By Tairah Firdous

Story telling is a political interaction.

It was this thought that inspired a young musician to switch from music to storytelling. Len Blum, who started as a guitar player and record producer and also wrote songs and produced musical commercials went on to write screenplays for successful movies like Meatballs, Pink Panther, Private Parts and many more.

The screenwriter of 2006, Over the Hedge, fame was a special guest at Sauve House earlier this month. He not only shared his life journey but also inspired the scholars to tell their stories. The story telling session helped the scholars to reflect on their own lives.

Speaking about the art of story telling, the award winning Canadian screenwriter advised that one should begin with their own stories, because the listener suspends the judgment and listens the story.

“You gather stories along your life. They are not all happy or all sad stories, but they are meaningful,” he said.

Blum, who lost his father in his teens, shared his stories from childhood and the impact that his father had in his life as a musician and screenwriter. Blum has mostly written screenplays for comedies. He believes that the comedy has a power to take power away from powerful and gives it to those who don’t have it.

Blum has retired from screen writing and currently teaches Yoga in Montreal.