The Early Years

I’ve always loved telling stories. When I was a kid growing up in Ohio, I told stories through elaborate marionette shows I performed for my friends and family. I submerged our clothing iron in a tray of water to simulate smoke for a scene with a warehouse fire, used peanut M&Ms to represent food of the future for a trio of puppets whose house was taken over by a computer, and fixed a hose to the exhaust side of our vacuum to create a powerful (and surprising!) tornado effect.

My storytelling continued to blossom as I wrote my first movie script when I was nine years old, inspired by Star Wars.

Move Over Spielberg

When I was a teenager, my Uncle gave me a Super 8 movie camera and helped launch my love for making movies.

For my first film, I animated Lego figures for an outer space adventure (Way ahead of you, Lego movies!). For one of the scenes, I created mountains of snow for an ice planet using a hundred pounds of flour. My mother would’ve appreciated my cleverness if the flour hadn’t drifted into our ventilation system and spread a film of flour across everything in the house. Creativity has its costs.

My movies ballooned in size and scope until I filmed a feature length film and premiered it my senior year of high school. The local newspaper announced, “Move Over Spielberg, Here Comes Allen!” No pressure there.

Biting the Big Apple

I moved to New York City to study filmmaking at New York University where people talked much faster, drank a lot of coffee, discussed lofty ideas, and ate late into the night. I loved it.

While studying at NYU, I landed an internship with Robert DeNiro’s Tribeca Productions. I got an entertainment master-class during my time there.

My next internship was with Nancy Tenenbaum, producer of the Meet the Parents movies. I showed up at her office and she thought I was writer/director Steven Soderbergh. “What are you doing here?” she asked before realizing I was just a lowly intern. She had produced Steven’s first movie; I was still figuring out the subways.

My last internship at NYU was with Sony Pictures Classics where I learned the ins and outs of film distribution. While I worked there, my NYU senior thesis film became a finalist for the Student Academy Awards. I was thrilled and ready to conquer Hollywood.

Hooray for Hollywood!

I shipped everything I owned to Los Angeles through UPS because a friend told me they would hold onto it until I found a place to live. They did! But I don’t think they would today so please don’t try it.

I settled into an apartment in Santa Monica, determined to “make it.” I worked in various jobs in entertainment and marketing while writing screenplays.

As I grew artistically, I began to meet all kinds of interesting people and helped raise financing for an organization that taught theater to children with learning disabilities as well as adults with schizophrenia.

Playing Games

While I was working on getting my first movie made, I created a game, You’re Pulling My Leg!, to help two friends get to know each other better. I printed out question cards and fashioned a dice shaker out of an empty baby food bottle. They got a kick out of You’re Pulling My Leg! and my friends thought I should turn it into a real game. So I did. Then I kept going. I created five games and started Morning Star Games. My games have won 39 awards and have been played by hundreds of thousands of people around the world.

I eventually met a wonderful woman named Ramesh. Her mom and dad were from Iran and came over to America for their honeymoon. The Iranian revolution happened and they couldn’t return. Years later, they brought my future wife into the world.

Lights, Camera, Action!

The year Ramesh and I started dating was the same year I wrote, directed, and produced my first movie In My Sleep. It was a thrill to direct this psychological thriller with a fantastic team of talented people.

In My Sleep first screened at the market of the Cannes Film Festival in France where The Hollywood Reporter gave it a rave review. “I’ve made it!” I thought to myself as people congratulated me when they recognized me along the Croisette.

The film premiered at the Arclight Theater in Hollywood and we became the number one new independent movie on opening weekend.

In My Sleep played in fifteen cities around the country and won Best Picture or the Audience Award at a number of festivals. We sold the film to over 70 countries and the film went to Netflix, Redbox, Showtime and eventually the Lifetime Movie Network. A Director’s Cut of the movie will be released in 2023. Or if you’re in China, you can buy an authentic pirated copy.

With In My Sleep behind me, I searched for my next project which turned out to be the romantic comedy, The Sound of Violet. I got the idea for The Sound of Violet while returning from a trip to Germany where my wife and I had led a media conference in Berlin. The story was inspired by my own dating life.

The Happiest Place on Earth

I wrote the screenplay for The Sound of Violet while taking weekly trips to Disneyland. I’ve always found Disneyland inspiring since all the rides are created around stories, and because I’ve always wanted to build my own amusement park someday. I’ve now been to Disneyland over 500 times.

My favorite writing spots to write are Flo’s V8 Diner in Carsland, the Hungry Bear Restaurant in Critter Country, and the street in front of the castle though sometimes I’d get mean glares from tourists. I think they assumed I was on vacation but forgot to leave my workaholism at home. At one point, a six-year-old boy even wandered up to me while I was writing a crucial scene, stomped his foot, and said, “You shouldn’t be working!” before running back to his parents.

The screenplay for The Sound of Violet won accolades in several screenplay competitions but I wanted to bring it to an even bigger audience while I worked to bring it to the screen. So I turned The Sound of Violet into a novel. After it published, I got my first glowing review from Kirkus Reviews. At the time I didn’t realize how important it was to get a positive review from Kirkus. Since then, The Sound of Violet has won several awards and has been warmly embraced by critics and readers alike.

The Creative Adventure

I next produced and directed The Sound of Violet in Seattle from my screenplay. While the novel takes place in New York City, I relocated the movie to Seattle. It was a tremendous adventure.

I’m also working on a new novel and a screenplay that brings to life my passion for creating new worlds, lovable characters, and exciting fiction for a classic story beloved by generations. When our world experienced a pandemic from Covid-19, I adapted and re-launched You’re Pulling My Leg! in the form of a book that could be played by people in person or over a video call.

In 2021, I also launched a podcast called Navigating Hollywood where I interview entertainment professionals about their careers and how they stay emotionally and spiritually healthy in Hollywood.

As I continue on this creative adventure, my wife and I are raising our daughter and son who both have amazing burgeoning imaginations and a great sense of humor (do all parents think that?).

I’m thankful to God for giving me many opportunities to express my creativity. Let’s be in touch. Thank you for being interested in my journey!