| Bruce J. Sallan | |
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| Occupation | Syndicated Columnist and Radio Show Host |
| Notable work(s) | A Dad's Point-Of-View |
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www.brucesallan.com |
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Bruce Sallan is an internationally syndicated writer with his column, A DAD'S POINT-OF-VIEW. He also hosts his own radio show, "The Bruce Sallan Show -- A Dad's Point-of-View" based on his columns. Both are his take on the challenges of parenthood and male/female issues, both as a single dad and now, newly remarried, in a blended family.
Before, he was an award-winning television executive and producer for 25 years, during which time he produced over 30 television movies, pilots and series.
He produced his first television movie at age 24 and was a Vice President at ABC at 29.[1]
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“Gotta Sing, Gotta Dance” are words from Bruce’s favorite movie, Singin’ In The Rain. The passion and excitement they evoke struck him to the core while taking a college film course taught by critic Manny Farber (author of the seminal book, “American Cinema.”). Later, you could say he felt I “Gotta Write." A few years later, he was fortunate to get an internship with a television producer, while earning his M.B.A. from UCLA. What followed was an award-winning television executive and producing career. During those 25 years, he produced over 30 television movies, pilots, and series. He produced his first television movie at age 24 and was a vice president at ABC by the time he was 29.
Along the way he worked with such actors as Ingrid Bergman, Ron Howard (before he was a director), Mickey Rourke, Don Johnson, Ben Affleck, Hal Holbrook, Barbara Hershey, Sissy Spacek, Henry Winkler, Alan Arkin, and Brian Dennehey. He wrote articles for Daily Variety and the Producers Caucus Bulletin. His article entitled “Murders of the Week,” was a response to the then popular trend of taking just about every unsavory murder story and making it into a television movie. That article sparked a healthy debate and Bruce likes to believe it helped usher out that low period in the history of television movies. There’s a link to the article below.
He became a first-time dad, to a son, four days after his 40th birthday, less than 9 months after getting married (they got pregnant on the honeymoon). His second son was born three years later. When his boys were still quite young, he left show biz to become a full-time dad and to care for his ailing parents, the classic “sandwich” situation.
During his stint at ABC (1982–1986) Bruce Supervised development and production of the 14-hour mini-series Amerika, as well as more than 80 motion pictures for television including:
Sadly, shortly thereafter, his marriage ended and his wife abandoned their children, leaving the state. He found myself a full-time single dad, in his late-forties. And after a while, Bruce jumped into the new world of Internet dating. He was surprised to find that it was pretty much the only mode of dating that anyone was using.
He began writing various blogs on the dating sites he used, as well as articles for local publications, including a regular column for a local paper about being a single dad. Late in 2008, as his children were getting older and as both his aging parents had died, he began marketing his column to more newspapers and Web sites. The happy result, so far, is that it is now published in over 75 papers and Web sites in 20+ states, as well as several sites internationally, including the UK and India. Others are in the works.
His writing focus is primarily on parenting issues from the dad’s point-of-view, though often the situations are gender-neutral. Yet, just as often they’re not. It is Bruce’s contention that the dad’s point-of-view is less “heard” yet equally valuable to parents. The subject matter he covers include parenting situations he’s experienced, but especially the ones that he believes are relevant to a great number of parents. That includes single parenting, divorce issues, dating as a single parent, stepparent issues, dealing with teens, drug and alcohol issues with teens, money issues, and sometimes just general issues about gender differences. Bruce likes to think he’s become a semi-expert on Internet Dating.
All these years later, he still feels passionate about everything he does. The “Gotta Write” drive allows inspired him to express his many passions. He thinks he brings that spirit to everything he does, from heli-skiing and going on safari in Africa, to the everyday issues of raising two boys alone and then becoming a blended family.