Rising Stars: Meet Ed Robinson of Leimert Park

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ed Robinson.

Hi Ed, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I wanted to be an actor since I scored the role of Snoopy in 6th grade. No, that’s a lie, I had known long before that. But that’s when I started saying it out loud.

One other thing was very apparent to me from a young age. I loved cooking. On Saturday mornings (back when Saturday morning cartoons were still a thing) after Transformers ended, I would switch away from G.I Joe to instead watch cooking shows. I grew up regularly helping my Mom in the kitchen. In High School I made dinner on my own once or twice a week.

After college, I moved to L.A to pursue my acting dream. I fell into the indie movie and series community. We’d all pool resources to get films made on a shoestring budget. You’d act in one project, then turn around and be the key grip on the next. Except I can’t even set up a C-Stand. So… I was of minimal use on the crew side of things. But I could COOK. So, I took the pizza / sub sandwich money and catered the productions I wasn’t cast in.

Those first sets as a caterer raised eyebrows. I remember one director asking, “What’s for lunch?” I replied, “Tri-Tip with roasted salsa and herb roasted potatoes.” He laughed and said, “Riiight.” His eyes were as wide as saucers an hour or so later as I sliced him a serving from my grilled tri-tip. “I thought you were kidding” he said. I smiled and shook my head.

A producer on one of those early sets asked me to cater their higher budget feature and then another producer brought me onto an even higher budget project and so on unitl I found myself managing sous chefs as I catered commercial sets and IATSE holiday parties.

I combined my two passions into a streaming series called Pairings. It was about Food, family and love. It was my first time writing. And I loved it. At heart, I’m a storyteller. That’s what I loved about acting. It was about bringing a story to life either on stage or onscreen. And once I had my first taste of writing, it was all I wanted to do.

When my kids were born, chef hours became problematic. I also realized that it wasn’t what I really wanted to do with my life. Catering was beginning to make me fall out of love with cooking. I love making food for my friends and family, but I didn’t want to run a full-time catering business. It was only ever meant to be a side hustle. So, I hung up my knives. I stayed home with the kids and threw myself into screenwriting. I listened to screenwriting podcasts while on walks and typed away on my computer during nap times.

Those first few movies I wrote were bad. But I stuck at it. Every iteration was a little better. I started a writer’s group of friends. I specifically said, “This is about writing only. I’m not going to cook anything.” So, of course, everyone brought food. The writer’s group meets monthly to this day and is half pot-luck dinner party and half script reading.

I got notes. And I’d rewrite. Then more notes. More rewriting. Rinse and repeat. Until, after hundreds of iterations, I finally started to get good. It’s led me to successful career in screenwriting. It started with penning jokes and award show presentations to where I am now. Writing animated television specials for kids and families. I am very proud of my Barbie content which can be found on Amazon Prime Video. And my recent short film, Breaking Eggs, was featured in the Dances with Films Festival in Los Angeles.

My happy place is being on set. My concentration is writing, but I am still acting and have a supporting role in feature film coming out soon. I’ve also started dipping my toe into directing. (Yes, I can now set up a C-Stand. Barely.) I’m excited for the future as I take on ever more challenging projects.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Ha! Of course there have been struggles. You try starting a writing career whilst being a stay-at-home Dad to three baby girls. (We had identical twins shortly after our eldest turned two.)

Making the decision to step away from catering was difficult financially as well. But we did save money on nannies and daycare until I could get the whole writing thing rolling.

I think the hardest thing was re-focusing my dream of acting into a dream of screenwriting. You grow up singularly focused on becoming one thing and it’s hard to decide to try to do something else. I’m proud I made the decision, though. It’s definitely proved to be the right one. And I’m pleased that as the kids get older, I can find a little more time to accept the occassional role.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’m a filmmaker. I write, direct and act. I’m most proud of being able to make the change from amateur to professional screenwriter. My first Barbie special is very popular with a young demographic and can be watched on Amazon Prime video.

I think I am probably most known for mashing my two passions together — food and film.

Do you any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
I had to think about this one for a while. I don’t really do favorites. I have many fond childhood memories, but is any one more my favorite than the others?

Then it came to me.

Star Wars. Star Wars, Star Wars, Star Wars. I watched those movies over and over when I was a kid. They are a part of my zeitgeist. I think they define who I am to this day. Those stories were my first love. There are many stories I have come to cherish since, but those were the first.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://edlawrencerobinson.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/edlawrencerobinson/

Image Credits
Most photographs were taken by Jodie Younse. The Pairings key art was taken by Alicia Santisteven. There is one selfie taken by me, Ed Robinson.