The First Production Learning Curve

I just wrote this mini-pep-talk to a fellow filmmaker, and I think it's worth recording here:

There’s no greater learning curve than the one you get on your first production.  My first production was an attempt at a “feature film” that I wrote in 8^th grade and tried to direct/produce in 9^th grade, at a school with no film program, with no other students around who had any interest in filmmaking, and with no teachers, mentors, or anyone around to guide me.  You bet I learned a lot.  And no, no one is ever allowed to see that movie!  Ever!  But I think I learned more from that experience than from any subsequent production.

-Arnon