Just Like Grandpa: Brooks Student Gets Noticed with Independent Film

Filmmaker Andrew Horwitz Follows in Footsteps of Hollywood Icon Grandfather and TV Producer Father. His indie project screens at Sept. 15-17 Big Bear International Film Festival.

Santa Barabara, Calif. (PRWEB) September 4, 2006 -- There is a certain poignancy in the fact that Brooks Institute student Andrew Horwitz is creating a buzz with his independent film Grandpa. Horwitz, who is planning on graduating from the Film &Video Production program at Brooks Institute of Photography this December, appears to be successfully following in the footsteps of the Horwitz family – beginning with his ‘grandpa’—who himself is an industry icon, Lewis Horwitz.

Grandpa is co-produced by Horwitz and Brooks colleagues Minh Ly and John Jennings, and its production crew is composed entirely of Brooks students or graduates. It focuses on the fictional character of Dillon, a young boy who has recently lost his grandfather and is having difficulties coping with the loss. This becomes a stumbling block between the boy and his father. Dillon makes a wish upon a star, and miracles begin to happen. The film received recognition at the 2006 Sundance festival and will be screening on September 15, 16 and 17 at the Big Bear Lake International Film Festival in Southern California, www.bigbearlakefilmfestival.com

According to Horwitz, “Grandpa is a project that was a huge turning point for me in my career as a producer. The film allowed me to work with Cornelius Uliano (also a Brooks graduate) for the first time, creating a strong friendship and filmmaking bond that, I believe, will last far beyond Brooks.” He adds that the film touched him in many ways, in particular because, just prior to beginning photography, he lost his grandmother. “The film not only helped me deal with that issue, but it strengthened the bond between me and my grandfather.”

His grandfather, Lewis Horwitz, has been referred to as the ‘father of indie film financing’. In a 2004 retrospective on the senior Horwitz that was published in The Hollywood Reporter, author Chuck Crisafulli talks about the man who initially earned money as a professional magician. Writes Crisafulli, “From somewhat inauspicious beginnings breathing life into 1981's Dawn of the Mummy to funding such recent hits as 2002's My Big Fat Greek Wedding’ and 2003's Monster, Horwitz and his company, the Lewis Horwitz Organization (LHO), have made it possible for hundreds of non-studio films to secure budgets and begin production. LHO also has accumulated a roster of all-star indie film alumni”.

All of this clearly had an impact on the Horwitz family. Ed Horwitz, Andrew’s father, has had a long and successful career in television development and production, and is currently Senior Vice President of [? Production for LMNO Productions. And the legacy of television and film passion continues in the Horwitz grandsons.

“I wanted to be involved in film and television since I first set foot on one of my father’s sets,” says Andrew Horwitz. He explains that he and his older brother, Aaron, were a filmmaking partnership as far back as junior and senior high school. The younger brother is currently finishing post-production on two additional films, The Space Race and Veteran’s Day, also written and directed by Uliano.

About Brooks Institute
Brooks Institute of Photography recently celebrated its 60th year of educating students in the visual media. With its campuses in Santa Barbara and Ventura, California, (which includes two sound stages for filmmaking), the school has more than 2200 students pursuing Masters, Bachelors, Associates and diploma programs in fields including professional photography, visual journalism, film and video production and visual communication. Brooks’ graduates are visible nationally and internationally, working for distinguished organizations including National Geographic, Smithsonian, Los Angeles Times and other national media outlets, including Hallmark Publishing, Cousteau Society, HBO, Kodak and other industry leaders in visual media fields.

For more information about the upcoming screening in Big Bear, visit http://www.bigbearlakefilmfestival.com/
For more information about Brooks Institute and the school’s Film & Video Production program, visit www.brooks.edu

Contact:

Carla White
Brooks Institute
(619) 318-5347

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