Unless you've been sitting in a cave for the last few weeks, you should know who Maria Sharapova is. At 17, she came into the Wimbledon Tennis Grand-Slam a relatively unknown player, and on July 3rd crushed Serena Williams (The number one seed) in straight sets to win it all.

I love underdogs. I love the fact that Robert Rodriguez sold his body to science in order to raise the cash required to shoot his first movie, and now is a multi-millionaire. I love the fact that Shane Carruth was a C++ programmer with absolutely no idea how to make a movie, but through determination and persistence ended up shooting the film that won the Sundance Film Festival. Each of their stories alone could be a movie, and should serve up a good dose of inspiration to the next generation of film makers, just as Sharapova has surely inspired a generation of up-and-coming tennis stars with her mental resilience and determination.

If you are going to battle your way into the film industry, these qualities are essential. But they are harder to find than you might think. When was the last time that you felt that buzz, that adrenaline rush, that 'eureka' moment? I hear a lot of good music, and see a lot of good films, but I will be the first to admit that true inspiration is a hard thing to find. Here is a story that might just work some magic:

When Maria Sharapova was 4 years old, a chance encounter changed her life. She met with the father of tennis champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov, and the man gave her a racket. From that moment, she started hitting tennis balls. The game soon became a passion for her. When she was 6, Sharapova was spotted at a tennis exhibition by tennis champion Martina Navratilova, who recommended to her father, Yuri, that he take his daughter to the world-famous Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Florida.

And that's exactly what he did. When Maria was 7, Yuri took his daughter to the U.S. without knowing a word of English and with only $700 in his pocket. The Bollettieri Tennis Academy wasn't even expecting them; Yuri just turned up, uninvited.

His belief in his daughter was rewarded when one of the coaches agreed to take her on court. Her ability then caught the attention of Nick Bollettieri, and arrangements were made for her to be taken on. Until sponsorship could be arranged, Maria lived with her father, who took odd jobs to pay the bills. All he had was a bike, and he used to cycle to the academy with Maria on the crossbar every day. Even when the family lived in Russia, it was always a struggle: Maria had not had any kind of formal education in her life.

When sponsorship finally came through, it was still not plain sailing. Maria went for a period of two years where she did not see her Mother, Yelena, (Visa restrictions) and for one of those years barely saw her father. Add to that the fact she knew next to no English. That's pretty tough. The family had risked everything, and there was no guarantee it would work out.

This is one of the success stories. I am sure there are others out there who sacrificed just as much, maybe more, and things have fallen through. But the key is that unless you are prepared to fight for your dreams, to take your opportunities, and to be persistent and determined, you cannot have much cause for complaint if you do not make it.

A good dose of inspiration never goes amiss. Sharapova was inspired herself to win Wimbledon, her post-match thanks citing a mystery inspiration who's name she would not reveal. And so the chain of inspiration continues, and I am pleased to be one of those people overwhelmed by the Sharapova story.

If you're feeling down because you can't get your film made, or because your last film did badly, or because you've had some kind of misfortune then this is what you do: Think of Yuri Sharapova, and what he sacrificed to give the world a future tennis champion. Think of his first day in America with $700 in his pocket, not knowing a word of English. Now pick yourself up, dust yourself down, and get the fuck on with it.