CAST

THE STORY

ALESSANDRO TOMASSETTI

Having received his BFA in Fine Art and a post-graduate specialization in Computer

Animation, Tomassetti was quickly recruited

from Canada by Walt Disney Feature

Animation in Los Angeles.

After 4 years of creating special effects for feature films, Sandro made the leap to follow his dreams and went back to college to study garment construction and fashion design before launching his own label, Filius. Watching the bulk of clothing manufacturing jobs being sent over seas, Tomassetti made the decision to manufacture the Filius line entirely in the U.S. with the majority of production in the Los Angeles area. Filius quickly received praise from the New York Times, Elle Decor, Flaunt, Los Angeles Magazine, Metropop, The Men's Book L.A among other fashion and design publications.

In 2010, Sandro’s H1B visa was set to expire and after 15+ years of building their lives, careers, home, and an amazing network of friends, the couple exhausted thousands of dollars and multiple immigration lawyers to discover Sandro had no viable permanent residency options.

ALON ROSENFELD

Israeli-born Alon Rosenfeld received a Bachelor

Degree in Electrical Engineering from London's

prestigious Imperial College. After working with

an Israeli hi-tech start-up, he was courted to join

Microsoft's and began working with the company in 1997. Alon continued with Microsoft for over a decade and prior to leaving Los Angeles, was a Project Manager in their TV division with clients including AT&T, Bell Canada, Hawaiian Telecom and Televisa Mexico.

While still working at Microsoft, Alon, together with his husband Sandro, incorporated Filius. Rosenfeld was responsible for the finance side of the clothing line as well as the logistics and finance of their renowned Beverly Hills men's boutique, All Purpose.

In 2009 Alon received his U.S. citizenship; but with DOMA still the law of the land, his Canadian born husband was required to continue living in the U.S. on his H1B visa. Even as Microsoft, a company that recognizes same-sex partners, continued to treat Alon and Sandro like any other married couple, their options were limited by Sandro's expiring work visa. In order to stay living together as a married couple, the two made the difficult decision to leave the country, the business, and the U.S. family they loved.