R. Christian Anderson

Christian was born in Los Angeles and raised in Hollywood. His mother, Lita, was an announcer for radio station KMPC, at the time a music and entertainment station. Though only a child, she took him to numerous movie premieres she covered in her broadcasts. During that time he met many celebrities, including Lucille Ball, Dick Powell, June Allison, Art Linkletter, Johnny Grant, Jose Iturbi. Celeste Holm, Cowboy Lash LaRue, and the Criswell. By age 5, he signed a contract with the Marcella Bell Talent Agency in West Hollywood and appeared in various children's live television programs and in radio commercials. In 1960, his mother married Raymond D. Bowman, a jazz impresario and noted music critic who taught and encouraged Christian to write. When a teenager, his step-father opened an art gallery in Beverly Hills where Christian was inspired by the artists who showed there. Among them was Innocenzo Daraio, Mae Babitz, Leonora Cetone Starr, Clark Allen, and Flavio Cabral. At age 12 he met legendary dance pioneer Ruth St. Denis, who shared her career and encouraged his love of the arts. In 1969 Christian enlisted in the United States Air Force where he was trained as an illustrator and graphic designer. He created orientations and briefings with the 62nd Military Airlift Wing (MAC), where he was also a member of the base Honor Guard. He later produced military training films with the Aerospace Audiovisual Service (MAC) and worked with one of the first units to produce films on video tape, rather than film stock. He received an Honorable Discharge for his service. By 1973 he moved to San Francisco where he freelanced as a graphic designer, creating numerous posters, brochures, print ads and collateral materials over the years. He spent two years in Springfield, Ohio where he was an active member with the Springfield Civic Theater. During the 1980 season, he performed in two plays; Agatha Christie's "Mousetrap" in the part of "Christopher Wren" and in the lead role as "Charles Condomine" in Noel Coward's "Blythe Spirit." Both productions required him to speak with an English accent. He worked for noted film and stage producer Jay Julien in New York in the Spring of 1984, where he met several major film personalities. This further inspired his love of film. He returned to San Francisco and was employed by the deYoung Museum of Art and gave docent tours at the War Memorial Opera House. During the 1990s he returned to college to obtain his degree in Multimedia and was then employed by two major advertising agencies in San Diego. His work as a fashion and landscape photographer was seen in several magazines, including "Palm Springs Life" and "Racquet Tech." He spent a season in 1999 working with the Houston Symphony Orchestra in the operations department. He directed his first feature-length film "Defcon 2012" in 2008, which was screened at the Cannes Film Festival. He composed the lyrics to the song "The Ghosts of San Francisco" (with music by John Thomas Bullock), which was sung by Motown recording artist Chris Clark for the feature film "When the World Came to San Francisco" which Christian wrote and directed. The film premiered at the Koret Theater at the deYoung Museum of Fine Arts in San Francisco in 2015. The music video for the song won the "Mixed Genre Jazz Film Award" at the "New York Jazz Film Festival" in November 2016. The following year, his music video "Manhattan Montage", with music by jazz guitarist Pat Thomi and photography by Miriam Danar, won "Top Music Video" at the "New York Jazz Film Festival" the following year. Christian is married and lives in Las Vegas, Nevada, where he continues as a screenwriter, filmmaker, professional photographer, music composer and lyricist. He is a member of ASCAP.