What Is My Passion Thursdays: Meet Erin Dalian, D.A.S.H. Entertainment, LLC

When a war vet suffering from PTSD tries to end it all, a 

stranger saves her life and opens her eyes to a new gift.

Erin Dalian is a Writer/Producer/Director from Illinois.  She earned her BS in Business (with concentration in marketing) from the University of Dayton.  An actor throughout childhood, Erin turned to writing in her mid-20s.  To date she has written 9 feature screenplays, and a number of shorts.  Headlines, the short film above, is her latest production filmed for the 168 Project.

We met Erin in May 2012 at the Glory Reelz Christian Film Festival.  D. A. S.H. Entertainment, LLC is her production company, and that year she screened her directorial debut and Christian award-winning film, Broken & Beautiful.  The movie also made a debut in Hollywood, Las Vegas, and other prominent Christian film festivals, later that same year.  You can view the trailer of the movie here.

Erin Dalian, D.A.S.H. Entertainment, LLC

Erin's mission is to make movies with meaning and purpose.  She is in development of a supernatural thriller called "Shadows of Death".  The production is currently casting, and Erin is interested in working with actors from all regions, including South Carolinians.  The only stipulation is that you must pay for your own travel and accommodations to the Chicago area.  Production and casting details here. 

Rhonda W. & Sharee W.

12 Goals to Reach by Year End 2012

Martice with Black Girl in the Big World put out a challenge to create a list of 12 goals to accomplish by the end of 2012.  With 4 1/2 months to go before the year ends, we came up with our own list.

#1 Brand Take A Leap as a go to source within the travel blog community.  This includes establishing relationships with travel bloggers in an effort to promote each other's initiatives.  We supported Martice by purchasing Black Girl Travel T-shirts.  Our next effort will be partnering with Jennifer P of Imported Chocolate.  She will be assisting us in setting up a screening of our pilot episode of Take A Leap in NYC in early December.

#2 Sharee will obtain her first real estate client (outside of herself), and sell her townhome in Columbia, SC. She'll then use the monthly savings to fund her Roth 403b.

#3 Rhonda will start a blog dedicated to financial education, obtain 25 referrals for her ValuTeachers reps, and facilitate 10 solo financial education presentations.

#4 Speak the local language when we travel abroad to both Italy and China.  We're nervous about this, although we have taken a few months of Rosetta Stone's online lessons in Italian. Ciao!!

#5 Get to know Bronx, NY family members.  That's a side of the family we know very little about, and just as it is a whole lot of us down here, there are tons of cuzzos up there.

#6 Attend a Clemson University (our Alma mater) football game this Fall.

#7 Raise an additional $5000 for Take A Leap webseries with approaching September 1 deadline.

#8 Sell 100 copies of our four short films on DVD or via online.

#9 Establish a financial emergency fund.

#10 Pay down credit cards. It helps that we have 0% interest for more than a year.

#11 Do what we love.  The Holstee Manifesto states that "If you are looking for the love of your life, STOP; they will be waiting for you when you start doing the things you love".  Whether in work or play, hopefully we'll both be able to find that special someone.  Sharee's story is in the travel blog section.

#12 End the year in Shanghai, China!!!

These are our 12 goals, both shared and individual.  The year isn't over yet. What do you hope to accomplish??