Sherry Halperin Is a Vibrant Nation General User subscribe to this blog
I’ve worn so many hats. I started out as a directing major in college, but, sadly, at the time I graduated school, women were basically not allowed to direct. Ida Lupino was the only woman who was directing feature films at that time.
I became an agent after college and had some wonderful clients, then went to Dick Clark Productions. I started out on television on a show for NBC and worked my way up to Associate Producer. From there, I went to ABC and had a really great career as Associate Producer.
But when my kids were born, I had to figure out how I could still remain creative but be a mom and a Cub Scout mom and all of those things. So I started to write, with the encouragement of my husband. I did magazine articles and then some newspaper articles, and when the kids got older, I wrote a television show for ABC, a children’s show, for about three years. It was great because I could be home, write my scripts, and just go into Los Angeles for production meetings.
After my husband passed away, I moved back to L.A. and became an agent again for a short period of time, then did a couple of pilots for television, and recently I’ve been busier than ever.
I wrote the book Rescue Me, He's Wearing a Moose Hat: And 40 Other Dates after 50, which is a collection of real experiences I had when I started dating again after 26 years of marriage. Some of the men I dated became good friends; others didn't even get a second date, because I don't want to be a nurse or a purse!
I produced my first feature film two years ago. It was in 20 film festivals around the country, and it’s being released nationally in February 2010. It’s called Adopt A Hero.
I have two television shows right now that I’m pitching with a woman by the name of Maria Baltazzia, who has produced Survivor for seven years. I’m just like the Energizer Bunny, I keep going and going and going.
You know, you have choices in life, and when you have a divorce or a death, you can either hole up and be the poor widow or the poor divorcee and look for pity from everyone, or you can pull up your pants and say, "Hey, I'm going to make a life for myself." I recommend that everyone make a Bucket List and get on with life.