Introduce Yourself : Hey, I’m CJ Walley, and I’ve Been on Stage 32 for 13 Years. Here’s How 2024 Went for Me. by CJ Walley

It’s been an amazing year for writing. It all kicked off with negotiating an assignment with Mario Kassar (producer of Total Recall, Terminator 2, Basic Instinct) after he fell in love with a script of mine. That sadly fell through, but the validation was remarkable, and it was mad to find myself on a Zoom call with the man behind so many of the biggest movies of the 90s.

I turned all my spec scripts into novellas to share with my friends. It was wonderful to revisit all those stories, and thanks to everyone’s support, I sold over one hundred books. I also had two turned into wonderful audiobooks.

Then, my filmmaking brother, Shane Stanley, asked me who I really wanted to cast for a project we’ve been noodling away at for some time, and I said Frank Langella (Robot & Frank, Frost Nixon). We sent him the script, and he responded, saying it is "a beautifully written, totally unique manuscript" and "the first piece of honorable and worthy writing that has come his way in the last two years." To have an Oscar-nominated, seven-time Tony award-winning actor say that is just mind-blowing.

I rewrote a Civil War film and had the former head of Robert Duvall Productions, Brad Willson (Days of Thunder, Falling Down), describe me as having written "one of the best scripts he's ever had the honor of producing" and is "one of the most collaborative writers he's ever worked with in the 40 years he's been making movies.” Again, the validation was out of this world.

Then, a previously released movie I wrote and co-produced, Double Threat, was released in Latin America and went to number one in sixteen countries on Netflix and reached #8 globally.

I got invited to fly over to Tennessee to shoot the Civil War script, which meant I got to see Shane and cinematographer Joel Layogan after five years apart and make a whole new bunch of friends in the process. Then we spent a few days in New York to go see Frank, who attached himself to the script he loves.

I returned home to quite a bit of interest and a few potential projects. Best of all, I formed a working relationship with an amazing manager, Kristen Heimo, whom I met in the States, so your boy now has a rep, and we’re all forming this really tight circle of collaborators.

Autumn was all about settling into my new place, and that meant I got to do something I’ve been wanting to do for a long time now, get the posters for my movies up on the wall. Doing that was such a momentous moment and it brings me joy seeing them up there on a daily basis.

I finally finished the year with a read request from a former director of Morgan Creek, and feeling very much blessed. There’s still a long, long way to go, but I can’t wait to see what the next twelve months have in store.

This was year 13 of chasing the dream for me, and boy have I had some tough ones in the past. If 2024 didn’t seem to work out for you, don’t let it get to your head. Life is a lot bigger than what happens within 365 days, plus it’s not a competition or a zero-sum game. Just keep putting one foot in front of the other and continuing that journey as best you can. I wish I could go back ten years and tell that depressed guy who thought he was a hack and that he’d never catch a break that it would all work out.