Excerpted from LatinoLink:

'Red Light August' Director Gets the Green Light

By RICARDO VAZQUEZ
© 2000 LatinoLink

Continued from page 2
Gomez began to attract the attention of computer game and comic book publishing companies after he became a teacher at a Brooklyn school at age 23. He developed a curriculum based on storytelling and the creation of worlds that students could explore.

"So there I was teaching at Bedford-Styuvesant, probably the roughest neighborhood in the world...and I had to come up with a way to grab these kids' attention. So I developed that curriculum, it became popular and I turned it into a magazine called Gateways specializing in teaching storytelling," said Gomez.

That got the attention of companies that eventually contracted him to write games and the comic books. However, when it came time to tell a serious story like "Red Light August," he went back to film -- the subject of his undergraduate degree from Queens College, N.Y.

After the film, Gomez was signed by Peter Levin and Ellen Goldsmith-Vein of the prestigious Artists Management Group. But for the moment, a Hollywood film will have to wait. In order to create a strong brand for his stories, Gomez co-founded Streetcorner Entertainment with internet entrepreneur Dean Margolis.

And though he didn't reveal a lot about his plans, Gomez said "it's going to be a pretty elaborate and pretty ambitious internet entertainment company."

Utilizing digital video, actors, scripts and special effects, Gomez and his partners plan to create a brand-new type of interactive storytelling over the web. "We're going to tell a story using multiple media -- chats, instant messaging, digital video and diaries. You will be able to follow along and interact with the characters," an excited Gomez said.

For all his success, the filmmaker and game creator feels he needs to address the problems that prevent so many kids from similar backgrounds from achieving their potential. To that end, he tours the country giving inspirational seminars for teens on the perils of drug abuse

After all, it's difficult for Gomez to forget that no so long ago, he in a New York City project where his mother got "welfare cheese and welfare peanut butter." Looking back to his beginnings as a child of the projects, Gomez said: "To me it's incredible that I've been able to come this far." And he is likely to go much further.

Last change: January 12, 2000