As an A&R rep for Columbia Records while still an undergraduate at UC Berkeley, Gary was their youngest music exec at the time.

[6] Also, while an undergrad, Goldstein produced all the music concerts and cabarets for the Berkeley campus, featuring artists such as Joni Mitchell, The Steve Miller Band, Chuck Berry, Phil Ochs and others.

In 1983, after his initial film venture lost $80,000 on its opening weekend, Goldstein met 23-year-old Jonathan Lawton, who was earning a living as a software beta tester and programmer.

The two slowly became friends and one day, Lawton revealed he was a writer, had dropped out of film school and had already written a half-dozen screenplays, that were all unread.

Goldstein requested a classic romance with irresistible male and female lead roles, using a one-week clock so the story would take place over a tight time frame, giving the final caveat that the story had to have real power—Goldstein wanted it written from a deeply personal life experience.