RJ LaForce
AFS Former Studios Senior Apprentice
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It all started one brisk morning in Cleveland when my parents finally got what they were looking for ... a son. After having five daughters, my mom and dad realized that I was a little blessing. My dad, finally having a boy, made sure to teach his only son the lore of Cleveland sports. Since our mutual heartbreak began 21 years ago (no Cleveland professional sports team has won a championship since 1963) I have been nothing short of a Cleveland sports junkie. In 1997 my family and I migrated to the great city of Austin. It was here that I fell for my second love: film (me and the medium are in fact in love, whether Texas wants to recognize it or not). Over the course of middle and high school I watched movies, I made movies and I talked about movies. School and a social life really took a back seat. Then I found myself at UT where I wasn’t alone in my obsession. While there, though, I realized that making a great movie, even a short one, was a lot of work. And I’m not lazy, but I’m also not crazy about work. That’s when I decided instead of trying to be the umpteenth wannabe writer/director I should take a stab at screenwriting. The main reason was that I was able to do most of my work on the couch drinking coffee. And it’s been great ever since.
Just receiving my B.S. in Radio-TV-Film no less than three weeks ago has made me realize that, along with my writing, there are many other routes in the industry that I can pursue. With AFS I want to look down one such avenue. I love showing my friends great movies they would otherwise browse over in the video store. And that’s what I’ve loved about AFS and their ability to spread as much film as possible to the Austin community. My goal is to still write a screenplay that will make it to the silver screen and connect with people. Until then, however, I will connect with people through movies that I love. And that doesn’t seem like such a bad thing at all.
