The story of a storyteller

The framed photo of Alfred Hitchcock hanging on the wall of his University office reminds IU professor Lee Sheldon of his first encounter with the Hollywood legend. \n“‘Good morning, Mr. Hitchcock.’ That’s all I said,” Sheldon remembers. “That was the one time I got up the nerve to say anything at all. He was very old at that point and had to use a walker to get around. He looked up and just nodded.”\nAs a soap opera screenwriter for “The Edge of Night” in the mid-1980s living in New York City, Sheldon’s long walk from his small trailer to the studio space where the show was filmed led him past Hitchcock’s bungalow and, sometimes, Hitchcock himself. \n“Most of the time in Hollywood, the people you idolize really disappoint you,” he said. “I doubt anything about Mr. Hitchcock would have been disappointing.” \nSheldon has since abandoned his soap days for a role in a place some would argue is equally as melodramatic – a college campus. \nMoving back to the Midwest for the first time since he was 18, Sheldon is now a professor in IU’s telecommunications department. His mission: to teach students about the Hollywood industry – the good, the bad and in particularly, the ugly.\n“I decided I wanted to give something back,” he said. “I have concerns about the industry that other people don’t have. The new people working don’t have enough knowledge of the world. This needs to change.”\nAn Ohio native, Sheldon set his sights on screenwriting after graduating from Boston University. His first screenplay, “Night of the Titans,” was a film that was never made, but it held its own in Sheldon’s mind – complete with killer cactuses.\nNow, the Hollywood hopeful turned Hollywood screenwriter can add to his resume such TV shows as “Star Trek: The Next Generation” (which won him the prestigious Golden Reel Award) and “Charlie’s Angels.”\nHis fondest memory of the “Angels” set? The actresses, of course.\n“I used to hang around with Cheryl Ladd,” he said with a smile. “I remember shooting in this large house in Hollywood. Cheryl and I used to hang out in the garage.”\nSheldon, who has always considered himself a writer, admitts screenwriting wasn’t all fun and games.\n“If there was a scene that wasn’t quite working for whatever reason, they’d have to stop filming and wait for me to come rewrite on the spot,” he said. “There was always pressure there.”\nWhen he found himself choosing video games over TV in 1994, he knew he needed to make a switch. \n“I went from car chases to spaceship chases,” he said. “I was playing games for fun, not watching television.”\nEighteen games later, Sheldon is still happy he made the decision to write and design video games. \n“I was definitely scared for the first (game),” he said. “I thought I knew what I was doing, but really, I didn’t know at all.”\nBut that’s no longer the case.\nNow, Sheldon, teaching classes about screenwriting and video games, sits among piles of screenplays and boxes of shelved video games inside his office – a perfect balance for the single father of two who has spent his professional career balancing his passions. But his family is always a no-contest win.\n“I’m writing a screenplay with my son,” said Sheldon, the proud father of Graham, an IU sophomore, and Emma, a senior at Bloomington High School South. “They are both very intelligent, passionate kids. I couldn’t be more pleased.”\nBut now, as he is putting the finishing touches on his first game designed for Nintendo’s Wii game system, Sheldon looks to the summer. And for him, this means nothing more than family and Key West, Fla. – and more work. The man with a thousand stories is writing one more, a novel – his third. \n“It’s more of a mystery thriller,” he said. “Maybe a cross between ‘The Da Vinci Code’ and ‘East of Eden’ – and set in Key West, of course.”\nFor Sheldon, his work will always be work – but most importantly, a sense of self.\n“It’s great to write and tell stories and fun to see how people react to them,” he said. “It doesn’t matter whether I’m writing for a small group or millions – because I’ll still be writing.”