The Story Behind "Golden"

 The Story Behind "Golden"

Our family photo shortly after my diagnosis

In February of 2012, life seemed to be going smoothly for me.  I was living in Burbank, CA working in the animation industry for Nickelodeon.  I was the lead of my department for the TV show of "Monsters Vs. Aliens," and I was enjoying my career.  Our family welcomed our 3rd child, a little girl that we named McKaylee Belle Grampp.  It was our first girl and I was really happy to have her in our life!  I was so happy to have both my boys previously because males aren't common in my family, and now I was happy to have a girl as well!  I was feeling happy and fulfilled with my life, and I was excited for the future.  I was also the proud new owner of a 2006 Honda Odyssey Minivan to accommodate the new size of our family!

Sometimes when things are going good, God seems to throw you a curveball.  I began having unusual nerve sensations in my left arm and persistent headaches, and through some good fortune was led to a Neurologist who discovered I had a brain tumor.  Soon after that discovery, I started to suffer from hydrocephalus and almost died one night.  I began getting seen by UCLA, and we would drive there from Burbank every weekday for 6 weeks as I did photon radiation therapy on the tumor.  McKaylee was with us every day at treatments and doctors' appointments.  I called her my "Happy Pill" because she was such a good baby during all these appointments and she brought a smile to not only my face but also to the other cancer patients and nurses.

It was during these trips down to UCLA that the idea for "Golden" began.  My wife and I were talking about fairytales that Disney hadn't made yet, and my wife brought up "Rumpelstiltskin."  I remember telling her that it hadn't been done yet because it was an unappealing story, especially for modern audiences.  That got my wheels spinning though, how would I improve the story?  I began formulating ideas in my head.

My treatments seemed to be successful and my tumor had stabilized.  My wife and I started talking about having another baby.  We made sure to wait enough time to let all the chemo and other drugs exit my system, and then my wife got pregnant with another girl!  That was my ideal family to have; 2 boys and 2 girls!  That was a big life goal of mine, and I was happy to have accomplished it.  I wanted to pursue more of my life goals, one of which was to create and direct animated movies.  

I started with one that seemed a good fit for Nickelodeon.  The initial pitch went well and they connected me with some writers to help me develop the story more.  The second pitch went really well and I was hoping to get a movie deal!  Despite having many people on the team fighting to pick up my idea, they ultimately chose another project instead.  I was feeling good despite this, and I wanted to try developing my Rumpelstiltskin idea.

I had 2 different takes on it; One was a reworking of the princess fairytale version, and another was a modern day adaptation.  I talked with my writer friends who had helped me previously.  I first told them my idea for the fairytale version.  One of them said, "You've hit a home run!"  I then told them about the modern day adaptation next, and they were very excited about this and felt like Nickelodeon would really like it as well.  I was happy with the positive feedback!  They wanted to start working on the modern version, but something inside felt like it was "killing the golden goose" and I felt hesitant proceeding.  I told them that I wanted a week or so to think about which version I wanted to do more.

A day or 2 after that as I was coming home from work, God decided to give me another unexpected event.  I drove our Minivan home from work one day, and I was waiting for the garage in our parking structure to open up.  What I didn't know was that McKaylee was coming down into the garage to see me.  I didn't see or hear her and there was a terrible accident.  She didn't survive.  I was crushed   Nothing in my life hurt me as much as that moment did.  It still hurts to this day.

As a way of dealing with my grief, I decided to pursue the fairytale version of Rumpelstiltskin.  I named my version "Golden."  I've been able to pitch it to many different people and I have received very positive feedback from everyone who has heard my pitch.  Disney Television even told me that if they did made-for-tv movies at their studio then they would have offered me a deal!  I recently turned it into a storybook and Youtube read-along video.  It is my hope to take it to the next step and make the feature film!

 

One of the last pictures of McKaylee

McKaylee's Headstone