Cesar and Max

Susan Klos came from New York to Los Angeles in 1975 to attend the American Film Institute as a fellow in cinematography, but put her budding career behind the camera on hold when she started a family. In 1978 she formed Big Time Picture Company, Inc., her post production business which grew into LA’s first independent post production facility for studio, independent and documentary feature films. Big Time’s West Los Angeles facility included 40 office/editorial suites, a professional 35mm/digital screening room, Avid and Final Cut digital editing equipment rentals, Apple computer sales and digital post production technical support and consulting.

Hundred of films posted at Big Time including Oliver Stone’s Academy Award winning “Born on the Fourth of July,” John Frankenheimer’s “Ronin,” Sam Raimi’s “A Simple Plan” and “For Love of the Game,” the Farrelly Brothers “There’s Something About Mary,” Nancy Meyers’ “What Women Want,” John Dahl’s “Joy Ride,” Curtis Hanson’s “The Hand That Rocks The Cradle,” Leon Ichaso’s “El Cantante,” Gregory Nava’s “Selena,” and the documentary classics, “Dogtown” and “Riding Giants.”

In 2009, Susan executive produced, along with Gary Foster and Joe Wright, “Lost Angels” www.skidrowismyhome.com, a feature documentary that explores the issues of mental illness and addiction in this portrait of life on the streets of Los Angelesʼ Skid Row. Directed by Thomas Napper and produced by Agi Orsi, “Lost Angels” premiered to rave reviews at the 2010 Los Angeles Film Festival. It opened theatrically in Los Angeles at the ArcLight Cinema in Hollywood, December 2012. Cinema Libre is distributing.

Susan is writer of the feature drama script, “Voices”. Inspired by a true story, “Voices” is an original screenplay about a single mother who struggles to balance a business and a new romance with family life when her young adult daughterʼs increasingly bizarre behavior is diagnosed as schizophrenia. “Voices” is winner of several screenwriting awards including first place in the New Hampshire Film Festival, Chicago ScriptWorks, GAFFERS, Spec Scriptacular, and New Vision screenplay competitions among others.

In 2010, Susan graduated from UCLA Anderson School Management Development for Entrepreneurs Certificate Program and 2011, the UCLA Professional Program in Screenwriting having completed two feature comedy screenplays, “Cesar and Max” and “I Hate You...a Love Story.”

“Cesar and Max” is a feature comedy about two teenaged boys and best friends; one the son of an illegal Mexican immigrant and the other a spoiled middle-class attorney’s son, who escape problems at school and at home and run away to Mexico in search of Cesar’s long lost father. Along their eventful journey, they discover the value of friendship and family. “Cesar and Max” has been a finalist or winner in several screenplay competitions including Screenplay Festival, Oaxaca Film Festival, and ScreenCraft Comedy.

Susan has another comedy screenplay in the works, “I Hate You… a Love Story.” What happens when you wake up one morning in your spouse’s body - the person you’re in a nasty divorce with and you hate the most. And to complicate things even more, having the body and private parts of the opposite sex? Fun stuff.

Susan stays involved in the community as an advocate for mental health and homeless issues and a presenter for NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) for law enforcement on crisis intervention. She is also involved with global projects having written a successful grant from BEST, the Belize Sustainable Tourism Board, to help bring ecotourism to economically depressed southern Belize.