As a kid growing up in a pretty rough neighborhood, I got into my share of trouble, but never thought about having anything to do with the organized criminals that were a part of every community. It was fascinating no doubt, but at a safe distance. When my widowed Mom moved us out to California to get away from all that stuff, it was like a shock, everything here was so spread out and laid back, compared to the old crowded, hustling, bustling hood.

With Hollywood just a stone’s throw away and a new posse, I got into new adventures. We used to sneak into the local movie theatre and stay there all day watching films like Planet of the Apes, or Groove Tube over and over again. I remember sneaking into the Universal studios tour, and daydream about making movies. My friend’s mom had an 8mm camera so he and I made some short animated films using GI Joe’s. I had various jobs throughout the years, nothing really amounted to much. But I always had a fascination with the film industry and the moviemaking process. What do I do?

The film e-bay built: Was I really going to join that fraternity of the 79 gazillion struggling L.A. filmmakers, who, by day, were busboys, parking attendants, double-latte wranglers, all trying get a script sold? If that ever sounded like an uphill battle, I’m A.W.O.L. One day I thought, If I put my mind to it, I could finance this film myself, I had a compelling enough idea, a documentary couldn’t be that expensive to do. I always had a little sense for business, even if it was hustling kids out of their lunch money. One day I became aware of this little phenomenon called ebay. People were building empires from their homes, IN THEIR PAJAMAS. I decided I would use ebay as the wellspring that feeds my film. I opened an account, then I bought and sold anything I could get my hands on. I sold my vinyl record collection, Rush, Cream, Tull, Zeppelin, Bernstein. I couldn’t believe how many people out there still had turntables. I scoured garage sales. I even bought stuff on ebay cheap, re-sold it, right back. Next I would buy all the equipment I would need on ebay as well. I raised $6,455 in 3 weeks, ‘way cool’. I bought a mini DV Canon XL1s, a Canon GL1, a Mac G4, Final Cut Pro and a shitload of blank tape stock. George Lucas, watch out!