in which the author postulates that it takes 10,000 hours to master a craft. His most recent film, Down for Life (2009), is based on a true story about a Hispanic teenage girl who was a gang leader in South Central Los Angeles. The film stars Jessica Romero, who was discovered on a lunch line at Manual Arts High School in Los Angeles, with a supporting cast that includes Danny Glover, Kate del Castillo, Laz Alonso, Elizabeth Peña and Snoop Dogg. The producers of the film visited several inner city schools and conducted brief auditions with approximately 600 teenage girls before casting Romero and her co-stars, Sheila Ochoa, Isamar Guijarro, Ilene Trujillo, and Andrea Valenzuela. Jacobs was inspired by the Italian Neorealist tradition of casting non-actors to heighten a film's authenticity and grittiness. Jacobs cites films like Open City, The Bicycle Thief, and City of God – all of which combined trained actors with authentic amateurs – as blazing a trail for others to make unconventional directorial decisions. Down for Life was invited to both the Toronto and Sundance Film Festivals (though it was not completed in time to screen at the latter). Critics described the film as “moving, motivating, and a must-see.” Jacobs recently started "Archer Entertainment Group," an integrated media company which manages talent in addition to producing films. Filmography Nina Takes a Lover (1994) Director, Producer, Writer Mail Bonding (1995) Writer, Executive Producer Sinbad: Beyond the Veil of Mists (2000) Director Just One Night (2000) Director, Writer American Gun (2002) Director, Writer Down for Life (2009) Director, Writer References External links American film directors American male screenwriters Films directed by Alan Jacobs Living people Year of birth missing (living people) People from New York City