Marc Wasserman and Ford Austin Win Screenplay Award at the 2011 AOF

Award-winning Filmmaker Wasserman Guests on EOE to Publicize the Non-Profit Ford Austin Fund

Dawna Lee Heising of Eye on Entertainment interviewed Marc Wasserman at the Time Warner Cable studio in Costa Mesa, CA in July 2011.   Wasserman has recently started a fund to help his friend and feature film collaborator Ford Austin.  Ford Austin is an award-winning actor, writer, director and producer.  He is a direct descendant of Stephen F. Austin, and was born in Oklahoma and raised in Texas.  Austin has directed six feature films, created hundreds of celebrated short films and videos, sold an original idea for a TV show called "Judge by Jury" to CBS/Paramount Television Studios and partnered with Stephen Chao and Mike Goedecke to launch the wildly successful website WonderHowTo.com.  For more information on Austin, please go to:  http://www.fordaustinproductions.com.

The Ford Fund is a non-profit organization which is raising money to help Austin pay for the astronomical medical bills and costs incurred due to the massive injuries he suffered on March 9, 2011, in a horrific car accident.  Austin was in the hospital for three months.  Contributors of $20 will receive a Ford Austin T-shirt.  To contribute, please go to:  http://thefordfund.com

Wasserman began his career as an actor and writer.  In 1992, he went back to school to earn his Juris Doctorate Degree and became an attorney so that he could earn enough money to produce the plays and films he would write.  In 1999, Wasserman and Dave Cohen opened Res Ipsa Productions and produced the play TERMINAL.   In October 2004, they shot the screen version of TERMINAL, which went on to earn several awards and accolades at film festivals across the nation, including a Best Actor nomination for Marc at the 2006 Action on Film International Film Festival.  

With more than 40 plays, musicals and films under his belt, Wasserman has been feverishly working the past five years producing, acting and promoting a variety of films, including COMMUTE, distributed by York Entertainment.  Having spent over 20 years commuting in and around Orange County and Los Angeles, he set out to write a one-act play about commuting.  Over a seven year span of writing, that one-act play turned into a short screenplay, which transformed into a feature film.  COMMUTE won the Del Weston Excellence in Film Award at the 2007 Action on Film Festival and earned Wasserman another Best Actor nomination.  COMMUTE also marks Wasserman’s first collaboration with Ford Austin.  Wasserman spent five months preparing for the role of “MacKenzie MacDoodle” in FALLING DOWN, which he co-wrote the screenplay for, along with Ford Austin.  He gained and lost 40 pounds for the role, which is based on a true story.  The screenplay for FALLING DOWN stars Austin, Wasserman, Dana Bretz and Jennifer Hynes, and was directed by Austin.  Marc is currently in development and pre-production, in conjunction with The Ford Austin Company, on the feature films ZEBRA ROOM and GUNS, HOOKERS & A POUND OF COKE, which won a screenplay award at the 2011 Action On Film Festival (http://www.actionfilmfest.com).  For more information on Wasserman, please go to:   http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2252255

Wasserman and his wife Janet have two sons, Jonah and Mason.   Six-year-old son Jonah was recently featured in I WANT TO BE ME, an inspiring film directed by Lauren Selman and produced by Pina De Rosa for the Pachamama Alliance.  I WANT TO BE ME won the “People’s Choice Award in Human Fulfillment” in the 2011 Possible Film Futures Contest. To see the Eye on Entertainment interview with Marc Wasserman, please go to:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkLHdTawIC0

About Eye on Entertainment
"Eye on Entertainment", a division of Eye on Excellence™ Productions, is broadcast weekly on Time Warner Cable, Cox Communications, Comcast and Verizon across the nation.  The EOE team covers entertainment and music events, film festivals, red carpets and award shows, and features interviews with successful people in all walks of life, exploring the traits they have in common. Dawna Lee Heising, EOE executive producer and host, is a member of SAG & AFTRA, has earned an MBA and PhD and was Ms. World 2008.   The EOE team includes Linda Maxwell and Chris Leist of Time Warner Cable, producer/editor John Cox, producer Jerry Moore, director Steve Van Wormer, cinematographer/editor Jeremy Yorba, graphic designer Mark Schrimmer, music director Richard Myles, guest host Stan Goodrich and talent manager Matt Chassin.  Please visit http://www.eyeonentertainment.tv and  http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3148014