When Chicagoan Jeffrey Gordon went to Hollywood a few years ago, he was so green he didn’t even own a car. The Mather High School graduate worked as a runner for Peter Bogdanovich and a gofer for William Morris while trying to break in as a producer, along with 278,347 other guys.
“I went out there to see the Wizard,” says Gordon, 34. “Eventually, I pulled the curtain back.”
But instead of returning to Kansas, Gordon cashed in on something he knew: writing. A product of the University of Illinois creative writing program and the University of Southern California film program, Gordon started a school for screenwriters in 1989 in his apartment.
Today, his “Writer’s Boot Camp” has more than 500 alumni, branches in Chicago and New York, and has added TV writing. Among his graduates are Shawn Schepps who wrote the script for “Encino Man” in Boot Camp and Gigi Levangic, who penned “Stepmom,” soon to star Susan Sarandon.
Seven years later, Gordon has yet to make it as a producer. But he’s launching his first projects: “Rubicon,” a sci fi flick, and “Reservoir Bitches,” a black comedy.
His big regret: As a former frat president, he wishes he’d written “Animal House.” “One of the best movies ever made,” he says.
