Overnight, become a famous blogger, release a book on which they will shoot a film with Meryl Streep in one of the main roles. Did Julie Powell, a call center operator in Texas, dream about this when she started her culinary blog back in 2002? How can a hobby grow into something global, bring money and fame?
Boring Secretary career
"From a dead end and hopeless job as a secretary to a 110-pound dog and writing in pajamas. This is the real story of Julie, " says the "About Me" item on her personal blog.
The life and biography of Julie Powell is completely unremarkable, with the exception of the turning 2002. She was born and raised in Austin, Texas. In 1995, she graduated from Amhert College in two specialties - theater and literary creation.
But she did not find herself in the profession and got a job as a call center operator in the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation. Working there, Julie Powell, rather out of boredom than for commercial purposes, launched the project "Julie and Julia: 365 days, 524 recipes and one small kitchen" in August 2002. This is a culinary blog in which she aims to try to cook all the dishes from the book by Julia Child "How to master the art of French cuisine."
Web Popularity and Publishing Contract
Unexpectedly for Julie Powell herself, her project attracts many readers and becomes popular. Her idea is interested in the book publishing company Little, Brown and Company. Photo of Julie Powell flashes in the news and newspapers.
Already on September 22, 2003, a blog entry appeared on her blog: "I signed a contract with a book publisher!" However, the point was not so much that Julie Powell had tremendous writing talent, but that her blog had a constant and extensive readership. Even then, the publishers knew that the web page set the stage for the market and the book would actually sell itself.
Film
After the stunning success of the book, Julie Powell decided to film the work. The film, based on Julia Child’s autobiography My Life in France and Julie’s recordings, was released in August 2009. Nora Efron became the producer and director of the picture, and Amy Adams and Meryl Streep played the main roles.
Young Julie Powell lives in a small apartment with her husband, the editor of an information agency. She works in a call center for victims of the September 11, 2001 attack.
One day, meeting friends in a restaurant, Julie realizes that her whole life is boring and monotonous. She decides for the sake of entertainment to start a culinary blog in which she will try step by step, "risking the family life and well-being of the cat, " to cook all the dishes according to the recipes from the book of Julia Child.
In parallel, the viewer is shown a second story - this time the famous American chef of French cuisine Julia Child. She and her husband, diplomat Paul Child, live in Paris. They are suspected of complicity with the Communists, and the family is going through difficult times.
Julia herself is practically cut off from society and, trying to entertain herself a little, she learns culinary skills - first on her own, and then on cooking courses. This is the very beginning of her cooking career, first steps, experiences and training.
The director draws a parallel between the lives of both women - each of them tries to escape from the monotonous everyday life, receives the support of her husband, learns from her mistakes and ultimately comes to success.
