GAINSWave Therapy in Lake Barcroft, VA

A long simmering landowner dispute over the right to store boats at a private dock in a lakefront community has been resolved by the Supreme Court of Virginia.

The owner of a waterfront lot granted an access easement to the owners of two adjacent parcels in exchange for their agreement to build a retaining wall. With permission, the adjacent owners docked their pontoon boat and smaller watercraft along the retaining wall.

Later owners brought that accommodation to a litigious halt.

In subsequent cases, the trial court rejected the adjacent owners’ bids for docking rights, finding that they failed to establish the requisite continuity and hostility for a prescriptive easement.

But the trial court’s ruling about docking the pontoon boat was wrong.

“Even if we assume that the original docking was permissive, the sale of the land vitiated the permission granted by the original owners,” Justice Stephen R. McCullough, said. “No evidence indicates any of the subsequent owners granted any kind of permission to dock a boat on their land.”

Finding that evidence supported the adjacent owner’s right to store their pontoon boat at the dock, the justices also reversed the trial court’s award of punitive damages to the dock owner.

The opinion is Horn, et al. v. Webb, et al. (VLW 023-6-004).

The easement

The Fidels owned Lot 612, a waterfront residential parcel in Lake Barcroft, a lakefront community in Fairfax County. In 1966, they granted a 20-foot wide access easement on their property to the owners of adjacent Lots 613 and 615 in exchange for their agreement to build a waterfront retaining wall along Lot 612.

The Fidels also allowed the adjacent owners to dock pontoon boats and smaller watercraft, such as canoes and skiffs, along the retaining wall. Over the next few decades, ownership of the three lots changed hands; the owners of Lots 613 and 615 kept docking their boats at Lot 612.

But when James and Hong Webb bought Lot 612 in 2017, they told their neighbors to move the boats. Atul Rustgi owned Lot 613, while Lot 615 was owned by Kevin and Meredith Horn. Both Rustgi and the Horns refused to move their boats, including a pontoon they jointly owned.

The lawsuits

In July 2019, Rustgi sued for a declaratory judgment that he had an easement to dock boats at Lot 612. The Fairfax Circuit Court sided with the Webbs and awarded damages for their trespass and nuisance counterclaims.

After his lawsuit sank, Rustgi sold his half interest in the pontoon boat to the Horns. Undeterred by Rustgi’s failure, the Horns continued to dock their boats at Lot 612 in spite of the Webbs’ renewed protests.

The Webbs filed suit against the Horns for trespass, nuisance and sought a declaratory judgment of their rights. The Horns’ countersued for prescriptive easement rights to dock their pontoon boat and smaller watercraft at Lot 612.

The Horns alleged that they had been storing smaller watercraft in the same spot along the retaining wall at Lot 612 continuously since they bought Lot 615 in 2005. A neighbor’s testimony supported their allegation.

A series of aerial photographs taken between 1972-2009 didn’t show the small watercraft docked at Lot 612 as the Horns or their neighbor described. The trial court again sided with the Webbs.

The trial court found the Horns liable for $11,550 in compensatory damages and awarded the Webbs $45,000 in punitive damages because the Horns’ persistence in claiming a prescriptive easement was inexcusable after Rustgi’s claims were defeated.

The Horns appealed.

Small watercraft

To establish a prescriptive easement, claimants must prove that their use of land was adverse, under a claim of right, exclusive, continuous, uninterrupted and with the knowledge and acquiescence of the owner of the land over which it passes, and that the use has continued for at least 20 years.

Here, McCullough said there was conflicting evidence about whether the Horns continuously docked their small watercraft at Lot 612 for 20 years. The justice pointed out that the trial court found the neighbor’s testimony equivocal and in conflict with aerial photographs.

Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prevailing party, he said the trial court correctly found that the Horns didn’t establish prescriptive easement rights to dock small watercraft at Lot 612.

Pontoon boat

McCullough said there was ample record evidence to support the trial court’s finding that the docking of a pontoon boat on Lot 612 was open, visible, continuous and unmolested since 1966.

The question, however, was whether the docking was hostile.

“A claimant ‘is in hostile possession if his possession is under a claim of right and adverse to the right of the true owner,’” McCullough explained, adding that the “claimant need not make a hostile intention express.”

Although permission to occupy the land negates hostility, the justice said open, visible and continuous use of land for 20 years entitles a claimant to a presumption of hostility.

“The burden is on the owner of the servient estate, in this instance, the Webbs, to rebut ‘this presumption by showing that the use was permissive, and not under claim of right,’” McCullough wrote.

The Horns were entitled to a hostility presumption because their evidence established that the docking of their boat was open, visible and continuous for 20 years. Conversely, the justice said the Webbs offered no evidence that they gave the Horns permission to dock their boat.

Assuming the existence of a boat docking agreement between the prior owners, McCullough said permission would have ended when the Fidels sold Lot 612.

The justice disagreed with the trial court’s holding that once permission is granted, it is presumed to continue indefinitely, even when the person who granted permission sells the land.

“Permission does not extend beyond the ownership of the person who granted permission,” McCullough wrote. “Therefore, a permissive use terminates when the owner who granted permission sells the property.”

Because the Webbs didn’t present evidence that successors in title to the Fidels gave permission for boat docking, the Horns established all necessary elements for a prescriptive easement from when the Fidels sold their land in 1976.

Further, McCullough said that evidence showing the prior owners were on friendly terms didn’t establish a permissive use.

“Failure to object is acquiescence,” he wrote. “Acquiescence is not the same as granting permission.”

Finding that the Horns established their right to a prescriptive easement to dock a boat on the Webbs’ lot, McCullough reversed the trial court’s holding.

Since the Horns weren’t parties to Rustgi’s failed lawsuit and the record didn’t support a finding of malice, the court reversed the punitive damages award.

‘Pipe up’

Arlington real estate attorney Aristotelis A. Chronis represented the Horns until they decided to go pro se two weeks before the writ panel argument in order to save costs. He was happy that the trial court allowed his clients to present their case, despite Rustgi’s outcome.

“Who’s to say what the prior owners talked about, so you could have zero knowledge of some permissive use,” Chronis cautioned, advising that an owner should “pipe up and say something rather than assume some use is permissive rather than hostile.”

He also stressed the importance of the court’s reversal on punitive damages awarded by the circuit court.

“If that ruling had remained intact, it would have a major chilling effect where people were just upholding their rights,” he said.

John Chapman ‘Chap’ Petersen of Fairfax, who represented the Webbs in both trials, told Virginia Lawyers Weekly he was shocked by the reversal. He balked at the high court’s ruling that hostile use tacked from one owner to the next, but not permissiveness.

“In both trials we had witnesses who were there when the lake was originally dredged and the retaining wall built who testified it was done with the consent of all the neighbors,” Peterson said. “They all had parties there, barbecues. It was use that started and continued with permission and as a result there was no adversity.”

Sleepy Hollow Road has become a construction zone as five big public works projects are underway.

Work has started on the $6 million Sleepy Hollow Walkways Project, which entails constructing 4,500 linear feet of concrete sidewalks, 690 square yards of curb ramps, and 206 linear feet of retaining wall.

The new sidewalks will fill in the gaps between Bay Tree Lane and Castle Place. The project is scheduled to be completed in 2024. The work is being done by the Fort Myer Construction Corp.

Related story: Sleepy Hollow sidewalk project revised

Sidewalks will be built along the east side of Sleepy Hollow Road between Eppard Street and Aspen Lane and north of Valley Brook Drive and on the west side of Sleepy Hollow between Marlo Drive and Eppard Street.

Pedestrian cross points on Sleepy Hollow Road will be upgraded at Bay Tree Lane, Dearborn Drive, Kennedy Lane, Kerns Road, and Eppard Street.

When the project was first proposed in 2017, there was extensive opposition from some homeowners, mostly due to the potential loss of trees. The Fairfax County Department of Transportation revised the design in October 2018, reducing the width of the sidewalk in some sections.

In September 2021, the Board of Supervisors approved the use of eminent domain to acquire land rights from property owners who failed to come to an agreement.

A new Seven Corners Fire Station is under construction at 2949 Sleepy Hollow Road, the same location as the old fire station.

The contractor for the $13 million project is Branch Builds Inc. The fire station is expected to be completed in spring 2024.

The new two-story building will have 13,500 square feet, compared to 8,500 for the old one. It will also have an additional apparatus bay, for a total of three, and a storage building in the rear.

The Seven Corners Fire Station is currently working out of a temporary building at 6637 South Street in Falls Church.

Fairfax Water has started work on the Sleepy Hollow Road Pump Station on the site of a single-family house at 2959 Sleepy Hollow Road next to the fire station. The new building will look like a residence.

It will house three pumps, electrical equipment, and instrumentation. There will be an emergency backup generator behind the building. The parking lot will be removed, and a new wall will be constructed between the pump station and the single-family house next door. There won’t be any staff on site.

Fairfax Water is also installing a new transmission main connecting Route 7 and Route 50 in Seven Corners. The new main will be under Nicholson Street, Juniper Lane, and Aspen Lane.

The new water main and pump station are aimed at improving pressure, flow, and resiliency in the Seven Corners area, and over the long term, help meet future demand.

Phase 1 of the water main project covers Arlington Boulevard to Sleepy Hollow Road. This phase of the work involves a 2,300-foot, 24-inch wide suction main and a 300-foot section of the 24-inch discharge main under Aspen Lane and Sleepy Hollow Road.

Under Phase 2, a 530-foot section of the 24-inch discharge main will be installed at the Route 7 and Patrick Henry Drive intersection. Approximately 900 feet of cast-iron distribution mains under Route 7 will be abandoned.

Phase 3 calls for the construction of a 2,600-foot water main along Nicholson Street and Juniper Lane between Sleepy Hollow Road and Route 7.

Work has also begun on the rehabilitation of the Holmes Run Pump Station on the corner of Sleepy Hollow Drive and Dearborn Drive.

The existing pump station will remain, with most of the upgrades occurring inside the building. Outdoor improvements include the addition of a standby generator and an odor control system in a walled enclosure. The project also includes upgraded vehicular access for maintenance staff, permeable pavers, and landscaping.

During construction, a temporary bypass pipe will be installed along Sleepy Hollow Road from Dearborn Drive to a manhole in front of 3420 Sleepy Hollow Road.

The Sleepy Hollow Wastewater Pump Station serves a population of approximately 35,000 within a 6.8-square-mile area. It was built in 1957, making it one of the oldest pump stations in Fairfax County.

The station diverts a portion of the wastewater flow from the 33-inch Holmes Run gravity trunk sewer, which is just south of the pump station. Wastewater collected in the station is subsequently pumped via a 20-inch force main pressure sewer to gravity sewer manhole #113, located approximately 2,000 feet north of the pump station on Sleepy Hollow Road.

Related story: Planning Commission approves rehabilitation of Holmes Run Wastewater Pump Station

From there, the wastewater enters the Tripps Run gravity sanitary sewer and is combined with the Holmes Run gravity trunk sewer below Lake Barcroft. The sewage is eventually treated at Fairfax County’s wastewater treatment plant in Lorton.

Finally, the Gulick Group, which is developing Hudson Quarter, with 18 single-family homes at 6562 Brooks Place, is constructing a sidewalk next to the property along Sleepy Hollow Road.

Jake's Ice Cream's owner prepares to open a second business called Jake's Gourmet Popcorn, which will also employ people with disabilities.

LAKE BARCROFT, VA — At Jake's Ice Cream in the Barcroft Plaza shopping center, Adam works as a greeter welcoming guests and informing them about the ice cream offerings. He also runs social media for the business and will take on additional social media tasks for Jake's Gourmet Popcorn in Seven Corners.

Adam, like most employees of Jake's Ice Cream Shop, is a person with a disability. He is a spastic quadriplegic, which is a severe form of cerebral palsy. He does not have use of his arms and legs and has vision difficulties. To do social media posts for the ice cream parlor, he uses a voice-activated computer. That means he has to "talk the mouse across the screen so that he can get it in exactly the right spot."

When he has to learn new things, it can get frustrating. So he asked owner Robin Rinearson if he can give social media responsibilities for the upcoming popcorn shop to someone else.

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But Rinearson didn't agree, encouraging Adam to keep instructions organized in an email folder and use them with text-to-voice translation. She has confidence in employees like Adam that they can and will get the job done.

That's why Rinearson doesn't believe the story of Jake's Ice Cream is about her, an optometrist who retired after she opened the ice cream shop. It's about the 25 employees, 21 of whom have disabilities.

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"The reason for opening this ice cream parlor was to employ people with disabilities," Rinearson told Patch. "It's named Jake's after my nephew, Jake, who has cerebral palsy and who had a job for eight years before COVID hit. And when COVID came around, he and the 17 other people with disabilities that were working at his job were not accommodated."

That infuriated Rinearson, who has worked with the disability community as an optometrist.

When she decided to open a business to employ people like her nephew, Jake's Ice Cream was born in August 2021. Employees are trained to make the small batches of ice cream created on-site. The shop also runs occasional catering events, largely during the school year.

"The staff here all helps to make the ice cream," said Rinearson. "They scoop. They pack pints. They help make the ice cream cakes. They help decorate the ice cream cakes. They make the waffle cones. They make the cake pops, they make the decorated cookies, the dip pretzels, all of the confections that we do."

The ice cream parlor initially employed 11 people who were patients at Rinearson's practice before she retired in late 2021. Now the shop employs 25 people, and about half of the employees have individual job coaches to help them succeed in their work.

"For them, it's a job for life, unlike someone at a high school or college where they might be here for a summer or for a year," said Rinearson. "These are people that are looking for jobs, and when they get a job coach, they can't be hired for seasonal work. They only get a job coach if they're hired for year-round work."

Finding enough job coaching has been a pain point for Rinearson, who has expectations that employees can be trained to perform different tasks in the businesses. When a group coach serving nine employees was pulled in September, two employees who were too disabled to work without a group coach could no longer work there.

Another hurdle is the earning limits under the Social Security Disability Insurance benefits and Medicaid waiver. Before July 2021, Rinearson said there was a subminimum wage waiver that encouraged employers to hire people with disabilities. Employers could pay less than minimum wage and employ them for a certain amount of hours without going over the income that would make employees lose their benefits.

That changed in July 2021, and Virginia's wage increased to $9.50 per hour. It increased again to $11 per hour in 2022 and $12 per hour in 2023.

"For people that have income limits with disabilities, it's horrific because now they're working fewer hours," said Rinearson. "Their work is their social life. They have an identity around their job, and they have an identity with the social group that they work with. They have a sense of pride. They are able to live somewhat independently."

Rinearson has testified to the state legislature in support of increasing the income employees can make before losing their benefits.

Rinearson looks for ways to make the tasks easier for employees to understand and carry out. Nearly everything in the shop is color coded, so employees know which sizes to use rather than knowing the difference between 6 ounces and 12 ounces.

The business also works with Poolesville High School in Montgomery County, Maryland, where students create apps or devices to make it easier for employees with disabilities. The high school created a change-making app to help employees understand the number of coins and dollar bills to give a customer in change.

The Jake's Gourmet Popcorn opening in Seven Corners will have less complex work for employees who may not be able to perform the ice cream parlor duties, Rinearson says.

"There will be many more things that people can do that are not high functioning, putting labels on bags and labels on tins and filling popcorn bags," said Rinearson. "We still will have to be careful about food allergies and cross contamination, but it's a lot easier with a dry good than it is with stuff that's wet and frozen."

The new popcorn shop will be at Seven Corners Center next to Michaels. Rinearson was inspired by popular commercial popcorn makers in Chicago, where she went to graduate school.

Rinearson is aiming for the popcorn shop to open by the end of April. She is in the process of hiring employees, including two who she had let go from the ice cream shop. It will also include participants from Arlington Program for Employment Preparedness, which also bring in interns with job coaches to Jake's Ice Cream. Interns from that program have been hired as employees.

For both businesses, no job description is provided for prospective employees, as Rinearson tries to "meet people where they're at."

"This is a phenomenal group of employees," she said. "It's a long, slow, steep, slow learning curve to teach them how to do things. I think it's worth the price of training to put people to work."

When Rinearson sees discussions among ice cream parlor owners that they're having trouble finding employees, she has one piece of advice.

"Hire somebody with a disability," she said. "Train them in the wintertime before you get ready to open. Hire them. They will be model employees."

WAMU/John Hines

Lake Barcroft, Virginia

Unless you know where the Fairfax County neighborhood of Lake Barcroft is located, you might miss it. If you happen to be driving along Columbia Pike past Seven Corners where it begins to feel more wooded and suburban you might notice a big concrete dam. The Lake stretches beyond the dam, but the lake itself is hard to see because of the trees and homes that line its shores and surrounding hills.

Originally created by the City of Alexandria as a reservoir, the neighborhood has evolved into a desirable enclave of working professionals and their families.

“Lake Barcroft is located on two streams — Holms Run and Tripps Run — and these streams were dammed to make the Alexandria City Reservoir about 1913, and so this was used as a reservoir for Alexandria. The wooded slopes and hillsides around the neighborhood were preserved for that purpose. They abandoned the reservoir in the ‘30’s, I believe, and developers bought the land and developed it in the early 1950s,” according to 62 year-old resident Betsy Washington.

It may have begun as a municipal reservoir, but the wooded slopes and hillsides of Lake Barcroft have proven to be an ideal setting for an impressive collection of mid-century homes.

“We have a lot of the mid 50’s early 60’s split level houses. Many have been renovated and updated and become quite contemporary, but it’s really a wonderful mix. It’s not one style of house,” says Washington.

As impressive as the architecture might be, the Lake itself is the main draw of the neighborhood. Washington says that the Lake often serves as a soothing tonic for its residents.

“The lake is the heart of the community. So you come home from work, and you’re stressed and you have had a hectic day, and you look out your window and your neighbors and friends are out on the lake kayaking. They’re in these battery operated barges cruising around, and all your cares go away. It’s just a fabulous neighborhood,” effuses Washington.

With all of the water-based activities and its powers of relaxation, Lake Barcroft has an enduring allure. For Washington, leaving Lake Barcroft would be like a bad dream.

“I could never leave Lake Barcroft. I moved in wondering if it would ever get old or I would get tired of looking out the window at the lake, and it’s never happened. And occasionally I have nightmares that I’ve moved to a bigger, fancier house with more amenities. And I wake up just longing for Lake Barcroft,” Washington explains.

Fort Washington Estates, Maryland

Tucked behind the mighty fort above the Potomac River in Fort Washington, Maryland is the neighborhood of Fort Washington Estates. The cozy neighborhood of 1960’s vintage homes is ideal because it’s close to Washington, D.C. but surrounded by forest and parkland, according to 52-year-old resident Jay Krueger.

“The community is located about 15 miles due south of D.C. along the Potomac River almost directly across from Mt. Vernon and adjoining Ft. Washington National Park,” Krueger explains.

Being so close to Washington, the neighborhood’s location is a powerful lure for an increasing diverse—and increasingly more youthful—population.

“Predominantly, I think our demographic is African American but also we have an Ethiopian and Korean make up, as well, in the area. Community is sort of changing, I think, from being an older retirement community that was established originally back in the 1960’s and is now turning over again where we are getting younger families again moving into the area.”

Change may be coming to Fort Washington Estates, but historic Fort Washington stands nearby as a bastion of a bygone era. Today, the Fort remains as a reminder of past threats and wars — including the War of 1812.

“Fort Washington Park was originally built as the protector of Washington. It was the sole fort at the time it was built to protect it. Fort Washington Park was destroyed in the War of 1812, not due to any enemy fire or anything, but for the fear of losing the fort to the enemies at that point, and it was subsequently rebuilt,” says Krueger.

The foreign enemies and their wars are no longer threats for the fort to defend against. Instead these days, the fort and its surrounding forest land defend deer, bald eagles and other wildlife which help make Fort Washington Estates enjoyable.

“Something that you would notice right away and you would be surprised given our close proximity to the city is the abundance of wildlife. Deer everywhere. They are not fazed by contact with us. They are walking down the streets of our neighborhood in our community. With the abundance of park land that we have surrounding us here in Fort Washington Estates, I would say wildlife is something that we really do notice everyday—bald eagles flying overhead from some of the bald eagle nests that are close by here,” Krueger effuses.

For Krueger, it’s hard to beat the combination of location and nature in Fort Washington Estates.

“It’s a wonderful place to live here in Fort Washington Estates with proximity to our nation’s capital but seeing the wildlife that we have here.”

Music: “No, Girl” by Title Tracks from It Was Easy / “Go Your Own Way” by Hit Co. Masters from Instrumental Hits of the 1970s

Cohen grew up in the Lake Barcroft neighborhood and returns to town this weekend to accept an award from the Washington West Film Festival.

|Updated Thu, Oct 22, 2015 at 9:26 am ET

_______________

There must be something magical in the water at J.E.B. Stuart High School. The Falls Church-area school is where Oscar-winning producer Bruce Cohen, Oscar-winning actress Julianne Moore and film director Tom Shadyac all went to school in the ‘70s.

Find out what's happening in Restonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“We were all friends in high school so it’s pretty funny that we all ended up having successful careers in the movie business,” Cohen said Tuesday in a phone interview with Patch. Cohen returns to Northern Virginia this weekend from Los Angeles to accept the inaugural Metropolitan Award from the Washington West Film Festival in Reston, surrounded by friends and family.

(Cohen and Moore are helping students with their efforts to try to change the Confederate name of the school.)

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Cohen’s career includes a Best Picture Oscar win for American Beauty, as well as Best Picture nominations for Milk and Silver Linings Playbook. Cohen also produced Big Fish, and was executive producer of the ABC series Pushing Daisies, which won a total of seven Emmys and received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Comedy.

On Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Bow Tie Cinemas Theater in Reston, Cohen will accept his award and highlight favorite clips and moments of his impressive career and give an insider’s look into the producing experience. (Check the film festival Web site for tickets; all proceeds go to charity.)

“We are proud to bestow Northern Virginia native and Oscar-Winning producer Bruce Cohen with our inaugural Metropolitan Award, given to a world class filmmaker from greater Washington DC whose exceptional artistry and influence is the pride of the metropolitan region,” said Brad Russell, founder and president of the festival.

‘I’ve been a political junkie since I was a kid’

Cohen’s dreams of a film career started at home, in his Lake Barcroft neighborhood in the Falls Church area. That’s where he grew up with his sister Julie (also a producer, in New York), and his parents, Phyllis and George Cohen, who still live in the neighborhood today.

“I loved growing up in Falls Church, it was very exciting for me to be so close to Washington, D.C.,” Cohen said. “I’ve been sort of a political junkie since I was a kid...I think a lot of it had to do with growing up there. I remember my mom let me stay home to watch the Watergate hearings in junior high school because I was so interested in it and she had a feeling that I would learn way more watching the hearings than I would that week at school. I think she was right about that.”

Seeing Star Wars in 1977

“One of my really vivid memories was when ‘Star Wars’ opened, I was a freshman at Stuart and I remember going to the State Theater in Falls Church that Friday night and seeing “Star Wars’ and thinking it was just the best thing ever,” said Cohen. “I think people had a sense that opening day, that it was going to change things in a lot of ways.”

The producer of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” debuting in December, is Kathleen Kennedy, president of Lucasfilm. She and her husband Frank Marshall were the producers of “The Color Purple,” the first film that Cohen ever worked on. They became producing mentors of Cohen’s afterward.

“They were kind of the reason why I decided I wanted to be a producer and they’ve been my producing mentors for all these years,” he said. “I think back a lot now, when the new movie comes out, it’s going to set the world on fire. And it takes me back to 1977, when I first saw it, when I was just a kid.”

No fallback plan

When Cohen graduated from Yale in 1983 with a film degree, he wasn’t sure exactly what he wanted to do in the film industry. He moved to Los Angeles and spent the first 10 years of his career working as an assistant director.

Heading to L.A., Cohen said he had no fallback plan if he didn’t make it in the industry. He got into a training program for assistant directors and worked on the hit TV show, “Hill Street Blues.” His first film production experience was working on ”The Color Purple” with Steven Spielberg, where his decision to keep his head down and work hard resulted in the director eventually noticing him, which led to many more jobs working with Spielberg. The film was released in 1985.

What does a producer do?

“Each film or TV program is really like its own business that is formed to produce that particular show,” Cohen said. “And the producer is the CEO of the business. You’re in charge of every aspect of the production, both the creative and the financial side. And you’re in charge of that from when it’s first an idea all the way to the time when it makes it onto the screen or onto your TV set or onto the stage.”

For students today interested in breaking into the film industry, Cohen says “that the interest in the film industry as a career has exploded, and so there are tremendous opportunities as far as education goes.” But he notes a liberal arts background is a good beginning.

‘What we are is story tellers’

“Ultimately what we are is story tellers,” Cohen said. “The more stories you have, the better you’re going to be. So I actually feel like in many ways a liberal arts education might actually serve you better than just focusing on film and only taking film classes, ‘cause in the end, the more well-rounded citizen of the world you are, the more access you’re going to have to great ideas and for people to bring you great ideas that could end up becoming film and TV programs.”

In 2000, Cohen won the Best Picture Oscar as a producer for “American Beauty” at the 72nd Academy Awards. Watch his acceptance speech here:

Next up for Cohen: Richard Pryor film

Cohen isn’t resting on his laurels. He is currently working on bringing a film about legendary comedian Richard Pryor to life with filming likely beginning in the spring with Lee Daniels as director and Mike Epps in the title role. Others reported to have roles in the film are Kate Hudson, Oprah Winfrey and Eddie Murphy.