L.A. Developer’s Very Own Biopic

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Downtown L.A. developer Izek Shomof is breaking ground on a new kind of project: committing his life story to film.

He’s executive producer of “For the Love of Money,” which recently finished postproduction. It tells the story of Shomof’s journey from teenage immigrant to L.A. businessman starting at his arrival in Hollywood in 1973 at age 14.

The Israeli-born teenager drops out of Hollywood High, opens a restaurant and then, a few years later, an auto repair shop.

Things get interesting when mobster Micky Levine visits the shop for some work on his Mercedes, and threatens Shomof and his family.

“I didn’t hurt the guy, but I reacted in a way that I shouldn’t have reacted,” Shomof said.

The movie ends in the early 1990s, with Shomof in his 30s, before he went on to develop tract homes in the San Fernando Valley and apartments in downtown.

Shomof said the film, which he self-financed, stars James Caan, who plays Micky Levine. Israeli actor Yehuda Levi plays Shomof.

“Watching the movie is like reliving it all again,” Shomof said.

Surfin’ at ‘Silicon Beach’

The L.A. technology community has been working hard to brand itself as “Silicon Beach” – a rival to Silicon Valley.

And that was the message at the recent Siemer Silicon Beach Summit. Keynote speaker and Angeleno Arianna Huffington touted Los Angeles for its companies that combine media and technology.

Ross Levinsohn, executive vice president of Americas at Yahoo and based out of the company’s Santa Monica office, spoke candidly about Yahoo and the L.A. tech community during an intimate chat with attendees.

David Siemer, managing director of Santa Monica merchant bank Siemer & Associates, which hosted the Sept. 28 event, said the goal was to promote the connections that Los Angeles can make with the international tech community.

“We wanted to bring a lot of people together to try to help bridge a lot of those connections so the world doesn’t just think about Silicon Valley,” said Siemer, 37.

A number of L.A. entrepreneurs took home prizes during the conference’s competition segment, which included presentations from local and international companies. But Siemer said the surprise winners of the day were the surfboard-shaped trophies his firm handed out.

“We got many requests for more trophies,” he said.

Staff reporters Jonathan Polakoff and Natalie Jarvey contributed to this column. Page 3 is compiled by Editor Charles Crumpley. He can be reached at [email protected].

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