenwriter and then as a journalist, she never pursued either career. Loma got a degree in English but has not done a single professional thing with it since. She does, however, frequently correct her children's grammar, rarely uses spell check, and edits the occasional book report or term paper.