On an unseasonably cold afternoon a few Fridays ago, I got a phone call that made me believe in the miraculous power of dumb luck.

My friend called to tell me that the famous Hollywood director Doug Liman (“Swingers,” “The Bourne Identity”) was shooting pick-ups with his lead actor Hayden Christensen (“Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith,” “Factory Girl”) for the upcoming film “Jumper” outside Ashley’s Restaurant and Pub on State Street, about seven blocks from my home on Packard Street and McKinley Avenue. Thousands of teenage girls have fantasized about the opportunity to meet Christensen, and with almost as much enthusiasm, countless film students like me have fantasized about seeing an A-lister like Liman at work on the set.

I ran my ass off.

Read the rest at The Michigan Daily, the campus newspaper of the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor.