R. Christian Anderson

Christian was born in Los Angeles and raised in Hollywood His passion for film came at an early age His mother Lita was a personality on the radio station KMPC a music and entertainment station She took him to the many movie premieres she covered in her broadcasts He also performed live radio commercials for the station By age 5 he had a contract with the Marcella Bell Talent Agency in West Hollywood and was soon performing on live television broadcasts By age 10 his mother married Raymond D Bowman a jazz and classical music impresario and music critic who encouraged Christians writing and artistic ability His stepfather later owned an art gallery in Beverly Hills where Christian was inspired by the artists showing there including Innocenzo Daraio Mae Babitz Leonora Cetone Starr and Flavio Cabral Raymonds mother Vesta was also a huge infleunce on Christian encouraging and mentoring him in the appreciation of classical music At age 12 he met legendary dance pioneer Ruth St Denis who also encouraged his love of art and music In 1969 Christian volunteered to serve in the United States Air Force where he was trained as a graphic designer He created orientations and briefings with the 62nd Military Airlift Wing MAC where he was also a member of the Base Honor Guard He then helped produce military training films with the Aerospace Audiovisual Service MAC and worked with one of the first units to make films on videotape rather than film stock He received an Honorable Discharge for his service By 1973 he moved to San Francisco where he freelanced as a graphic designer creating numerous posters brochures print ads and collateral materials over the years In the 1990s he returned to college to obtain his degree in Multimedia and was then employed by two major advertising agencies in the San Diego area For over 3 years he created the covers for the tennis magazine Racquet Tech In 1999 he spent a season working with the Houston Symphony Orchestra and began freelancing as a writer He authored several magazine articles on classical music which were published at this time In 2008 he directed his first featurelength film Defcon 2012 and began to hone his craft by writing producing and directing several short films He wrote and directed the feature documentary film When the World Came to San Francisco which had its premiere at the Koret Theater at the de Young Museum of Fine Arts in San Francisco won the DaVinci award for Best Documentary at the Andromeda Film Festival