Welcome to the third season of Someone on Film (FKA Substack on Film¹). A year in, we’ve shared stories from all sorts of writers and creators—including Lloyd Kahn, the nonagenarian pioneer of the green building movement; former Vogue editor Plum Sykes; children’s book authors and illustrators Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen; and many others. For our latest season, we decided to visit Substackers who call Los Angeles home.
LA is a city of creative strivers, and we tried to capture that ambition from several angles: a TV-showrunner-slash-illustrator, an underground club raver, a veteran entertainment journalist, a lifestyle creator with millions of followers, and a touring comedian. We shot it all on 16mm film, as usual, working with Director of Photography Jack Duffy, sound recordists Kenneth Orozcoand Adrian Arteaga, and with our very own Dave Bonawits behind the second camera and in the editing booth.
First up, we visited Lisa Hanawalt, who you might know as the creator of Tuca & Bertie and the production designer of BoJack Horseman. She’s currently working on a book called I Can’t Stop Thinking About Horses and Sex, and she let us invade her (very nice) lair to take a look at the pages. We traded imaginary horses for real ones when Lisa brought us to the stables, where we met her horse, Juniper.
I hope you enjoy our first installment of Someone on Film: Los Angeles. There’ll be more episodes in the coming weeks.
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We’ve renamed the series from Substack on Film to Someone on Film. The films are really about the people in them, not about Substack itself—and the name should reflect that.
I was born on 6 August 1956 in San Francisco, California to Janet and (the late) Richard Hovis.
I grew up in Santa Monica, California where I attended elementary, junior high school, and high school (graduating in 1974), in addition to involvement in sports and recreation (Little League +, the Boy’s Club ++). Further, it was in elementary school – St. Augustine’s By-the -Sea Parish School that I found, and made the choice to truly journey with God.
I attended Arizona State University from 1974 to 1977 – seeking to become an architect, however, I was not accepted, and, as such, I graduated with a Liberal Arts degree.
Upon graduation from Arizona State University, I attended Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and studied City and Regional Planning at the Master’s level. I successfully completed one (1) year in a two (2) year program – I did not complete the Master’s degree in City and Regional Planning – due to personal reasons.
I returned to Santa Monica where I started (October 1979) my career as graphic designer with Exxon Company, USA. I spent five years with Exxon Company, USA.
While working with Exxon Company, USA I was accepted into architectural school – Sci-Arc in Southern California, however, I did not attend preferring to stay with Exxon..
In 1982 I married Laura Flosi and in April 1983 we had our one and only child – Lauren Alain Hovis – a gift from God.
We moved to Phoenix, Arizona in 1984 from Los Angeles, where I went to work as a graphic designer with Kitchell CEM (from 1985 -1987).
From 1987 – 1995 I was an independent contractor, and a registered representative in mortgage finance, financial management, graphic design, and drafting.
Further, I attended the University of Phoenix and successfully obtained a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) in 1982.
I was also a member of the Scottsdale Jaycees, where I became very involved in community events and projects.
In 1994, I accepted a cartography position with the Defense Mapping Agency in Reston, Virginia. As such, I relocated from Phoenix to Reston.
In 1998, I was accepted and worked as a Visual Information Officer with the Central Intelligence Agency. In 2002, I worked as a Support Officer until my retirement (due to a need for shoulder surgery) in September 2018.
Away from my Federal Government service, I have been involved in various organizations and activities in Northern Virginia.
In November of 2011, I married Rebecca Ouellette in Santa Monica, California. I reside in San Tan Valley, AZ with my two hamster - Jess and Timothy, our fish, our lizard - RJ Lizard., and our cats - Pearl and Grey.
As to hobbies, I enjoy playing sports, attending sporting events, mentoring individuals from financial management to hamsters, building models, photography, travel, multimedia design, managing partner for RJ Hamster, and jazz – smooth jazz to a samba or a bossa nova.
Love and God Bless,
Peter – aka RJ Hamster Jo hi
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