WRITING
Simon was the bane of his elementary school teacher's existence. They would give out simple prompts for short, one-page stories; Simon would cover the front of the paper, the back, and then ask for more pages to continue his story.
Over the years, he has completed many screenplays, some of which were made into short films, such as the Date (Finalist - Los Angeles Cinefest, 2019), Dick (Winner/Best Drama - Couch Film Festival, Fall 2020), and Forge (Winner/Best Drama - Couch Film Festival, Spring 2021). Simon also wrote the book and music for the interactive stage show, Broke: The Game Show Show, now playing.
FILM
Simon began making movies in his backyard with often a limited cast of two, employing the swish pan to give the illusion of a larger cast (all of whom looked very much the same).
He now makes movies on a shoestring budget with his partner, Kim Casey, at Pray for Rain, where they have created multi-award-winning films (Date, Dick, Forge, Shelf Life).
He is currently finishing a short film commissioned by the Bronxville Women's Club for their 95th Anniversary Gala and part two in the Forge series.
GRAPHIC DESIGN
& PHOTOGRAPHY
Simon stumbled into graphic design professionally, though it began as a hobby. He designed logos and animated backgrounds for Prohibition the musical (currently showing on Norwegian Cruise Lines) and Speakeasy in Times Square.
Writing music and scripts are both very time-consuming. For example, 1 minute of music can not only take a full day to write but then a full day to orchestrate and program to hear the final result. On the other hand, photos are fairly instant gratification--not counting editing, which is a calming, enjoyable experience to Simon. It's also a very social event, while many of his other creative passions tend to be solitary affairs. In addition to personal art photo shoots and headshots, he is also responsible for the bulk of the marketing photos for Prohibition and Speakeasy.
MUSIC COMPOSITION
At a young age, Simon discovered that music had the power to tell stories while listening to records such as The Magnificent Seven, To Kill a Mockingbird, and Slaughter on 10th Avenue.
He began creating music for a variety of productions, including community theaters, professional theaters, documentaries, and short films during his time in California
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After moving to New York in 2005, he created Pipe Dream Theatre with his partner, Liz Muller, and they produced several original one-act and full-length musicals. They now concentrate primarily on podcasts of original musicals and plays with immersive 3D sound. Simon writes the book, music, and creates the sound design for all these projects. He also collaborated with Halfworld on Dark Obscurities, another immersive 3D sound experience, to which he also composed the score.
Simon has written music for multiple films, including the critically acclaimed Rage, nationally aired commercials for Kellogg's and others, and original music and arrangements for cruise lines and theme parks.
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