The Right Place at the Right Time
Finding where I'm meant to be
According to my therapist, I am a witch.
She means this entirely as a compliment, or at least I take it as such. Every so often, there is something that I want or am thinking about that just manifests itself in my life.
Take my apartment in Paris, for example. When I was awaiting my visa approval, I decided to write down what my perfect day in my life in Paris would be, starting with what my apartment would look like. I wrote:
In the 11ème arrondissement, not far from Père Lachaise. Check.
A studio, but it is laid out well that it seems more like a one bedroom. Check.
A third-floor walk up. Check. (Note: this isn’t the ideal, but I was being practical).
Furnished with mid-century modern furniture. Check.
Beautiful natural light that softly wakes me up in the morning. Check.
I wrote down a few other features, all of which can be found in my current apartment. I took this as a sign that I was making the right move in my life.
Since then, there have been even more occurrences that confirm that moving to Paris is exactly what I needed to do: getting all of my bags checked for free and having them be the first ones off the plane, being an extra in a short film my third night, having more dating app matches in 1 week than 1 year in LA. But nothing solidifies that I made the right decision like my experience at Series Mania this past week.
Series Mania is a yearly television series festival held in Lille, a city near Belgium about 1 hour outside of Paris. Having learned most of my French from various French TV shows, I was familiar with the festival, but I hadn’t thought about going until my friend Jennifer suggested I apply for a professional accreditation. Though I had small experiences in professional entertainment in Hollywood, I wasn’t sure I would qualify. Thanks to Jennifer’s encouragement, I realized that I had many experiences that fit the bill for various roles in production or writing. And, given that I am interested in exploring the world of writing subtitles, this would be a great opportunity for me to network. So, I applied for the accreditation, and I got it.
The stars really aligned, however, when I learned that Cécile Bois, the actress who plays Candice Renoir was going to be at the festival the exact days that I would be there. If you’ve been following along, the French series Candice Renoir has made a major impact on my life. Not only is it how I got better at French, I found the main character so refreshing and relatable. It fell into my life at the exact time I needed it—when I was learning to own my individuality and not apologize for my big personality. I watched the character go on the same journey, and felt recognized in a way that I don’t often do in television shows. So, when I saw her name on the program, I couldn’t believe the chances.
The festival itself is free and open to the public to attend screenings of new shows, old favorites, and panels with the artists behind the works. There is also a professional forum, in which industry professionals can attend and pitch their shows to producers or attend other types of workshops. I got the accreditation somewhere between the two, I got priority for all screenings I wanted to go to, and I had access to networking hours and the workspace open to professionals.
My second night, I met Jennifer at the networking hour before going to dinner. Thinking it was only an hour, we got there when it started at 17h. No one was there. No big deal. I went to the bar to get a glass of water, and I came back and Jennifer and I caught each other up on our days. I was in the middle of saying to Jennifer that I know Cécile Bois is doing an interview the next day, but I wonder if she comes to any other events, when I look up at the bar (the same bar I left not 2 minutes prior) and who should I see but Cécile herself, just hanging out talking to her publicist. Jennifer, being the wonderful, encouraging friend she is, pulled me back up to the bar so I could go talk to her.
So there I am, two weeks into living in France, and having an absolutely lovely conversation with someone whose work made a major impact on my life. Being nervous, I stumbled through my French a little, but it didn’t even matter. Cécile could not have been more gracious as I shared with her that her show helped me learn French and played no small part in my moving to France in part because of the character’s journey. We snapped a quick picture, and then she and her publicist left. Had we gotten there 10 minutes later, that moment wouldn’t have happened. I later sent her a note to say thank you for being so kind and that I hoped our paths would cross again. She responded back and said “Hope so :)”.
The next night, Jennifer and I were back at the networking hour, and I felt like I had a place in the room even more. I spoke to several actors who were in a series that screened its first two fantastic episodes (and I’m sitting on pins and needles for the rest), and we met a couple of producers from the US who have relocated to Spain. By the end of that conversation, I had their business cards and an invitation to stay in contact.
I moved out to LA with the idea of trying to be a screenwriter, but I got overwhelmed and felt like a massive imposter, deciding to keep writing as a fun hobby but focus on something “more responsible” for my career. As much as I learned working in corporate situations, it never felt like a fit, and I was fighting against my nature as an artist and creator.
Now, I am considering pursuing my passions as the “responsible” choice because it is in alignment with who I am. I have no idea what the future holds and don’t know what will come from all of these encounters, but all of the signs are telling me I’m exactly where I need to be right now. Maybe that’s because I’m more confident in myself than I ever have been and I am letting the universe know that. All I know is that I’m open to whatever synchronicities and opportunities that come my way.
If that’s being a witch, I own that label proudly.
À la prochaine!
— Melanie
It is as cool a story now as when I first heard it!