I was twelve years old when I made my first film. It was a ten-minute silent short and I named it The Fall of Count Dracula. I was born into a theatrical family, and I cherish my heritage.

My parents raised me in Manhattan on the Upper West Side in a glorious rent control apartment with large windows looking out at Central Park. They’d moved in in 1950 when the rent was a $185.00. There were increases through the years of course, through which it peaked at a whopping $310.00 a month. 

My father bought a keystone wind up 16 mm camera right after World War II. He loved making home movies, and I think it was a gift he gave himself for somehow surviving combat with two purple hearts and a nearly mortal wound six weeks before the war ended. He bought it second hand so I can’t tell you how much it cost – maybe twenty dollars at the time? It was sturdy with a single lens, and you had to hold it with both hands. I remember it made a lot of whirring noise as the 100 foot loads went spiraling through. A full wind up would give you maybe thirty seconds of uninterrupted film time. At the time, that was enough.  

I was twelve-years-old, and my father took me to the Bleecker Street Cinema for a double billing: Potemkin and Alexander Nevsky. Perfect viewing for a twelve-year-old. That was when I wrote and directed my very first 15 minute short black and white silent film. I, of course, played the title role in The Fall of Count Dracula, so my friend David Weintraub from around the block stepped in to run the camera for my scenes.

Looking back over my career, which officially began over forty-five years ago at the age of twenty-five, I wonder what it was that drove me to become a director. At twelve, I wanted to be Charlie Chaplin. Then I wanted to be David Lean, then François Truffaut, then Fellini. It was a childhood passion and an essential part of my character. I think I hid fears of adulthood in the act of making my short films. I’ve spent my whole life asking the question: Why did I become a director of movies, television, and theater?  

I’m not sure I have a satisfying answer. The closest I’ve come to is acknowledging that I’m still to this day driven to tell stories and share them with others. I hope that by exploring my history, my experiences, and my journey I might be able to shed light on why I, or you, or anyone wants to be a director.