Scott Essman

            As an educator and Glendora resident for 16 years, Scott believes that the best way to reach people is to “get people to feel comfortable about it.” It can refer to his out-of-the-box writing or to the education system. “The best teachers can teach any subject…what matters is how they’re teaching,” said Scott.

            And what matters to Scott is pushing the limits. His inspiration is in looking at subjects in a different light, then presenting them in a way that “shows an opening to do something new.” He said he isn’t a competitive person so he doesn’t need to take a familiar subject and make it better.

            He grew in Long Island, New York. He came out west in 1986, to get us psychology degree at the University of Southern California, but he took as many filmmaking classes as humanly possible. After graduation, he went back to New York, but he said it was almost impossible to work in the industry in the late 80s.

According to Scott, there were hardly any independent films and no Internet, just big films and some narrative television. He started a freelance writer’s group consisting of seven people from various backgrounds. They met to pitch ideas and develop materials for one year. Afterwards, they disbanded because they weren’t making progress, but Scott made lifelong friends in the industry.

This can-do attitude is what sets Scott apart from the average writer. He has written over 300 freelance articles since 1986. According to Scott, about 90% were on subjects he was interested in; therefore, he initiated the pursuit of his work. Out of necessity, he also became his own producer. He wrote, produced and directed his play, “Jack Pierce: Tribute” in 2000, and then produced scaled down versions in 2001 and 2003. He has written and produced five live events.

Initiating the milestones of his creative career is what causes him to grow artistically. For such a prolific writer, he admitted to being a bad student and writer. At 16, he failed his English Regent’s exam. He said he had no mastery of grammar. Scott learned to write in college from his physics professor. “He taught writing as a scientific formula,” said Scott, making him realize that his papers didn’t communicate his ideas because he didn’t say it on the paper.

“You’ve got to say what you mean,” said Scott, and that was the realization that got this lover of communication hooked on writing. And he hasn’t stopped since. “If I wasn’t writing, then I was taking notes on it,” he said. He has tried his hand at every genre, including documentaries. Now his next goal is to write a feature film.

According to Scott, he hasn’t done much fiction in his professional writing career. “You’re able to tell different kinds of stories” through fiction, and Scott said he is prepared to “get incredibly immersed in it.”

            Scott will turn over another milestone in September, celebrating his 40^th birthday. His hobbies include watching an inordinate amount of movies and DVDs, spending time with his two dachshunds, and watching a sporting event at the end of a day to relax.