For me it began in 1968. I was working for a film company in Studio City at the time, by the name of FilmFair. The owners were Gus and Bill Jekel, a pair of twin brothers. Of the two, Gus was the prime mover, having learned the business in the animation department at Walt Disney Studios. . . . Read More.
How does a person go from camera store clerk to world-respected ASC cinematographer? With a little encouragement from friends, of course.
Mexico and the Torticos Man Or Buzz and the Pyramids This all happened way back in the day when I was producing TV commercials. While I got some pretty bizarre requests from clients, this one remains at the top of the heap. Torticos was a brand of corn chips, much like Fritos or Doritos. But before I started putting this story together, I tried to find out if the brand still existed, since I’d never heard of it either before, … Read More
The year was 1984. I was Exec. Producer for a production company in Hollywood. Like all good adventures this one began with a phone call. It was from a mid-west advertising agency whose producer was calling me. A nice guy by the name of Chuck Bauer, with whom I’d worked on previous jobs. He wanted me to bid on a package of TV commercials for their client, Kool Cigarettes, which were slated to run in Mexico, as well as Latin … Read More
Following the Paths of Two Extremely Talented High School Kids I was two years behind both Mort and Curley when I entered North Hollywood High School. They were both seniors while I was just beginning the 10th grade. But it didn’t take long before I learned about these two very talented individuals. Mort Subotnick played the clarinet and Curley Williams the piano. While I never got to know them personally, I always assumed that they were friends since they shared … Read More
This is a funny story involving the famous actor, John Wayne, and could only happen once in a life-time.