It’s May 2025, and we just celebrated Mother’s Day. Are we done celebrating Mom? We’re just getting started. After all, my mother, Clara, turns a whopping 80 this Wednesday, May 14^th. 80 years! WOW!

When I was a kid, my mother encouraged me to follow my heart and dreams. For me, I was into drawing early on. And then I added quotations for comics I drew. I wanted to tell my own stories.

When we had family over for Thanksgiving and the guys were playing football in the backyard, I’d rather watch the monster specials on TV. Godzilla and King Kong!

As an older kid, short story writing became my thing. I took some creative writing classes TWICE in high school. I also took a film appreciation class TWICE!

At the University of Hartford, I took creative writing courses and wrote more short stories. During my senior year, my dad became a part-owner of a textile company in Los Angeles, CA. He headed out West, and so did my imagination. Eventually, I would join him along with my mom and my sister.

During that last Summer in New York, I picked up some screenwriting resources and started writing my very first screenplay on a WORD PROCESSOR! Yeah. That’s right.

That first screenplay wasn’t good, but I finished it when I reached Los Angeles, CA. Both my parents were extremely supportive. My dad thought I might be interested in working with him, but the more I worked on the sets of TV pilots and feature films, the more likely I’d pursue the film industry.

In 1994, I decided to attend film school at Columbia College-Hollywood. In addition to my main pursuits, screenwriting and directing, I learned about cinematography, production design, editing, and acting. I wrote, produced, directed, and edited short films on 16 millimeter. My mom was often on set helping out wherever she could. I gave her the honorary credit as Set Mom. She was every crew member’s mom. She prepared fruit salads and vegetable trays.

“The Turnaround” was my epic thesis short film shot on 16mm. The short won the “Best of the Fest” at the Rochester International Film Festival in Rochester, NY. The film screened at the George Eastman House. My parents could see my talent, but they also observed the difficulty in breaking into the business.

My parents assisted in hosting short film showcases at our house in Calabasas. I’d meet filmmakers at various film festivals and invite them to show their films. It was a fun way to network, and it was a BLAST!

After film school, the focus was on co-writing a feature screenplay and film, “Rubbernecking” with Sean Kinney. Sean and I searched vigorously to locate investors. Even when we attached investors, they fell through for whatever reason. Some investors dropped out right before the shoot.

My parents stepped in to save “Rubbernecking” and got the film out of production traffic, though it was a film about people stuck in traffic. My parents were natural featured extras, complaining about the traffic ahead.

Completing the film was a major accomplishment. Finding the right editor became a challenge because part of the film was shot in 35mm, and another part in High Definition. It was the late 90’s, and HD was all new.

The film played at a few film festivals, including one in New York. Some of my relatives attended. The edit of “Rubbernecking” was a constant battle. It’s no wonder that Sean and I became film and video editors. We were never completely happy with the cut. “Rubbernecking” was shelved. Years later, we still mull over doing something with it.

My parents continued to support my creative career as I struggled to find my way. Somehow, I found myself editing the feature film, “War of the Worlds 2: The Next Wave” that can currently be seen on Tubi. But my editing career was not thriving.

So, I tried teaching English in South Korea, but that didn’t work out. So, I landed in Las Vegas, Nevada, where my parents were living at the time. I tried to assimilate into the Las Vegas film community. I got involved in various areas. I wrote concert reviews for Vegas Seven Magazine on artists like Duran Duran, ZZ Top, and Matisyahu. The last short film I produced, “You Are What You Eat” was filmed at my parents’ house in Las Vegas.

My parents were there again to help me put on a film festival. The Social Media Film Festival was a great experience. The main event took place at the Mirage Hotel and Casino, which doesn’t exist anymore.

In 2013, Hollywood was pulling me back to Los Angeles. I took some regular jobs. Eventually, I took a vault job at Fotokem in Burbank. Five years later, I was laid off due to the pandemic. I took some additional post-production jobs as things started to open up again.

I needed to get back to writing, BIG TIME. Since editing wasn’t working out for me, I dropped it and my last post-production job. The pandemic had me going down rabbit holes and meeting interesting people on an app called The Clubhouse.

My parents had moved back to Los Angeles to be closer to me and my sister, who now had three kids. A part of the reason they moved back was that my dad’s health was deteriorating. My father passed away in December 2020.

The year 2021 became a dark time. I needed to write something light. So, out of left field, I wrote a rom-com called “My Soulmate Died at Birth.”

Along with quitting my last post-production job in 2023, I moved in with my mom in Thousand Oaks, CA. She needed company and I needed a place to figure out my life and career. It’s a work-in-progress.

Often, I had written in various genres, but something else was calling me – SCI-FI! I had already written a sci-fi script called “Rivals” before the pandemic.

I got the idea for “The Battle of Los Angeles – 1942” from the time I spent going down rabbit holes. Mom was gracious as usual to let me hold a first draft reading at her house with some actor friends. I remind her how grateful I am in the following You Tube video.

I’m doing what I can to go all in on screenwriting. That includes script reading. I’ve been reading screenplays for the Austin Film Festival since last year, 2024. I’ve had a few clients and hope to build a script consulting business of sorts.

The film and TV business seems weak right now. You hear about some script sales, but for the most part, breaking in as a screenwriter is looking bleak. Are the studios buying anything original or are they just remaking movies with AI? I’m actually learning Midjourney, an AI app so I can at least create some movie posters for my screenplays. It’s not enough to write a screenplay, you have to market it too. Who knows what the future holds?

Whatever I end up doing the rest of my life, I know my mother will support me. She’s the best!

Happy 80^th Birthday, Mom! I LOVE YOU!