Neal Romanek...
... was born November 12, 1967, in Abilene, Texas, after 48 hours of labor, to a mother who survived the Nazi bombing of London and a father who was a B-52 navigator/bombardier in the Vietnam War. ... grew up in the idyllic suburbia of Kettering, Ohio.
... throughout his childhood, ran on an amateur track + field team.
... sick of spending all his childhood running, became a teenage national champion race-walker.
... moved to Los Angeles after acceptance to the University of Southern California. He was a National Merit Scholar and member of USC's Thematic Option honors program.
... graduated from the USC School of Cinema-Television Production with classmates Matthew Weiner ("Mad Men"), John Singleton ("Boyz N the Hood"), and Bryan Singer ("X-Men").
... studied a year abroad at the University of Kent at Canterbury - 19th century American literature, Australian cinema, and a seminar called "The Self: Issues in Psychology, Parapsychology and Spirituality".
... was a driver for comedian Rodney Dangerfield during production of Rodney's animated film "Rover Dangerfield".
... become an animation editor for childhood hero Ralph Bakshi on "Cool World".
... worked at the Photograph Archive of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences' Center For Motion Picture Study.
... began his professional writing career by optioning sci-fi thriller "Carnival Earth" to Carolco Pictures.
... has written screenplays for legendary producers, like Dino Di Laurentiis and Mario Kassar - and also for producers you have never heard of, nor are ever likely to hear of.
... has been blessed with some of the world's best teachers, including Nina Foch for directing, Marshall Vandruff for visual art, RSC vet W. Morgan Sheppard for acting, Mark Bryan & Julia Cameron for multiple Artist's Way workshops, and Anne & Larry Lincoln for what makes us tick.
... attended his first Academy Awards show as a waiter at the Academy Governors' Ball.
... then, years later, attended the show as an Academy employee.
... has never, ever been nominated for an Academy Award, but has friends who have, so that's something.
... married writer/therapist Janet Walker in 2004, in the Rotunda of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles. ... is 5' 11" (180.34 cm) tall or something.
... is both tattooed and pierced.
... continues to write movies - as well as the occasional article on brand new motion picture technologies - like 3D!
... loves L.A.
... but currently lives in London, England with his wife, his daughter, and three extremely dangerous cats.
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