SHANNON SHAW

Shannon was a directionless slacker most of his life. He worked one menial job after another until he found the ONE occupation that interested him: being a youth counselor for at-risk teenagers. This job offered him a means to try to HELP OTHER PEOPLE, especially kids, and brought MEANING to Shannon's existence.
Shannon worked anywhere from 40 to 120 hours a week (yes, that's right, 20 hours a day for some shifts!) This all-work-no-free-time era destroyed his social life as all his friends lost contact with him. By the time he had FINALLY slowed down to steady 40 hour a week shifts, he simply quit caring about having a social life as he was so used to nothing but work for over two years by then. Thus, began his personal downfall. Changes at work did not help matters at all.
Finally, due to a variety of factors (mostly the old "refuse to kiss his supervisor's butt"), he was laid off (even though all but 2 of the other employees who would hide away in the office to play poker while the kids run amok were able to KEEP their jobs... but, I digress).
After nine months of desperately searching, he took the first job that hired him: loading trucks on a dock. Within hours, he realized this job was physically too much for him, but he needed the income too much, as he had now gone through his savings just paying his daily bills.
Within a few months, he had injured himself on the job, but still no calls returned from any other potential employers meant he simply CLOAKED the pain by taking massive amounts of ibuprofen in the mornings, at lunch, after work, and before bed. Six months had passed before he had ONE call back, and after an unusually rough day at work, he put in his notice the very next day.
That job did not work out ("it takes money to make money") and when he slowed down on the ibuprofen, he realized just how much pain he was actually in.
Shannon wasted a year or so trying to get doctors to fix him, but one misdiagnosis after another wasted his time.
Completely out of money, and living off the good graces of his family and friends (in which he is not the type of person who wants to do so), he filed for Social Security disability. This wasted nearly four years of his life as the lawyer was completely INCOMPETENT and did almost NOTHING to help his case.
A second lawyer instructed him on what he needed to do and he very quickly won his case. But the damage was done.
By this time, Shannon had been in so much physical pain, and had NO MONEY WHATSOEVER (for gasoline or for going out, thus he was alone with NO SOCIAL LIFE AT ALL) for so long that he had by now fallen into a deep depression.

Shannon found You Tube on the internet. By 2007, it inspired and motivated him to try to make home movies himself. He had FINALLY found the ONE thing in his entire life that interested him and actually made him happy.
Unfortunately, making digital films is a time-consuming collaborative effort that takes several people to do it right. His social life was still non-existent and the friends that he was on speaking terms with simply did not have the time nor desire to participate. You can't blame them; they work, come home to spend time with their family, and have their own hobbies. So, Shannon turned to the only people who were available and willing: local teenagers - the kids of Shannon's friends, and their friends. This limited the stories that could be told, but filming ANYTHING is better than nothing. This was a time of major learning experiences on how to make movies.

Later, in late 2008, he embarked on a quest to make a "quick little movie" called "Insanely Sane". Unfortunately, easier said than done. For MONTHS, due to his severe depression, he laid in bed while the willing cast would repeatedly show up, ready to start filming. When he finally DID start filming - back pain and depression notwithstanding, he'd have others work the camera if there was too much running around involved - they'd accomplish maybe two days of filming a month. This lasted off and on for nearly two years. Thus, even after finding the one thing, the ONLY thing he actually "ENJOYS", depression still found a way to ruin it. Alas, he feels obligated to the cast - for all their time, effort, and gasoline they spent to finish the project - that Shannon WILL finish that film some day.

Shannon's life has settled down somewhat, but, alas, after spending nearly EIGHT YEARS as a hermit, having severe depression & anxiety, and having barely ANY extra money after bills, he has come to a crossroads in life where he knows what is truly important in life - friends and family. While too old to start a family of his own (most of his friends are already grand-parents themselves), romance and friendships ARE the meaning to life. Yet, he can not shake his one and only passion of film-making. Living a BALANCED social and professional life will be the key on such a below-poverty-level income. (The most difficult part being having people with the time and willingness to collaborate with him, especially for free). He has goals, and a plan, which is determined by how much money he can save (not much).
He hopes to start out by making one shoestring-budget, but really good, professional-quality film - possibly good enough for film festival entry and acceptance. But being accepted into a festival is almost like winning a lottery - also, entering/winning festivals is not the goal of Resilience Productions. Upon completion of his first serious professional-quality project, , he will have PROOF that he is a CAPABLE film-maker. Perhaps that proof-of-concept could ease the mind of serious actors and crew to collaborate, or lead to investors/financing (or monetization on Amazon Prime, but that is also like winning the lottery). Perhaps he could move to Austin where there is more resources (but also far more expensive due to the strict permit filming-fees.) Perhaps, as a last resort, he will simply road-trip until he finds a place to call home and continue his bucket-list of films as his hobby/passion only. The future is uncertain, but also wide open.

At the age of 18, Shannon had an incident straight out of a far-fetched soap opera: due to a reaction to the anesthesia during a surgery, he suffered from major amnesia that nearly erased his mind. This not only deleted names, relationship, and events from his memory, it fundamentally altered his personality. He was a completely different person - since life experience is what shapes a person. Physically, he was an 18 year old man., but mentally and academically , he was closer to a ten year old mentality. While not at "arrested development" levels, his mental development was extremely slow. It took Shannon another twenty years to "mature" to the state of most adults would obtain by 18. And then the depression, anxiety, and lack of finances that led to near-isolation all combined to mimic Asperger syndrome. Thus, it has been a long and difficult road to reach where he is today, and he is still growing as a person.
Having to deal with several mental and even physical limitations does not stop Shannon from continually attempting to accomplish his goals. (Failure is learning, and good so long as you try it differently next time.) He has learned methods to work around his restrictions - so long as he is given the opportunity- and will do his very best to accomplish what he sets out to do (and to help others in any way he can). He does not give up - although he has learned the value of being efficient and satisfactory, especially when dealing with deadlines; perfection is the goal, but dealing with reality has it's place. The greatest lesson these tribulations have taught him is: always be open-minded and use every experience as a way to CONTINUE to learn and grow.

As for a quick look at Shannon's personality:
- Helping others is what helps Shannon, and makes HIM happiest
- Has no use for liars and hypocrites, thieves, or people who abuse women and children
- Does not judge or push his beliefs on others. He is open minded. If he criticizes, he'll reinforce the positives as well.

Shaw has a dozen or so feature film ideas he would like to make a reality. If he made those and then never made another film again, he would at least feel accomplished. If he were able to continue making quality films to quench his passion's thirst, all the better. Maybe he can get enough financing to make the dozen bucket-list films that he personally wants to make AND make other projects that can entertain audiences, even if they aren't as personal of a project. When not working on his own passion projects, he would love to help others in any way he can to make their vision come to screen as well. Some people love to go fishing or hunting, some race motorcycles or cars, others golf; Shannon loves film-making, every aspect of it.

Shannon acknowledges that this is not a normal hobby. This film making activity is more akin to youths or professionals. So, yes, this may be silly to most people; it may even make Shannon seem weird; But, HE DOESN'T CARE. There are actual reasons why he does what he does, and he is aware of exactly what he's doing - elaborate goals/plans and VERY LIMITED RESOURCES, such as availability and willingness of cast & crew. He has found his one PASSION in life. Talk to HIM first before you jump to conclusions, you may be surprised by what you find out..