Mitch Anderson BiographyI was born in 1967 Romania, an only son of former political dissidents of the Stalinist era. My mother and her parents spent many years in a Communist labor camp after their land and farmhouse was nationalized under the Russian occupation in 1947. My father took part in an anti-Communist movement during the same period. His youthful naiveté landed him in prison for "anti-revolutionary activities" for seven years, 1952 – 1959. I still remember my grandparents telling me how they thought that Mr. Truman and the "Anglo-Americans" would not "leave us behind". By the time of Mr. Eisenhower, they gave up hope... History and politics were present at the dinner table with us trough out my childhood. Radio "Free Europe" was the family bible, and my fascination with the world outside the "workers paradise" started early.
My teenage years, the eighties, were some of the most depressing times in the history of my country. The insane policies of Nicolae Ceausescu lead the country to ruin. Food, heating and electricity shortages made for a very frustrated populous, and that resulted in a very tightly run police state. The government network of informers, random checks, permits and approvals for the most basic activities killed all hope in the future, so, at the age of twenty I decided to leave Romania.
Recruited for the 18 months mandatory military service at eighteen, I ended up as a battery specialist for a tank battalion. The military life was actually good for me. I needed to learn the discipline and focus. In the meantime, my father Paul died of leukemia. I was nineteen at the time.
After two failed attempts to cross the border illegally, that landed me in jail for a few months, I finally made it to Austria in the summer of 1989. I was granted political asylum, but I didn’t enjoy Austria that much. My childhood dream was America, and luckily enough, a year later I also got political asylum from the US Embassy in Vienna.
I started my new life in California, living with family friends. I had an AA degree in electrical engineering, it was my only skill, and I put it to work repairing Xerox machines. In 1996 I started my own business, Laptops For Less, Inc. Running a business was a great experience, and I enjoyed some success. The idea of "Laptops for Less" was to market laptop accessories in competition with the various computer manufacturers. In order to acquire those accessories, I formed relationships with Asian manufacturers from Taiwan, Honk Kong, China, Japan and Korea. The business flourished, employed 16 great people, but after eight years it started to live me somewhat empty inside. I just didn't feel that the business life was meant for me anymore.
By the 2004 I sold my business, and decided to pursue my childhood dream of investigative journalism. After taking a number of film production classes I decided to start the making of "The World without US". During 2005 and 2006 we started the production. My film making partner Jason Tomaric and I, traveled to over twenty countries and interviewed over 40 people from all walks of life. By August 2007 the film was finished and is now in the distribution process.
At the beginning of 2009 I embarked on a
new Documentary film project: "China - Rebirth of a Nation". I have been
interested and fascinated by the Chinese culture for a very long time.
Now, with China re-emerging on the world scene, I wanted to to make a
film that will make this country more accessible to the Western public.
This will be, as far as I know, the only film that will debate
China's present and future based on the Chinese cultural and historical
heritage. . See more on the film on the
trailers page.
(Picture taken in the Chinese province of Inner Mongolia with production
assistant Chagan.)