Lawndale Tribune
AND lAwNDAle News
The Weekly Newspaper of Lawndale
Herald Publications - El Segundo, Hawthorne, Lawndale & Inglewood Community Newspapers Since 1911 - (310) 322-1830 - Vol. 80, No. 8 - February 25, 2021
Next Stop: More Rail in the South Bay
Metro has a plan to make it easier to get around, which includes dozens of projects to improve public transit in LA County. Currently in planning stages, the C Line (Green) Extension to Torrance is proposed to extend light rail service to connect more of the South Bay. Metro
invites you to a scoping meeting on Zoom or online presentation (in English or Spanish - see City of Lawndale Facebook page for link ) on your own time to learn more about the project and provide your comments. The meeting is being held to inform the public that
Metro prepared an NOP and to solicit public comment during a review period from January 29, 2021 to March 15, 2021. To join the meeting this Saturday, February 27, 2021 from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm, go to: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82839902680 (Telephone:
646.558.8656 / Webinar ID: 828 3990 2680). Photo courtesy City of Lawndale.
Adam Marcus from front page
they fled the Big City in the iconic TV show
I Love Lucy, and the home of Samantha and
Darrin Stephens, the lead characters in the
cutting-edge Bewitched television show that
debuted in 1964.
During his upbringing, Adam was a best
friend with the son of producer Sean Cunningham,
who directed and produced the first
Friday the 13th film, which evolved into an
iconic celluloid franchise. Marcus said that, as
an 11-year-old, Cunningham’s work and fame
were awe-inspiring to him, so Marcus became
a fixture in the Cunningham household, which
gave him access to “this incredible education
in filmmaking.”
Marcus soon began charting his career path.
By the time he was thirteen, Marcus was not
only “running-around” on theatrical sets, but
was also apprentice editing. He also started
working with “a brilliant Broadway director,”
who became Marcus’ mentor, guiding the
eager youngster as he started to develop his
acting chops.
By the time he was 15, the student had become
the teacher. Marcus began teaching acting
and started his first two theatre companies.
He was able to leverage the profits he made
from his productions to allow him to attend
New York University (NYU), and continue to
follow his artistic dreams.
Marcus shot 21 movies while attending
NYU, with the last movie, “so you like this
girl,” serving as his outgoing class thesis. He
noted that some of the actors in that collegiate
creation had gone forward to have “huge movie
careers. We had these significant actors before
anybody knew who they were.”
While “so you like this girl” garnered acclaim
in the New York City environs, the powersthat
be at NYU didn’t feel that the project
was “NYU enough” and did not introduce
the film to Hollywood big-wigs. So Marcus
only received two job offers, one to work on
the second season of the hit TV show Twin
Peaks, and the second from old friend Sean
Cunningham, who counseled Marcus to “come
to LA, be my ‘slave’ for a year, and then I
Adam Marcus today.
will give you your shot to direct.”
That sounded good to Marcus, who jumped
on the first available flight to Los Angeles,
and the rest of the story is the stuff of celluloid
history. Not quite. Even though he had
graduated from NYU and was in his very
early 20’s, the East Coast transportation options
were such that Marcus had never had
the need to acquire a driver’s license. Before
leaving New York, Marcus had paid off all of
his student loans, which left him a whopping
three hundred bucks in his billfold when he
arrived in Los Angles to conquer Hollywood.
“Three hundred bucks in my pocket,” Marcus
said, “and no car, and no driver’s license.”
So Marcus did what any aspiring Hollywood
type would do. Leased a flashy vehicle and
secured a driver to motor him around town.
Didn’t quite work out that way, though, “I
bought a 1963 canary-yellow (Volkswagen) bug
that I lived in...but I wasn’t allowed to drive
it,” he said. “It was hilarious. The absolute
worst experience of my life.”
Things would soon take a turn for the better.
Marcus was able to sell a screenplay to
Cunningham that becomes a Disney movie.
Emboldened by his success, Marcus approached
Cunningham and asked for his shot directing.
Cunningham related that New Line Cinema
had purchased the rights to the iconic Jason
Voorhees character (from the franchise Friday
the 13th) and that Cunningham told Marcus
that “if you can find a way to get that damn
hockey mask out of the movie, I will let you
write and direct it.”
And so Marcus was tasked to bring “Jason
Goes to Hell: The Final Friday to the silver
screen. At 23, Marcus became, at that point, the
youngest writer/director ever hired to make a
movie. With nearly thirty years in the industry,
Marcus has had a great deal of success, but
said that the films that he has created that he
cherishes the most are the “personal films,
films that really matter to me...that is what
really sticks with me. “ To that end, Marcus,
his wife and writing partner Debra Sullivan,
and producer Bryan Sexton created Skeleton
Crew Productions. A few years ago, the trio
debuted the film Secret Santa, which has
endured to become a cult hit.
Marcus said he is also proud of his direction
of the award-winning Indie film Let It Snow,
which brought actress Bernadette Peters to
the set after a lengthy hiatus from film, and
also unleashed the talents of Stephen Colbert
in one of his first movies.
Marcus currently has his heart in Indie
films, but has also received accolades for his
studio-supported work. Award-winning writer
John Esposito has worked with Marcus for
nearly three decades. “Not only is he a major
talent, and force-of-nature himself,” Esposito
said, “but he is the biggest supporter of other
people’s talent, in a way that very few in the
industry are.”
Echoed legendary director and special makeup
effects artist Robert Kurtzman, who has also
worked with Marcus for nearly thirty years:
“ We really click on the set,” Kurtzman said,
noting the energy Marcus brings to production
and the fact that he and Marcus are able
to seamlessly communicate on-set because
they grew up in the same era and are able
to reference slices of older movies that still
resonate today.
Marcus and Debra settled in El Segundo
in 1993, with Debra selecting a place very
quickly while Adam was out-of-town, attending
a wedding. Of Debra, Adam says she is
“the funniest, smartest person that I have ever
known. She is a brilliant writer and remarkable
actress.” Adam said he realized years ago
that Sullivan and he “liked the same kind of
stuff” and wondered why they were not collaborating?
Since then, Marcus said, “It was
all about us.”
Said Sullivan about moving to El Segundo.
“I have lived here since I was 18-years-old.”
Originally a Valley Girl, Sullivan said that
her father mandated that when she moved out
on her own, she would land in El Segundo
“because it is safe.” She estimates that she has
lived in five different domiciles in El Segundo.
So, Debra was asked, how is it working
closely with her husband? “It works out
great,” she said. “As long as you have mutual
respect for each other, and you can disagree
respectfully, everything is fine. For us, this
works really well,” noting how their writing
duo, offering differing perspectives from both
a male and female viewpoint, can be advantageous
to their finished product.
Long-time friend and collaborator Eric
Beetner, film editor and prolific writer has
been a friend of Marcus since their time living
on the East Coast. “Since way back in
high school, Adam’s energy and enthusiasm
were infectious. We began making big plans
at a very young age,” Beetner emailed. “He
had a dream and never let go of it, and it is
possibly the number one thing I admire about
him, that tenacity. It is a quality that you need
in a cutthroat business.”
Marcus has survived the sometimestreacherous
ins-and-outs of making a living
following a dream in Hollywood. And he
seems to be in a pretty good spot in life at
this point. He takes pride in helping artists,
with his Skeleton Crew Productions, “find
their voice,” allowing artists to spread their
wings and “tell their stories.”
Life is good, he said. “ I get to do the things
I love, with the people that I love.” •