Q&A With Tod Lending 

I am honored and delighted to be doing this Q&A with Tod Lending, the author of his historical fiction debut novel The Umbrella Maker’s Son. Tod is also an Academy Award-nominated & Emmy-winning producer, director, writer, & cinematographer. Tod’s work has aired nationally on ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, & HBO. Tod’s work has been screened theatrically and received awards at national and international festivals which include the Sundance Film Fest and has been televised in Europe & Asia! 

Q: Tod, would you give a brief description of The Umbrella Maker’s Son for those who have yet to read the book?

A: Born to a secure, middle-class Polish Jewish family, seventeen-year-old Reuven works alongside his father, an artisan businessman whose shop creates the finest handmade umbrellas in Poland. But the family’s peaceful life shatters when the Nazis invade their homeland, igniting World War II. The Nazis confiscate their business, evict them from their home, and strip away their rights, threatening the lives of the city’s entire Jewish population, including Reuven and Zelda, the girl he loves and is engaged to marry once they turn twenty. After being separated from his family while fleeing Kraków, Reuven must embark on a perilous journey through the Polish countryside to survive. As the Germans approach, he makes a dangerous journey back to the Kraków ghetto where he hopes to reunite with Zelda.

Q: Before the story begins there’s a small acknowledgement in the beginning to your great grandfather Lending who knew when to get his family out of Poland before it was too late. So, is The Umbrella Maker’s Son based on your great grandfather’s story? 

A: The title of the book and one of the key turning points in the novel are inspired by my great-grandfather’s story. He was an umbrella maker who, in 1909, was forced to flee Warsaw amid virulent antisemitism, including violent pogroms and other forms of persecution. As the story goes, he witnessed a Polish policeman severely beating a Jewish man and intervened. One thing led to another, and he stabbed the officer with a dagger concealed in the stem of his umbrella. Fearing the consequences, he quickly gathered his wife and ten children, including my fourteen-year-old grandfather—and put them on a ship to America. They arrived at Ellis Island on Christmas Day, 1909.

Q: In between producing, directing, writing, & cinematography, how were you able to find time in between all of that to research and write The Umbrella Maker’s Son & how long did it take you to write the book?

A: I turned to writing the novel during the pandemic in May of 2020. Just a few months earlier, in January, I had released Saul & Ruby’s Holocaust Survivor Band, a film about two Holocaust survivors. Much of the research I did for the novel came from making this film. Samuel Goldwyn Films picked up the film for distribution, and it was beginning its festival run. It opened the Miami Jewish Film Festival, winning the Grand Jury Prize, and went on to win the Audience Award at the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival. Then everything shut down. Like so many filmmakers, I was heartbroken—especially for Saul and Ruby who were thrilled to be sharing their stories of survival at 90 and participating in Q&As. 

After 38 years of making documentaries, I was eager to write a novel, something I had always wanted to do. Writing this novel was a shift from looking outward to looking inward, from telling others’ stories to telling my own. I was hungry to immerse myself in the subjective world of fiction, to explore the deeper emotional and psychological realities of my characters. I wanted to explore my subconscious and sift through the compost heap of my own memories and experiences. Instead of being bound by the truths of other people, I longed to be beholden to the truths of the characters I had created. I was ready to craft stories with the vast pallet of written language rather than film images. 

It took about eight months to complete the first draft and another year and a half of rewriting to reach a final version. 

Q: Which scenes were difficult to write, and which scenes did you enjoy writing? I did like the part where Reuven and Zelda are reunited and the ending though bittersweet gives hope. What lessons do you hope readers learn & feel after reading The Umbrella Maker’s Son? 

A: Writing scenes where Reuven and other characters were suffering through emotional, psychological, and physical pain were at times difficult to write. Moments of profound loneliness, despair, and humiliation were often tough to put on the page. I won’t go into specifics to avoid spoilers, but scenes set in Kraków, before the family leaves, and during the German occupation—when Jewish rights were stripped away—were particularly painful to write. Later, the scenes in the ghetto and the Płaszów labor camp were even more challenging.

At the same time, there were many scenes I truly enjoyed writing about. The love story between Zelda and Reuven was a joy to explore. I found fulfillment in the scenes between Reuven and Stanisław, the farmer he works for later in the book, and in the moments in the umbrella shop with Khone, the master umbrella handle carver who becomes a grandfather figure to Reuven. And there were many others.

As for lessons that can be gleaned from the book, I don’t view my stories—whether novels or films—as vehicles for teaching lessons. Instead, I hope they inspire critical thinking, raise important questions, and deepen awareness and empathy.

With this novel, I want readers to experience the profound layers of loss—the emotional and psychological toll of losing one’s rights, family, home, business, community, dignity, and dreams for the future. At the same time, I hope they see how love can serve as an antidote to such loss, fueling resilience and strength. More than just a Jewish survival story, I hope this novel resonates as an allegory for all people, regardless of religious, ethnic, or racial background.

Q: Would you ever write a follow up of what Reuven is doing now? Or is your next historical fiction novel a different story and topic altogether? 

A: I’m nearly finished with the first draft of my next novel, and although it contains some Jewish themes, it is not a follow-up to Reuven’s story. Instead, it’s a love story and crime story layered with moral and ethical ambiguities that are tied to the past. That said, I’m not ruling out a sequel to The Umbrella Maker’s Son. The ending certainly leaves the door open. I just hope I have the time—because writing a novel takes a lot of time!

Q: What is it like being a producer, director, writer and cinematographer? It sounds impressive! Would you say writing for ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS & HBO has helped with writing The Umbrella Maker’s Son? Have you written a script for The Umbrella Maker’s Son yet? 

A: I feel lucky as hell to have made a decent living as a documentary filmmaker. It’s rare, just as making a living as a novelist or even just getting published is rare. I was also fortunate to specialize in making “longitudinal” documentaries, following my subjects over the course of years—usually two to five—allowing their stories to unfold in real time. This approach fosters deep, trusting relationships, enabling me to tell their stories from their own perspectives.

My approach to writing novels is like how I make documentaries. I write and develop characters who lead me through the story, and once the first draft is finished, I go in with a samurai sword—cutting, shaping, and refining until the narrative is tight and cogent, and all the fat is gone, making documentaries over the years has provided me with the tools for storytelling, whether film or novels. Understanding story structure, how to construct acts, arcs of action within scenes, how to build a scene, how to develop characters, how to work with rising and falling action, creating turning points and plot points in the storyline, understanding how to maintain tension, are all useful storytelling tools that transfer over to novel writing. 

Q: Which shows have you directed, produced & written for ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, & HBO? How long have you been a cinematographer, writer, director and producer? What lessons have you learned out of those career paths that might help anyone wanting to pursue cinematography, writing, directing and producing?

A: For a selected list of films I’ve produced, visit my website and bio: www.nomadicpictures.org. Most of the films I produced, directed, and shot through my company aired nationally on PBS and HBO Max, with several others broadcast on Al Jazeera English. The work I did for ABC, CBS, NBC, A&E, and others were freelance jobs I took on between my own films and while coming up in the business.

For young people looking to succeed in film, talent helps, but drive is essential. My advice: develop strong communication skills, follow up religiously with contacts, take any job that gets you in the door, be willing to take one step forward and two step backwards for a time, and be prepared for setbacks. Be patient and pursue this career only if you feel it’s one of the few things in the world that will give your life meaning.

Q: What drew you into cinematography, writing for tv and film, producing and directing? Can you reveal any projects you are currently filming, producing and directing?

A: When I was twelve years old, I dreamed of becoming a still photographer and pursued it with passion. Then after high school, I earned a scholarship to study still photography with several world-renown master’s for several months. After that, I took two years off to travel the world before going to college. During that time, I grew frustrated with the still image’s ability to tell stories and turned to film. 

When I returned from my travels, I studied anthropology and film at the University of Wisconsin for a year and a half before transferring to Columbia College in Chicago to study film production. Eager to start working, I dropped out of school with just a semester left to complete my degree, moved to New York City, and launched my career in the film industry. The rest is history. 

Now, my only focus is my next novel. Unless someone approaches me with a fully funded, extraordinary documentary film project, I’ll be writing novels for the rest of my days. I’m completely in love with writing!