#184: Gary Goldstein - One Finger at a Time

Gary Goldstein writes for TV, film and the stage—and is now also a novelist. He has written more than 15 produced telefilms including the comedies "The Wish List," "Hitched for the Holidays," "This Magic Moment" and "My Boyfriends' Dogs," and the first two movies in the "Flower Shop Mystery" series starring Brooke Shields. Gary's latest TV movie, "Lights! Camera! Christmas!" will premiere on Hallmark Channel in late 2022.

His feature film "Politics of Love," a romantic comedy set during the 2008 U.S. Presidential election, was released in theatres in 2011. He also wrote the feature romantic comedy, "If You Only Knew," starring Johnathon Schaech and Alison Eastwood. Gary's feature adaptation of the novel "Mr. 365" premiered on the streaming service Passionflix in 2018 and is available on Amazon Prime.

Gary has also sold or optioned a number of original screenplays, has a string of episodic TV credits and has sold half-hour comedy pilots to both NBC and Warner Bros. He was represented on the Los Angeles stage most recently with the World Premiere of his acclaimed three-sisters dramedy "April, May & June," produced as part of its subscription season by Theatre 40 of Beverly Hills. The play won five Broadway World award nominations including Best Local Production.

Other L.A. stage credits include the comedies "Just Men," "Parental Discretion" and "Three Grooms and a Bride," which all enjoyed long, well-reviewed runs. Gary’s family drama "Curtain Call" premiered at Carmel, CA's Pacific Repertory Theatre, after winning the PacRep’s national Hyperion Playwriting Competition.

In addition, his family dramedy "To My Children's Father," was selected by Monterey, CA's Paper Wing Theatre Company to premiere in their 2018 "5th Annual Play Reading Series." Gary's latest play, "Dinner at the Harbor Reef," a drama "based on fact, rumor and Hollywood," debuted in a staged reading in 2019 at Beverly Hills' Theatre 40.

Gary has also been a regular contributing film reviewer and arts feature writer for the Los Angeles Times since 2007. He is also a talented author where his first novel, the romantic comedy The Last Birthday Party, was published in August 2021 - It won a 2022 IBPA Benjamin Franklin award for Excellence in Fiction. His second novel, the family drama The Mother I Never Had, is now out.

We chat about sharing ideas, collaboration, letting go, the art of writing across mediums, the ego, procrastination, being the holiday season/Christmas writer guru, when shows don’t get made, celebrating the wins, being a film critic, happiness and his new book, plus more!

The video footage of this entire chat is now out as well (one day after release)! So check them out on YouTube under Michael Kahan

Check Gary out on:

Website + Book: https://www.garygoldsteinla.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/GaryGoldsteinLA Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/garygoldsteinla/

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3SUxO0Y

Barnes & Noble: https://bit.ly/3L0WWzW

Bookshop.org: https://bit.ly/3yXhDs4

Booktopia (Australia): https://bit.ly/3CJfguL

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