Meet Eugene Mandelcorn
By Beverly J. Clark, Publicity Director
Eugene Mandelcorn retired from the Los Angeles Public Library in 2003 after 30 years of civil service to devote his time to expanding upon the programs he passionately developed while working for the City. Before working with the City, Eugene was employed with Metropolitan State Hospital in Norwalk, working in the Patient Library department. He also worked in the Attorney General’s Law Library. Eugene, of course, loves retirement, has been married for 37 years and has one daughter.
Some of Eugene’s many City programs included the Festival on Wheels, the Astronomy Festival: Night of the Stars, and the most exciting of all, The Teen Comic Age and Animation Festival, which was held five times with the most successful event drawing more than 19,000 in attendance. Of course, having Stan Lee (comic book writer, editor, publisher and producer) as the Master of Ceremonies that year didn’t hurt.
Since retirement, Eugene has kept himself busy and is now involved in running an International Studio Without Borders or Walls that specializes in a whole new genre of film. He says, “This genre does more than just entertain or make us forget about our problems, but actually offers possible solutions to the problems we face every day.”
During the pandemic, Eugene wrote and produced the first narrative feature film in the solution genre entitled, “Lee’d the Way.” It will be distributed around the world by Buffalo 8, a Bondit Company.
What’s next?
Eugene is not stopping there. He is working on a sequel and a spin-off to “Lee’d the Way.” Global Hands, a section of the International Studio, will be teaching new filmmakers how to write and produce in the solution genre, which, like horror films, does not need stars and can be made on a low budget. Another one of his goals in making “Lee’d the Way” was to interest new filmmakers to work in this new genre; instead of competing to see who can scare or frighten the most people, they can make films that inspire, uplift and make one feel that anything is possible.
Eugene plans to offer a possible solution to the homeless crisis in LA in the sequel to the first solution film. In “Lee’d the Way,” many possible solutions are offered to problems, but in the sequel, his team plans to actually implement the solution to homelessness, while making the movie.
What was your inspiration to take on this project and attempt these enterprising endeavors after retirement?
“I took a course that LACERS Well offered called ‘Living a Life of Purpose’ with Sean Foy and decided to follow through on that purpose after the class.”
Eugene is enjoying retirement and has found his niche to keeping busy and productive as well as looking for solutions to today’s social challenges. He wishes everyone “all the best and to stay safe!”
