INFORMATION ABOUT THE AUTHOR JAN H. GAUDINA
I was born in Billings Montana in 1940. My father was of Italian descent and my mom had German, French, Dutch, and some Italian. I have one sister Joni who also lives in Colorado. My father was born in Red Lodge Montana but when he was three years old went to Milan Italy with his mom to meet his grandparents in 1913. His mom died on the trip and needed to stay in Italy until he was 13. My mom was born in Wray Colorado.
When I was eleven years old, I worked for my uncle to learn how to be a meat cutter in a grocery store and did that work until I was 19. I went to high school at Billings Senior High and took some college courses in Billings as well. I moved to Denver Colorado in 1959 to live with my mom. I moved to Kansas City for about a year, got married than moved back to Denver. I had a son born in Denver called Jeff but a few months later I moved back to Kansas City and had another child Robyn. I worked as a meat cutter at a grocery store full time and parttime I sold 8mm Home Movies Cameras and projectors.
Unfortunately, the marriage didn’t last and I moved to Minneapolis Minnesota where I started a business again selling Home Movie Equipment. I did that business for a couple of years and moved back to Denver. A friend of mine from Minneapolis called me and asked if I would come back to Minnesota and work for him as a manager selling Built In Vacuum systems. I did that but it didn’t work out and I started my own company again selling Home Movie Equipment.
I got married again in St Paul Minnesota to Nancy and we had two children. Elizabeth and Deborah. I went to work for The Independent Order of Foresters (IOF). They were a fraternal Life Insurance company. My job was to enroll members into the Fraternity while setting up a life insurance plan for the family. I really liked that work as I felt I was helping families. One of my clients a woman died at age 35 from cancer who had three children. I felt good that I had provided protection for the family. I might add the first year I worked there I was the 3rd highest producer for the IOF in the world.
Sometime in 1970 the movie Airport was being filmed in Minneapolis and I was an extra in that movie. Airport was an air disaster dram film starring Burt Lancaster and Daen Martin. The film is about an airport manager trying to keep his airport open during a snowstorm, while a suicide bomber plots to blow up a Boeing 707 airliner in flight. It takes place at fictional Lincoln International Airport near Chicago. But they used Minneapolis airport for the filming.
Normally Minneapolis is noted for a lot of snow storms in the winter but when they were filming the outside scenes, they needed to produce artificial snow.
As a result, I got to meet Dean Martin, George Kennedy, Burt Lancaster, Jean Seberg, Jacqueline Bisset, and Hellen Hays. I few years later I read in the newspaper Jean Seberg had commented suicide at the age of 40.
In 1974 we moved from Minesota to Boulder Colorado. I bought a lot in the Devils Thump subdivision and built my first home with a mortgage of $100,000. For a few years I worked for The Woodmen of The World another fraternal Life insurance company. In 1979 I borrowed money against the house and I bought three homes as an investment. I formed a corporation called North American Mortgage and I continued buying homes. By August 1987 I had 175 single family homes in the Denver Boulder area that I owned and was renting out. I also was a Relator during the time and Insurance Broker.
In 1979 while I was in Greeley Colorado I stopped at the Ramada Inn for dinner and at the counter I noticed a man that looked very familiar to me. After we talked a long time about Colorado and the work I was doing. I asked him where I had seen him before and he said probably on Television or in the movies. His name was Andy Griffith. I asked him why he was in Greeley and he said they were filming a movie close by called Centennial. There was to be twelve episodes and filming had been over one year. I also notice in the same room David Janssen and others I had seen on Television.
When I got back to Boulder, I called my agent at JF Images who had gotten me some print work and a commercial if they needed any extra actors in that movie being film. The next day she got me set up to do some scenes in chapter eleven.
Centennial was a 26-hour TV miniseries about the history of Colorado from the mid-1700s to the late 1970s. The novel was written by James Michener. It was considered one of the longest and most ambitious television projects ever attempted at the time. It had a cast of 182 actors. Filming took place in Colorado, Ohio, Kentucky, Texas, Wyoming, and California. I was able to meet many famous actors in that film like, Lynn Redgrave, Dennis Wever Barbara Carrera, Raymond Burr, Robert Conrad, Dennis Weaver, Richard Crenna, Andy Griffith, Timothy Dalton, David Janssen, Robert Vaughn, Richard Chamberlain and Mark Harmon. I was in some scenes with Alex Karras, Lynn Redgrave, Anthony Zerby, William Atherton, Cristina Raines. On one night I played a card game “Harts” for several hours with Lynn Redgrave, Jessie Vint, and William Atherton.
I found out recently that George Clooney first appearance in a movie was as an extra like me and it was in Centennial. While I did my part in Colorado, Clooney was filmed in his hometown of Augusta, Kentucky. To see the trailer click here. https://youtu.be/xYVdbNRo6A4 Click this link to watch a scene with Mark Harmon. https://youtu.be/Bh7wS8mr7Aw
Click this link to watch another scene. https://youtu.be/jjpfdturg_s
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A couple months later I had a chance to be an extra in “Charlie’s Angles” with Jaclyn Smith, Farrah Fawcett, and Kate Jackson, and Cheryl Ladd. I was one of the skiers in that film which was filmed in Vail. One of the highlights for me was I was to meet Rossano Brazzi who was a famous Italian actor. He was the lead role in “South Pacific”. He invited me to his home in Italy since he knew my father had lived in Italy. https://youtu.be/zaWZx16-jxc
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A month later I was an extra skier in “Hart To Hart” another popular TV series starring Stefanie Powers, and Robert Wanger also filmed in Vail. A highlight to that was I was able to meet Stephanie Powers, and Natalie Wood, Robert Wagner’s wife.
Because I was interested in film making, I took a film course in Hollywood California on how to make movies on a low budget. This course was being taught by Ridley Scott who had directed Alien in 1979. Ridley has directed many movies in his career some with his brother Tony Scott and I just heard that he has two new movies coming out called Napoleon and Gladiator 2. In August 2012 Tony Scott age 68 killed himself by jumping from the Vincent Thomas Bridge in San Pedro California. I heard he had had cancer. These two brothers have directed or produced more than 150 major films.
Because of my love of being around this industry in 1982 I started a film company in Boulder, Colorado called North American Filmworks. I put an ad in Variety looking for key people who would like to be in volved in my company.
We went to Hollywood to interview several people that were proven producers and Directors. I decided on some several key people to be on my board of directors in the corporation. They were George Edwards who wrote and produced Harper Valley P.T.A. staring Barbra Eden. Joel Freeman who produced The Octagon staring Chuck Norris. George Cahan who was involved in The Brady Bunch and Gilligan’s Island, and Corey Allen who directed Avalanche in Colorado staring Rock Hudson. Corey got his start as an actor and one of his first leading roles was in a movie called “Rebel Without A Cause” filmed in 1995 starring James Dean. Corey won an Emmy for best Director for an episode of “Hill Street Blues”. Coreys secretary was a woman called Susan Coppola, of Anton Coppola and a niece of Frances Ford Coppola.
https://youtu.be/sDFnYvKl1LU This is the race clip between Cory Allen & James Dean
Another director in our company was Wayne Crawford who had produced, directed, and wrote a movie for $30,000 called Barracuda in 1978. This was after the first “Jaws “movie. In December 1982 he asked me if I could raise $300,000 for a new film, he had written a script for but it turned out Atlantic Records gave him the money for the movie. Atlantic records wanted to start releasing movies under the name Atlantic Distributing. https://youtu.be/Q0SbLxKJkYU Trailer.
This movie starred Nicholas Cage and this was Cage’s second movie. The movie was called “Valley Girls” and made 75 million dollars. Unfortunately getting the money from Atlantic Records AKA as Atlantic Distributing we were not able to participate in any profits. Cages real name was Nicholas Coppola and Frances Ford Coppola was his uncle. Frances Ford Coppola had produced many movies including “The Godfather series.
In 1984 my agent at JF Images called and asked me if I would be in a scene as a driver in a TV movie called “When She Said No” directed by Paul Aaron which starred Rip Torn and Kathleen Quinlan. This movie was filmed in Boulder, Colorado. It was about a divorced Professor Kathleen Quinlan accuses three colleagues of rape after they visit her in her room but the men say otherwise. https://youtu.be/jnptanikAJs to watch the entire movie.
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A year later I was an extra as a TV cameraman filming actors in “American Flyers” starring Kevin Costner and Ted Danson. American Flyers was partly filmed in Boulder Colorado during the Coors Bicycle Classic. Sports physician Marcus persuades his unstable brother David to come with him and train for a bicycle race across the Rocky Mountains. Marcus doesn't tell David that he has a brain aneurysm which could render him paralyzed or dead at any given moment. While David powerfully heads for the victory, Marcus has to realize that the contest is now beyond his capabilities. / Features great views of the Rockies and an insight in the tactics of bicycle races. Can you recognize Kevin Costner and Ted Danson in the photo? Click this link to watch the trailer. https://youtu.be/H6LQa_ibYe8 Another great clip. https://youtu.be/1lNuPbhHFzk
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In 1987 the real estate market crashed and I had several vacancies and decided to give by “quit claim deed “all the 175 homes I owned to my investors. This turned out to be one of the biggest mistakes I have ever made. AS you know in today’s market those homes would be worth around 70 million Dollars. Also because of my financial condition at the time I wasn’t able to continue in the film production business. A few years later I got divorced from Nancy and married Cindy.
Cindy and I got two dogs in 1996. A Golden Retriever called Molly and a Border Collie called Riley. It was after this I learned how bad most dog food marketed by most companies was very bad for your dog. I decided to only feed my dogs a human grade diet and still do.
During the 1990s I worked in Home Theater, selling and installing front projector systems in people’s homes. I also built my second home in the mountain 9 miles west of Boulder on one acre. One year after we moved in my step daughter Amy age 22 was killed in a car accident in New Mexico. What is tragic about that was Amy always wore a seat belt. She had attended a meeting with some friends and while driving back from the meeting Amy unbuckled her seat belt to talk to the people in the back seat. Minutes later a herd of deer was crossing the road and the driver severed to miss the deer and the car flipped four times and Amy was thrown out of the car. That hit me and Cindy pretty hard. We attended support groups of people who also loss a child. I read that most marriages won’t survive after a loss of a child and neither did mine.
I also worked with my brother-in-law Nick Mangeris as a sales associate in a company called Turning Point. He was promoting an antioxidant called Pycnogenol by network marketing. Nick had started this company with himself and one other person. In two years, the company had more than 600,000 distributors. One of the people I worked with in this company was Dennis Weaver. Dennis was a major actor in Gunsmoke, McCloud and Centennial.
Dennis and his wife Gerry are also famous for building their home in Ridgway Colorado called the Earthship. The house is constructed of reclaimed materials such as tires, cans, and bottles, with active and passive solar design providing heat and electricity.
In 2002 I got very interested in internet marketing. I took an online course on how to build a website, how to write a book using my experience in the business world and how to market my book on the Internet. Since I had a lot of real estate experience, I wrote a book called “Get Rich My Helping Others” which was how to obtain or buy real estate from people facing foreclosure. I marketed that course along with many other courses over the internet until around 2014.
In 2008 I met a woman from Colombia South America and we were married. Diana had one daughter from a previous marriage that lives in Mexico City as an attorney. Diana had a car accident on the road not far from my home because of black ice. She had gone around the corner and the car did three - 360s and went backward into the trees. Thank goodness she was not hurt but that experience was so bad she went to live with a friend in Thornton. Because of her fear of living in an area with snow one of her friends from Florida suggested she move to the Orlando area. To this day we remain very good friends.
Also, in 2008 I had an invitation to attend a dinner in Washington DC that President George Bush and Laura Bush would be at. I wasn’t able to attend because I was in Colombia at the same time. Nine years later I received an invitation to attend Donald Trump’s inauguration in Washington DC on January 20, 2017.
In 2015 I got my second Golden Retriever Princess Amber. When Amber had her first litter of puppies on March 20, 2016, I kept one of the puppies I named Princess Rose. A year later I got Prince Jasper. Having these dogs had added many years to my life. In 2020 I got my dogs Bailey and Ginger. In 2022 I got my dog Doc. Those were my six.
Being a home dog breeder can be a fulfilling and rewarding endeavor for people like me who are passionate about dogs and committed to responsible breeding practices. I find great satisfaction in seeing the puppies I have raised go on to become beloved family members in their new homes. The joy of knowing that I have played a role in creating happy, healthy dogs is a significant reward for me.
Home breeders have the privilege of witnessing the puppies' developmental stages firsthand. We are involved in the puppies' growth, from birth to weaning and beyond, which allows for early detection of any health or behavioral concerns. I also know that home breeding environments are typically less stressful for dogs compared to commercial breeding facilities. This can lead to healthier and happier breeding dogs.
I have had the privilege of meeting many wonderful people that have owned Golden Retrievers or want to own Golden Retrievers over the last seven years. I belong to many Golden Retriever clubs scattered all over the United States that have thousands of members.
I also donate money to certain dog groups like PETA and other organizations that can help dogs that are in need of help. When I am able to, I believe in giving back to those less fortunate.
This type of work has been the most satisfying work I have ever done and gives me a purpose to live. I am 83 years old now. While I would love to continue breeding Goldens, I had found out animal control of Lafayette is trying to get the city to pass a law making it illegal for anyone to sell a dog or cat within the city. In order to help get this law approved the animal control through illegal, or unproven claims, took five of my dogs and three puppies away January 11, 2023 sighting animal cruelty, and took them to the shelter in Boulder. I also got a ticket for having more than three dogs in the city of Lafayette and the Prosecutor doubled that ticket yet I had licenses for all of my six dogs.
The vets at the shelter in Boulder said the dogs were well fed and healthy and could not find any abuse but were traumatized because they were taken from me and put in cages in a strange place. They were denied their human grade diet as well. My Rose gave birth to eight puppies while at the shelter.
Out of 16 dogs of mine at the shelter, the city of Lafayette would only give me back three of my dogs on the condition they would be altered meaning so I could no longer breed them. The shelter than altered all of the dogs and puppies and the shelter sold my dogs.
The city had me pay a fine of about $500.00 for having more than three dogs and dropped the animal abuse charge as they would never been able to prove any abuse at all because of the vet’s report of no abuse.
The punishment did not fit the crime I don’t believe. Because of the city’s actions, I had to get an attorney which cost $6,000.00, lost two of my adult dogs that were my pets as well as future profits from breeding. I lost the income from selling the eleven puppies of about $22,000, and I had to pay the shelter about $9,000.00 that kept the dogs which included the cost to keep the dogs and puppies I didn’t get back. That is 38,000.00 in actual cash. I also lost future income from breeding so they put me out of business. For a retired person on a fixed income that is very hurtful. There are laws against Elder Abuse and Elder Financial abuse. Perhaps the Lafayette police think they are above the law.
How would you feel if that happened to you or your parents?
As I mentioned previously in this booklet, I had read in the Lafayette newspaper last March that the Lafayette city council had been thinking of passing a bill last December to not allow the selling of dogs or cats or breeding dogs or cats in the city of Lafayette. The article did say that the proposed law would be further discussed in 2023. To my knowledge the law has not passed yet.
But what I do feel is that animal control people who is part of the Police Department who took my dogs and puppies the ones that are trying to persuade the city council to pass that bill and by giving me a ticket for animal cruelty just added fuel to the fire toward their cause.
I have given notice to the City of Lafayette and the Lafayette police that I intend to sue for their unlawful actions.
I have lived a very exciting life and have been involved in many different business ventures over the last fifty years. When a person has worked for so long and is ready to retire, they should be able to retire and do some of the things they had not done before.
But I feel that the most satisfying thing I have done is breeding Golden Retrievers. I believe in the miracle of life and I love animals. When I can, I contribute money for different animal causes. I believe in God, and the right to life.”
In conclusion I would like to point out that I don’t think there is another person in the world except me that has the name Jan Gaudina. If there is one, I’m 100 percent sure there is not a Jan Harvey Gaudina on this planet.
Sincerely,
Jan Gaudina
News Paper Article About The Film Company
News Paper Article on The Film Company We Started
