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William Szarka
Born and raised in the Bronx, William Szarka began his film career at age eleven, making super 8 movies.
At 16, he won top honors in The Kodak Teenage Movie Awards, beating out 800 other entrants for his spoof of "The Godfather", entitled, The Grandfather. The film caught the attention of Frank Yablans, then President of Paramount Pictures. Impressed with Szarka's talent, Yablans helped him land a job at a prestigious New York film editing house. There he learned the art of cutting movie trailers, TV commercials, and music videos.
Szarka then went on to write, produce and direct his first feature film "South Bronx Heroes", starring Mario Van Peebles (New Jack City). The film opened in NY and LA, making Variety's List of 50 Top Grossing Films its opening week.
Later returning to his Godfather roots, Szarka wrote, produced and directed a 14 minute parody, "The Godson," starring James Madio ("The Basketball Diaries," "Band of Brothers," and "The Offer"). Martin Scorsese, a big fan of the film, was instrumental in getting it shown at the Sundance Film Festival. It was also screened at the USA and Cleveland International Film Festivals.
Szarka produced and directed two feature length documentaries, "Animals" and "The Untold Christmas Story," about the behind-the-scenes making of the "iconic" movie, "A Christmas Story."
For the last three years, Szarka has been researching and writing a mini-series, REBELS, about James Dean, Natalie Wood, and Sal Mineo, and the making of "Rebel Without a Cause." The Pilot Episode for the series was voted one of the Top 20 Semi-Finalist, in the 2024 Big Break Contest.
For further info and reviews, go to William Szarka on Linkedin website.
