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www.aleishagore.com
www.espritfilms.com
www.chocolateisnotbetterthansex.com
www.youtube.com/aleishar
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Activity Summary
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Reviews Written: 65
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Member Visits: 784
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Total Visits: 8,179
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About aleisha
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I was born in Arlington, Massachusetts. I grew up in a family with five brothers and one sister. My interest in writing started when at the ripe old age of seven I began writing poetry and short stories. Of course, I didn’t really develop a style until I began reading avidly. I recall as a child my most beloved books were “The Wizard Children of Finn” by Mary Tannen and “The Witch of Blackbird Pond” by Elizabeth George Speare. Later it was Stephen King’s deliciously horrifying pages that occupied my interests. A recommendation to HP Lovecraft got me hooked to his short stories. Then I fell in love with the science-fiction of Robert Heinlein and the classics of William Somerset Maugham. These are the authors that made me want to be a writer and inspire others as much as they inspired me. Then there were the others, required books I read in school, which were so awful, that that in itself was enough to inspire me to write so that my works could perhaps be there instead.
In junior high school, I became both an actor and a director. I was taught through experience how to direct my fellow students and act with them in Shakespeare, Improvisation and all sorts of pieces. I also took Speech and competed in many speaking and acting competitions.
My love of writing goes hand-in-hand with my love of people, languages and cultures. In high school, I studied German and Spanish. At fifteen I got a scholarship for a summer exchange program. I lived in Berg, Germany for two months, and that short span of time expanded my viewpoint of the world. My interest in Germany had become so intense that I became industrious and worked hard baking cookies and cakes to sell and asking for donations. Having earned enough money, I returned to Germany as an exchange student after I graduated high school in 1993. I lived in the gracious little town of Oberharmersbach in the heart of the Black Forest. After attending language camp there, I moved north to the Ex-German Democratic Republic city of Stralsund where I attended school for a year. The city scared me, it looked like it had just been bombed. My host parents there had spent practically their whole lives behind the wall of the GDR and decided they would make up for lost time. They traveled extensively and when I arrived they took me to Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Poland. I learned there was another world out there.
After leaving Germany, I returned to Los Angeles and chose to work for my church full-time. After listening to the stories of East Germany and seeing wartime ruins, I wanted to help people. I feel that what I learned at church about religion, about people and about responsibility was something no other experience could have given me and I’m blessed to be able to have had that. I continued to travel back and forth from Europe and am addicted to the beauty of its lands and people.
In 1995, I got married and in 1996, I moved to San Diego. I worked for my church there until March, when I took a medical leave due to a difficult pregnancy. Soon after, I had my daughter, Lauri. She was two months premature. Twenty-four tearful days later I was finally able to take her home. When she was eight months old, I returned to work for the church. During this time, I also worked in several different fields, car sales, hospitality and painting. I even ran my own sales business for a while. Finally in 2000, I ended up at a utility and after all the drab, administrative and accounting work, something inside me was screaming to get out. I realized I had been straying from my dream and my true passion in life.
I knew the role of the artist could influence society. I wanted to use my gift, my experiences and my insight as a creative outlet to help people. I hooked up with a local theater and began acting. I educated myself in the entertainment business by attending workshops and reading books. I subscribed to “VARIETY.”
One 3 a.m. morning, I got an inspiration and wrote the dark comedic play, “An Act of God.” I presented it to the theater, and we planned auditions to take place the next month. I ran the auditions rehearsals and performances (sold-out shows) and fell in love with directing. But my love of writing was even stronger and I kept creating. I presented by romantic office comedy, “Brown Eyed Girls” next to another full house. I was motivated! I wrote daily. I now wanted to be a director.
I realized that I didn’t want to be a novelist in an ivory tower. I loved people, and I would have to create things for people not only to see and read but to perform. This changed where I thought I was going with my novels. I was in the middle of an adventure novel that I started 10 years prior and I realized every word rolled across my eyes in a picture, like a movie. I began reading screenplays and books about screenplay writing. I paid close attention to movies and educated myself. I turned my novel into my screenplay, “Isabella’s Letters.
I continued to write for the theater. I wrote and directed, “The Trial of Abraham” a court drama and “Uninvited” a psychological thriller and a psychological drama, "Secrets." I’m also continuing to write my first horror novel. I'm currently writing a new feature length screenplay.
I filmed three shorts, derived from my plays, "Uninvited", "An Act of God" and "Brown Eyed Girls." It was both nerve wrecking and exhilarating. For other films I shot go to my director's page and click on links to view the films.
I played the lead role of Marion, in the film, "Begleiter" by Dan Margulies. She's a German woman, a role you know, I love. I was thrilled that I got to use my foreign language skills and accent. You can find out more at www.happy-the-dog.com. Begleiter premiered in San Diego March 22, 2006. We recently received rave reviews from www.worldsgreatestcritic.com/begleiter.
I casted for a short film called, Being In Sync about a thirty-something boyband has-been who's sick of his telemarketing job and wants to get the band back together. I met with many talented actors and finally we nailed the perfect ones down. They finished shooting July 24th, 2005. The premiere went off without a hitch on March 23, 2006 in Los Angeles to a very satisfied and large crowd.
I worked on a show called Facets of the World, where I played the role of Aunt Barbara, a German woman whose neice comes to visit. This is a special show because it intends to teach German to children from elementary school through junior high. So, of course, it's dear to my heart. Great cast, lots of fun also as the dialect and language coach.
I completed writing a new screenplay, The Raven, about a teenager who has visions of her mother's assailant and must hunt him down while trying to prevent her father from pulling the plugs.
I've just finished writing a new romantic comedy about a woman coming back into the dating scene after divorce.
Currently, I'm assisting in other films and TV/web as cast and crew and I'm looking for financing for my first feature film, the romantic comedy, The One That Got Away.
I am exceedingly happy as I got married this year to an amazing and wonderful man, Byron Gore. You can check out his music here. We married on June 7, 2009 in a lovely ceremony at our home surrounded by many friends and family, even his mom and her boyfriend came from the UK to be there. It was wonderful.
I produced and acted in an internet sketch comedy show called Saturday Night YouTube! We've shot and aired 47 episodes. See them here!
Now, I'm currently producing my first feature film, Chocolate is Not Better than Sex.
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