Howard Gensler(II)

Howard Gensler is the writer, director and producer of Blue Moon Romance (2025). Gensler was born in Hollywood, California, and grew up in Costa Mesa, California. A small but precocious child, he was the shortest male in his class until a dwarf moved into the neighborhood for a year. Despite his vertical disadvantages, he won at least one athletic award every year in the annual elementary school competitions. He was the first and only student from his elementary school to receive an award from the Daughters of the American Revolution. Gensler played singles on the Costa Mesa High School Tennis Team. He graduated a year early and matriculated to the University of California, Irvine. He spent his third year abroad at the University of Sussex, where he played doubles on the school's club tennis team. Gensler graduated Phi Beta Kappa and cum laude with five majors: English, History, Philosophy, Political Science, and Economics, the first and only student to do so. He was selected Senior of the Year and was chosen to give the Honors Convocation speech. His speech was published in the alumni journal, only the second speech delivered on campus (by faculty, student, or honored guest) to be so recognized. He then earned a Master of Public Policy and a Juris Doctor from the University of California, Berkeley. Gensler worked as a professor of law and administrator at an engineering university in Los Angeles. Before the end of his second year, he was promoted to Dean, becoming the youngest law school dean in America. He worked briefly for the IRS in Washington, DC in the Legislation and Regulation Division and on the IRS's elite tax force. He then returned to the University of California, Irvine where he completed an M.A. and a Ph.D. in Economics. He has worked primarily in higher education as a professor of tax, law, economics, and/or political science, or as a dean. He has published about 60 books and articles mainly on law, tax, economics, and legal education. He was the English-speaking world's leading authority on Chinese taxes in the 1990's and edited a monthly update service of English translations of Chinese tax regulations. The Chinese government asked him to be their official translator, but he declined when they could not agree to terms. He retired from academia, and now plays pool in sports bars, travels the world, and cosplays at comic conventions. He is well-known in cosplay circles for his award-winning Batman costume, which was recognized by IMDb in 2017 in an article naming the top 100 cosplayers at San Diego Comic-Con, 97 of whom were movie stars. He wrote, directed and produced this feature-length, independent, ultra-low budget rom/com based on the Peter Pan characters. Locations included a pirate ship, a church, a dance hall, a mall, a chocolate store, restaurants, bars, parks, parking lots, and a beach, among other venues. Cast and crew numbered almost 100. The film features six dance numbers and 21 songs including a music video. The film has a wedding, two funerals, a car chase, two hospital scenes, one morgue scene, two kidnappings, a car accident, a bank robbery, multiple fights and a murder. This was all shot in just 18 days with a production budget of about $60,000, and a post- production budget of about $30,000. The effort has received recognition in nine festivals so far,

including in the best narrative feature, actor, actress, screenplay, casting, first-time director, and choreography categories. Gensler married his high school sweetheart in 1990. They divorced in 2012 after having four children together. The second, Catherine, graduated from the USC film school and has an Emmy for sound. She edited the film and recruited the post-production team. Her criticisms of the script were invaluable.