King Mark in '82.

While in his cartooning class, Donald met up with Mark DeGross - a slightly mysterious character who sometimes wore shades indoors and could be a little intimidating. What Donald grew to learn in time, was that Mark, like Lloyd and Dan, shared many of the same interests as he did - and his shades and somewhat brooding demeanor were meant to ward off undesirables from his neighborhood in East, New York. Donald often joked "I figured if I just kept him laughing with my silly drawings he wouldn't beat me up!"

After their stay in A & D, Lloyd went on to attend Queens College and Picker Film Institute while Dan, Donald and Mark all headed towards the School Of Visual Arts. Unbeknownst to Don, and giving proof to the expression that "it's a small world, " it was here, in film class, where Dan met up with Don's second cousin from Brooklyn, Joe Vento. Going back to when they were little kids, when Joe and Donald were brought together by their parents or aunts and uncles, they were quick to share their interests with each other right from the start. Joe's three biggest loves were apes, dinosaurs, and any old stop motion films which contained either or both of the two. He was particularly fond of Willis O'Brien's King Kong. So much so, that Joe, Donald, and their cousin Pam once attempted a recreation of the story with a silent, super 8 movie camera.

Donald at Ovation Films '79.

With Joe living in Brooklyn, and Donald living in Queens, the two of them would sometimes take long train rides to each others homes. One of these trips resulted in the first time Joe, Lloyd and Donald worked on anything together - it was a film of Lloyd and Donald's called "The Undead" in which Lloyd starred in the title role. Donald played the victim, and Joe played the even more unfortunate camper who tries to come to his aid. The make-up application on Lloyd was so involved that applying it took longer than expected, and filming became a literal race against time as they tried to shoot all the main scenes while the sun was still out. Unfortunately, the film was never completed.

During the summer before Donald was to begin SVA he was offered a job at Ovation Films, the animation studio he interned at during his senior year at A & D. It was then he decided it was better to get the experience first-hand, while earning money, than at SVA - spending it. He did however, remain at SVA for a while, long enough to finish his animation class during the evenings. Meanwhile, Mark, Dan and Joe attended classes throughout the day - occasionally crossing each others paths. One evening, Donald and Lloyd had a screening of their film "Jaws" (a spoof of the movie by the same name) in SVA's Rotunda Theater - and Mark was there to see it. He was quite shocked to see them popping up like that. Again, "small world."

Joe and Dan do their infamous "Stevie Wonder" bit for the video camera, mid 80s

Although at some point during their stay at SVA both Dan and Joe decided they weren't going to continue anymore, they did manage to collaborate on a film together before leaving - a spoof on the Three Stooges called "The Three Kooges." In it, Joe played a slippery gangster, and naturally - with his hair style, Dan played the part of Moe. During this time Dan also made "Fish Funk", a film heavily influenced by Laurel and Hardy/Little Rascals film producer, Hal Roach. But it was Lloyd who took film making the most seriously. While in A & D, together with his friend Floyd Martinez, he created the well-renowned "Lloyd & Floyd Comedy Team" and a hilarious film titled "Hostility In Teachers" among others. During his stay at Picker, he grabbed whatever film projects he could get his hands on, often working for free, until he eventually landed a long-standing job at Griffin Bacal.