Dear Mr. Hyams,
First off, this is purely a note of appreciation for your work. Right now, I'm a filmmaker in pre-production with his own first feature, and your work is a big part of how and why that happened. When I saw your e-mail on the IMDb, I thought you might appreciate knowing that.
My own work is grounded in a lifetime spent in the theater, a love of genre stories, as well as the experience and relationships I've built through seven years working day jobs in independent film finance. My relationships with my actors and my passion for the fantastic are basically my two driving forces, creatively... and you're the man who taught me how to bring those forces together.
Growing up, 2010 and Outland were two of my favorite movies. When my folks went to the video store, Outland was one of the movies I pulled off the shelf at least once a month - and my aunt illegally taped me a copy of 2010 which I eventally wore out and replaced. My reason for loving them so much, I think, is that you embraced the universe so completely, with such a lack of self-consciousness, that it never interfered with the human drama and the truth of the scene you were shooting.
What other director can claim that? Spielberg, Kubrick, and who else? I could listen to Roy Schneider and John Lithgow talk about mustard all day long. Your work gave me permission to explore the human side of the fantastic or fanciful - and isn't that where human potential really lives?
How can storytellers inspire people without fantasy? How is that inspiration supposed to help anyone if storytellers keep treating fantasy as if it were myth?
You put the future in my hands, Mr. Hyams. While I hope you enjoy the films I'm making, and while I'd love to meet you in person as a fellow member of the film community, I definitely wanted to take this opportunity to at least let you know that I couldn't have gotten this far without your influence. Thank you.
Yours truly,
Tennyson E. Stead
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