Robert (Bob) Balchus was only eleven when he was assigned to teach English to Chinese, South American and European classmates who then went on to make the U.S. their home and become esteemed American professionals. Since then, he has had the vocation to impart the culture and language of his English speaking world. Thanks to his father’s travels during the golden age of the motion picture business, he attended international schools in Europe and America and was obliged to adapt to the various cultures he was exposed to as a student. Having a natural knack for modern languages, he studied at the University of San Francisco, Loyola of Chicago in Rome, R.A.D.A. in London, and attained his degree at U.C.L.A. where he ran the language laboratory and performed in Italian plays winning critical acclaim.

He discovered a talent for the performing arts and, as he taught English — devising language laboratories, experimenting with new linguistic techniques, lecturing — he also embarked on a filmmaking career. His linguistic competence, intercultural know-how, acting and writing skills brought him to work and collaborate with famed Oscar-winning screenwriters, actors, actresses, directors, producers and distributors creating, adapting, packaging and producing international projects. At the same time, he was also a personal coach —translating, interpreting, and mentoring interculturally — to presidents, politicians, ambassadors, entrepreneurs and artists helping them put their best foot forward when dealing in English. Warner Bros, Paramount, 20th Century Fox, Universal, HBO, Showtime, Walt Disney & Columbia are among the award-winning houses he has worked for.

Merging vast international experience in the world of cultural and business transactions with that of language training, Bob Balchus has created an exciting strategy that will empower your comprehension and your dialogue. For over 30 years he has organized classes and methods, and taught English in both Italian and French national and multinational companies.

Your Man in Rome

Three Americans and two Italians are being held for ransom, and Homeland Security has only 72 hours to save their lives.
When US expatriate Jimmy D. Wheeler — dolce vita buff and pundit of Rome’s intrigues — is asked to help, he keeps mum. He has bigger plans.
All that seems to matter to him is the love of Chiara, his Circe, his enchantress, his foremost reason for being in Rome.
Follow him, and Jimmy D. will usher you through the Eternal City’s splendor with its romantic entanglements suffused in a riveting world of mystery, international crime, and suspense.

Al Cinema con Bob

Scopri cosa ti stimola, rafforza le abilità di comprensione, di conversazione e di scrittura ed impara ad applicarle in modo creativo.
Supera i tuoi punti deboli e i tuoi blocchi approfittando dell’effetto performer/spettatore. Perdi il tuo accento e comincia a parlare in modo efficace e vincente.

I, Angelo, Great Great Grandson of Buffalo Bill

Does a love last forever? Can a father teach a child how to face life’s passing? Do horses fly? Do you listen to your dreams and search for an answer? One fateful morning, a lawyer calls on Angelo, an Italian horse-trainer, to announce that he is the heir of a memento from the Buffalo Bill estate: it consists of a box and a letter that the legendary hero wrote to a child he presumed to be the fruit of a romantic interlude with an Italian beauty while he was in Rome with his Wild West Show in 1890.
Bending time, we become privy to the great American hero’s love story and are electrified by the ventures of young and old horsemen alike who — knowingly or unknowingly — quest for that mystical, never-to-be-forgotten magic ride.

Cry Maasai

An occult action-adventure novel of a UN operative who survives the fury of a group of Maasai warriors across a merciless savanna to discover — in pursuit of a lion — the true source of courage, friendship, and oneness.

• FAREWELL MOSCOW (MOSCA ADDIO) directed by Mauro Bolognini, starring Liv Ullman
  (Italian Donatello Award for Best Actress and Best Artistic Contribution, Jury Award at the Montreal Film Festival). Theatrical film produced by RAI/Roseo Film.
• THE THIRD SOLUTION (RUSSICUM) directed by Pasquale Squitieri, starring F. Murray Abraham, Danny Aiello, Treat Williams, Robert Balchus, Rossano Brazzi. Theatrical film produced by Cecchi Gori / Columbia.
• AND QUIET FLOWS THE DON (KOZAK) directed by Sergei Bondarchuk, starring Rupert Everett, Ben Gazzara, F. Murray Abraham. 10 hour miniseries & 3 hour theatrical film produced by C.T.C.

• WHEN IN ROME – a mystery-comedy about a U.S. woman lawyer beached in Rome in the throes of passionate men, unpredictable Italians, nostalgic Americans, and … murder. Treatment.
• BOURBON & STREGA – a love story between an American romantic and an irresistible Italian philanderer. Screenplay.
• THE FALCONER – the life, loves and heritage of Fredrick II and his passion for the falcon. Treatment.
• CROSS YOUR HEART – an aging killer finds love again through the tragic destiny of a young couple. Screenplay.
• NAOTO CAIRE – a crime thriller series for TV about a renowned Franco/Japanese criminology professor, head of Sorbonne’s Crime Lab. Astute and unpredictable, in each episode he bewilders his students and international experts by solving, in his unique techno-western-oriental way, the world’s most baffling cases. Bible and treatment for pilot.
• SUN REVISITED – a woman abandons herself to the Sicilian sun and discovers her true erotic nature. Treatment.

Born in Philadelphia, a Master in Applied Linguistics and a graduate of UCLA, Bob Balchus has lived both in the U.S. and in Europe. A practicing filmmaker — having collaborated through the years with top industry talent — he possesses a working knowledge of all phases of the international motion picture industry, and has likewise worked for TV and advertising. Although principally a writer and a linguist, he has demonstrated his versatility accumulating experience also as an actor, producer, and director.
He began his career as a child actor with a one-liner on THREE COINS IN A FOUNTAIN, went on to tv and stage, and in Italy acted and dubbed for Giorgio Albertazzi. Behind camera, he functioned as production assistant on the set of Mark Robson’s VON RYAN’S EXPRESS and John Frankenheimer’s GRAND PRIX. After attaining his Fine Arts degree he was assigned as a writer to develop THE HOUR OF CAIN, a Fox project on the Six Day War, with RAMBO director Georges Kosmatos. He then moved on to George Litto Pictures and functioned as Brian De Palma’s assistant on OBSESSION where he also adapted Mr. De Palma’s film for Italian shoot. He story edited projects for the company collaborating with Oscar and Cannes Festival winning talent such as Abraham Polonsky, Joseph Losey, and Alvin Sargent. Consequently, he went on to create projects for Mr. Litto and became his production advisor and associate in Europe where he also ventured into the realm of artistic experimental cinema creating projects with Bolaffi prize winning artist Ugo Nespolo. Mr. Balchus has participated in either creating, developing, adapting, doctoring or packaging projects of international appeal for renowned European producers such as Anthony Havelock-Allen, Dino De Laurentiis, and Mario/Vittorio Cecchi Gori; stars as Brooke Shields, Liv Ullman, Anthony Quinn, and directors as Mauro Bolognini, Pasquale Squitieri, Mario Monicelli, Sergio Leone, Oscar winners Michael Andersen, William Friedkin, Robert Altman, and Sergei Bondarchuk; and writers such as Franco Solinas, Gianfranco Angelucci, Carlos Castaneda, Raffaello Brignetti, Mario Soldati, Laura Toscano and Franco Marotta, Karol Woytila, Valerio Riva, Nicola Badalucco, Alexandra Marinina and Luciano Vincenzoni. He has been involved with American companies like Warner Bros, Paramount, HBO, Showtime, ABC and NBC, and with European companies like RAI, Channel 4, Granada, Canal Plus, and Eagle Pictures.
Of his original screenplays, L.A. ROMANTICO, a feature-length romantic comedy set both in Rome and L.A., was optioned by Kenneth Branagh’s HAMLET and HARRY POTTER CHAMBER OF SECRETS producer, David Barron. MILLEFLEURS, a romantic comedy set in Rome, and HAVANA, the story of a Roman boy and an American Quarter Horse, also set in Rome, are both being packaged.