Born and raised in the Bronx, William Szarka began his film career at age 11, making super 8 movies. At sixteen, he won top honors in The Kodak Teenage Movie Awards for his spoof of “The Godfather”, titled "The Grandfather". Szarka’s real grandfather, Carmine Bianco, played the lead. The film caught the attention of Frank Yablans, then President of Paramount Pictures, who, impressed with Szarka’s talent and chutzpah, helped him land a job at a prestigious New York film editing house. Working there, he learned the art of cutting movie trailers, TV commercials, and music videos. Szarka then went on to write, produce and direct his first feature film “South Bronx Heroes”, starring Mario Van Peebles (New Jack City), and Dan Lauria (The Wonder Years). The film opened in New York and Los Angeles, making Variety’s List of 50 Top Grossing Films its opening week. Ranking #21, it beat out Prince’s, Purple Rain, who came in #50. Later returning to his Godfather roots, Szarka wrote, produced and directed a fourteen minute parody, The Godson, starring James Madio (Hook,The Basketball Diaries, and Band of Brothers), about a twelve year old boy who thinks he’s Michael Corleone. Martin Scorsese, a big fan of the film, was instrumental in getting it shown at the Sundance Film Festival. It was also screened at the USA and Cleveland International Film Festivals, as well as becoming a “fan favorite” on AtomShockwave.com. Another short, The Trouble With Hitch, was Winner of the “How Do You Mock Hitchcock” film contest held by the hit Broadway show, “The 39 Steps”. Szarka produced and directed two feature length documentaries. “Animals”, a film about a man who was falsely accused of hoarding and abusing his animals, was screened at The Fort Lauderdale and Thin Line Film Festivals. And "The Untold Christmas Story” about the behind-the-scenes making of the iconic movie, "A Christmas Story". Szarka worked with most of the original cast members to document their experiences with the production. Most recently, Szarka has been researching and writing a ten part mini-series, REBELS, about James Dean, Natalie Wood, and Sal Mineo, and the making of “Rebel Without a Cause”. He promises a "warts and all" look at the real James Dean, that will completely change people’s perceptions and misconceptions about who he really was.