Bruce Joel Rubin was born on March 10, 1943 in Detroit, Michigan, USA. He is a writer and producer, known for Ghost (1990), Deep Impact (1998) and Jacob’s Ladder (1990). He has been married to Blanche Rubin since January 29, 1970. They have two children.
At the age of five, Bruce Rubin had a spiritual experience playing in a sandbox in the middle of the afternoon. The sun disappeared and a dense night sky appeared in its place. Infinite galaxies were swirling in the vastness of his own head and he sensed the entire universe was contained within him. He knew instantly he was one with all there was. In the years that followed, Bruce became an Oscar-winning screenwriter, a spiritual teacher and most recently, a photographer. Each aspect of his life has been a conscious effort to explore and reveal what he learned in that sandbox.
Bruce was born in the middle of WWII and raised in Detroit, Michigan, the son of Sondra and Jimmy Rubin. He has a younger brother and sister, Gary and Marci. There was very little remarkable about him. He wanted to be an actor, writer, director but had no talent to speak of. In 1965 he took a massive (and accidental) overdose of LSD and began a journey which lasted between 3 and 4 billion years. When he returned he knew he would have stories to tell. He also knew he needed to find a teacher, so he hitchhiked around the world for nearly two years in search of one.
After living in ashrams in India and in a Tibetan monastery in Kathmandu, he met his teacher Rudi in New York City just blocks from where he had begun his journey. Rudi taught a meditation practice that became the foundation for Bruce’s spiritual life. He has meditated every day since.
Bruce’s screenwriting career began late in his life. Earlier he had been an assistant film editor for the NBC Nightly News, and Curator and Head of the Film Department at the Whitney Museum in New York. When Rudi died, Bruce gave up his museum career to continue his spiritual practice with a disciple of Rudi’s in Bloomington, Indiana. While there he was also writing movies, twice locking himself in a hotel room and refusing to emerge without a finished script. He also began teaching meditation to an expanding community of fellow seekers and continues holding classes to this day.
In 1984 Bruce’s first film, Brainstorm, opened and his friend Brian De Palma told him he would never have a film career if he stayed in the Midwest. Blanche got the message, quit her job, put their house up for sale, and said we’re moving to Hollywood. In the next 25 years Bruce wrote eleven movies and directed one of them. During that time, he continued teaching and practicing meditation.
After 44 years of daily meditation, Bruce experienced what is referred to as a spiritual awakening. For him it was a revelation that there was no one to awaken. The illusion of a separate ego dissolved and left him in a state of extraordinary emptiness and inexplicable expansion. It was a profound step in a journey that began in a sandbox and continues to this moment.
Bruce continues to share his evolving experience with his students. His talks can be found on YouTube and on this site. Recently, he also discovered photography as an unexpected opportunity for communicating his spiritual vision. The result of always having an iPhone in his pocket, he describes this new phase in his creative life as the discovery of seeing. As Bruce explains, “The mystery and magic of the world is not hidden. It is under our feet, on old walls, in rusting garbage cans. The beauty, the wonder, never ends.”
Below are all the screenplays available online. If you find any of his missing screenplays please leave the link in the comment section.
Ron Bass was born on March 26, 1942 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He is a writer and producer, known for Rain Man (1988), My Best Friend’s Wedding (1997) and Entrapment (1999). He has been married to Christine Ann Thomas since June 3, 1978. They have two children. He was previously married to Gail V. Weinstein.
Bass was born in Los Angeles, California. From the age of 3 to 11, Bass was afflicted with an undiagnosed condition that kept him bedridden. His symptoms included respiratory problems and stomach pains with high fevers and nausea. It was during this illness, at age six, that Bass is said to have started writing.
During his teens, Bass began work on a novel, which he entitled Voleur. He completed this work at age 17 and showed it to his English teacher. He took her critique of his first completed project quite hard. She described the writing as very good, but she felt that it was too personal to be published. Bass’s response was to later burn his manuscript. Later in life, Bass recalled “it was like the voice of God telling me I didn’t have what it takes to be a writer, and I should find something practical to do with my life”. Bass would revisit his teenage writings later in life.
Below are all the screenplays available online. If you find any of his missing screenplays please leave the link in the comment section.
