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Bernie Schallehn was reared in an environment that would prove
to be extremely fertile ground for the storyteller he would
become. His mom was a child actress who later went on to direct
plays in a small town near Saratoga Springs, NY. Bernie has
fond memories of 1950s teenage actors rehearsing their lines
in his living room while sipping six and a half ounce Coca-Colas.
As he was growing up, listening to oral histories by relatives
on both sides of his family was a favorite pastime of Bernie's.
His maternal grandfather was a bootlegger during Prohibition
and his paternal granddad was a blacksmith who fortified the
suspensions of cars used to run liquor from Canada down to the
States.
His dad was a voracious reader who always eschewed television
for a good book. His bedroom housed enough hardcovers and paperbacks
to fill a small library.
As an adolescent, Bernie often felt the crack of a ruler across
his knuckles in the classroom of his Catholic high school, played
drums with a variety of garage bands, and committed a few misdemeanors
for which he was never caught. He wore a black leather jacket,
drove a muscle car, and hung with the "greasers."
He studied psychology and behavioral science as an undergraduate
in college. Senior year Bernie woke up and realized he was utterly
unprepared to enter the work force. He stayed on for another
two years and obtained a masters degree in counseling psychology.
After graduate school he cut his teeth as a psychotherapist
working in a number of drug rehabs in the Albany, NY area. Bernie
also continued to play drums in a variety of musical situations
- country, wedding/party, rock and roll. He toyed with the idea
of moving to Nashville to pursue a career as a studio drummer,
but in 1982 he opened a private practice in hypnotherapy, psychotherapy,
and addictions counseling.
It was around this time that Bernie began to write. He began
with a self-help video and audiotapes. In early 1990 he typed
the beginning paragraphs of his first novel, Paradox Outpatient.
Schallehn went on to become a published author of fiction,
non-fiction, self-help and how-to. His novella-Santa of the
Lighthouses-was the #5 paperback best-seller in the Boston
area during the holiday season of 2002. His feature film scripts
have been optioned by CBS-TV, Linda Wright Productions, and
Wilson/Woods Productions. His first short-THE COBBLER-was purchased
and produced by Myriad Arts Productions (NYC). The film stars
Randall Duk Kim of THE MATRIX RELOADED, MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA,
ANNA & THE KING, etc. In 2007 Bernie formed his own film company,
Apocrypha Productions. To date, the fledgling firm has produced
two short films, THE SOLUTION and THE APPOINTMENT. Both movies
were screened at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival Short Film Corner.
More info at: www.myspace.com/apocryphaproductions
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