The Beard" is a look at a Santa Monica-based internet empire, where young interns grovel at the feet of multimillionaires in the hope of moving up the food chain. Our protagonist is, Calvin, who comes to realize that his purpose is mainly as filler, with little of chance of promotion, while competing against the sons and daughters of the wealthy and well-connected, unless he finds a way to become indispensable. Alan Swyer is an award-winning filmmaker whose recent documentaries have dealt with Eastern spirituality in the Western world, the criminal justice system, diabetes, and boxing www.elboxeothemovie.com. His fiction has appeared in England, Ireland, Germany, India, and in several American publications. "No writer working today is better at capturing the craven ambition and cut-throat phoniness of LA's West Side nouveau riche. He's a master of this milieu. This time he's created a Gatsby for the dot.com generation! There's no way this won't be a movie!" -Billy Vera, singer-songwriter of "At This Moment" and other hits