I am an award-winning author and filmmaker whose work tackles important social issues occurring in the United States today.

For the past two years, I’ve  shot and produced the documentary web-series, The Storyboard Project. Each episode profiles a former foster youth who reflects on their experience growing up in the system. The web-series won a Telly Award, a Communicator Award, and a Best Documentary Award at the Austin Web-Fest. Storyboard episodes have screened at classrooms across the United States, as well as the White House.

Last year, I also published my first novella, Dreams of an American Exile (1888 Center, 2015). Dreams tells the story of an undocumented college senior who is deported from Tucson to a dangerous Mexican border town. The novella won the inaugural Plaza Literary Prize and is currently being taught in classrooms at Santa Monica High and USC.

My passion for tackling projects based around social issues is spurred by my belief that a moving, personal story can leave a larger impact on an audience than any amount of statistics. I am always looking to work with people who share my sensibility while at the same time wanting to express themselves through an artistic medium.

I am a Los Angeles native and USC graduate.

Dreams of an American Exile

On the brink of graduating college, undocumented 22-year-old Rose Quintero gets deported from Tucson, Az. to the volatile Mexican border town of Nogales. Dumped in a country she fled with her parents as a baby, she struggles to survive without a home and avoid the violence of the streets. As days turn to weeks, she searches for her deported parents and learns the only way back to the U.S. entails a deadly and illegal three-day hike through Arizona’s Sonoran Desert. With the threat of violence imminent and her situation hopeless, Rose must come to terms with the possibility that she may never see her home or family again.

Dreams of an American Exile won the inaugural Plaza Literary Prize.

PRAISE:

“With precision and immense empathy, Eric Weintraub presents Rose Quintero’s experience as a woman caught in this country’s intolerance toward undocumented immigration; this is a book that all of our political officials should be reading.”

-Karen E. Bender, author of Refund: Stories, Finalist for the National Book Award

“[Weintraub] provides details and descriptions so vivid the reader can visualize the near hopeless circumstances Rose experiences. Regardless of one’s views on the immigration debate, you can’t help but hope Rose prevails. Passages are so “real” and gritty it makes politicians debating the subject on television seem trivial compared to the human cost.”

-Santa Monica Daily Press

“…builds on a winning and urgently topical premise, one perhaps familiar but here done to particular effect in its unshy embrace of detail, violence and, again, a kind of fatalistic hard-knocks loser narrative, if with empathy.”

-OC Weekly

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SHORT STORIES

I also write short stories that are available to read online.

“Accomplice” The Cost of Paper: Volume III, January, 2016

“La Laguna” Mobius: The Journal of Social Change, Winter, 2014

2016 Filmmaker Reel

Since 2009, I’ve worked professionally as a freelance filmmaker and cinematographer. Many of the projects and documentaries I work on center around social issues and education. I always strive to create projects that will influence a positive change in my community through the act of storytelling.

Storyboard Episode: Ashley

I am the co-founder of The Storyboard Project, a documentary web-series that uses story to empower and educate foster youth transitioning into adulthood.  At Storyboard, I serve mainly as the director of photography and film each episode. In addition, I frequently act as second-unit director, editor, sound technician and producer.

The Storyboard Project has been commissioned to make educational films for several non-profits. These include:

• Annie E. Casey Foundation
• Foster Care Counts (A Pritzker Family Foundation)
• iFoster
• Center for the Study of Social Policy
• Think of Us
• Doing Good Works

In addition, I often work freelance and provide filmmaking assistance for non-profits and companies outside the foster care community. These include:

• University of Southern California
• The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society
• Aveson Learning Center
• Kaya Press
• The OC Hit Factory

If you’d like to collaborate on a future production, please feel free to reach out to me.

CLICK BELOW TO VIEW MY PORTFOLIO:

Eric Z. Weintraub Writing Portfolio

I am a copywriter / copy editor with two years of professional experience creating print, web, video, and multimedia content for social enterprises, academic institutions, and private businesses. Please find below several writing samples that I believe best demonstrate my ability to create high-quality copy over a wide range of formats.

The Storyboard Project 2015 Stewardship Report

This end of the year report thanks our donors and shows them how their philanthropy made a positive impact on the non-profit.

USC Dornsife Personal Essay

USC Dornsife commissioned me to write this personal essay. In this piece, I discuss how a sociology class at the college inspired me to write and conduct research for my first book, Dreams of an American Exile.

Doing Good Works News Article

“An UpLYFTing Story of Success.” I generated the story content and wrote this news article, based on a training event I attended arranged by Doing Good Works.

Physician Strategy College Blog

“How PCMH Affects the Care of Children.” While working for TopHatRank.com, LLC, I wrote several medical blogs for Physician Strategy College. In addition to helping boost the college’s web presence, I took a personal interest in writing this piece because I wanted to learn more about the subject matter.

Appliance Parts Pros Blog

“The Gamer’s Manual to Dishwasher Loading.” While working for TopHatRank.com, LLC, I developed and wrote this blog for Appliance Parts Pros. The company was TopHat’s new client and they requested their blogs contain, “Humorous content for their site.” This blog demonstrates my range and ability to write lighter, more humorous material.

Doing Good Works Email Solicitation

In addition to writing copy for this solicitation, I also designed the layout in Adobe Photoshop. Doing Good Works used this email blast as part of their launch campaign to familiarize readers with why people should purchase their brand of coffee, Cause Kups.

1888 Center Essay

In this “Why We Write” essay, I discuss my decision to become a writer and what keeps me writing every day. “Why We Write” is a series of essays created by authors for the non-profit literary publication 1888 Center.