Congratulations to Michael Bina for placing in the top ten in the Producers Guild of America’s Weekend Shorts Challenge, which had several hundred entries. Two of the celebrity judges were James Franco and Paula Wagner, Tom Cruise’s producing partner. Michael’s short film, The Squeeze, was also produced by Shawn Shekarchian and Amir Mirfakhrai.

Michael came to me as a student in 7th grade and we worked together on creative writing until he graduated from high school. Now that he has his BFA from Tisch School of the Arts at NYU, we still see each other weekly, but now as fellow writers, not teacher and student. I am immensely proud of Michael for his talent, determination, work ethic and overall integrity, and I am delighted that he is getting some well-deserved notice for his fine film work.

The star of the film is Michael’s cousin, Jonah, who is a fifth grader. Jonah is now one of my students, as well. At the screening, I saw Michael’s brother, along with two more of Michael’s cousins, who have all been or currently are my students. In fact, Michael’s aunt suggested that I be granted honorary “auntie” status in the Bina family. I think that may in fact make sense at this point!

Jonah

An added and unexpected bonus of our visit to this event tonight was to run into our old friends Erin O’Malley and Windy Bunts O’Malley. They are two of our buddies from St. Thomas the Apostle Episcopal church, who we haven’t seen lately because Erin is the producer for New Girl and they are heavy into production. Ray and I always pick up just where we last left off with Erin and Windy, so seeing them was extra special. They are two of the nicest young women I know with two of the cutest daughters I know, so that made this whole event even better. Of course, we had no idea that Erin was instrumental in creating this film competition in the first place to honor producer, Laura Ziskin, (Pretty Woman, As Good as It Gets, just to name two of her many films) who died of cancer a few years ago. That added one more reason why this was such a great night.

So, congratulations to Michael, Jonah, Shawn and Amir for your fine work. The film was well-done and your distinction in the top 10 is well deserved. Keep on working, gentlemen, you have bright futures ahead of you.

As for you, Michael, I couldn’t be more proud. Keep these honors coming. You are on your way, my dear.

Alex, Amir, Shawn and Michael