UCLA Professional Film/TV Programs Alumni's Interests
General
Movies! And TV!
Movies
We love movies produced, written or directed by UCLA Professional Programs alumni and instructors, and UCLA MFA and BFA alumni and instructors. Here are just a few:
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Untraceable, Youth Without Youth, National Treasure Book of Secrets, August Rush, Hard Candy, Waitress, Journey From the Fall, Finishing the Game, Berekely, King of California, Fracture, Breach, I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry, Pathfinder, Miss Potter, Marie Antoinette, Lucky You, Children of Men, 10 Items or Less, Monster House, Men In Black, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Thirteen, A Walk on the Moon, About Schmidt, Crash, Election, Levity, Sprited Away, The Number 23, Pirates of the Caribbean 1, 2, & 3, Tomb Raider, Better Luck Tomorrow, The Ring, Wayne's World, The Walker, The Machinist, The Nativity Story, Memoirs of a Geisha, X-Men, The Amityville Horror, The Girl Next Door, Forrest Gump, River's Edge, Little Miss Sunshine, War of the Worlds, Howl's Moving Castle, Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, Casanova, Harold and Maude, Taxi Driver, Mi Familia, Dracula, Black Hawk Down, The Manchurian Candidate, Carlito's Way, Legally Blode 2, City of Angels, Life-Size, The Affair of the Necklace, The Picture Bride, The Long Kiss Goodnight, The Mask, Face/Off, The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys, Mission:Impossible, Ladder 49, The Singing Detective, Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, 9 to 5, Star Trek II The Wrath of Khan, Doc Hollywood, The In-Laws, Jurassic Park, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Secret Window, Munich, The Godfather 1, 2 & 3, The Postman, Robocop, Any Given Sunday, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, The Majestic, Appolo 13, Last Action Hero, Darshan, Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead, A Few Good Men, Foul Play, Cannery Row, Curious George, Real Women Have Curves, Guinevere, Shakespeare In Love, Charlie's Angels, What Planet Are You From, Lethal Weapon, The Insider, Under the Tuscan Sun, Spiderman, Life or Something Like It, Casper, Lords of Dogtown, Moonlight Mile, The Kid, The Battle of Shaker Heights, American Gigolo, Love & Basketball, Ali, Sleepless in Seattle, Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, Panic Room, Kissing Jessica Stein, Terminal, Sideways, City Hall, The Truth About Cats and Dogs, For the Love of the Game, Stand and Deliver, Jumanji, Citizen Ruth, Raging Bull, Blink, Taxi Driver, Into the Blue, Cat People, The Good Shepherd, The Sum of All Fears, Underclassman, Armageddon, Lion King 2 Simba's Pride, The Sting, The Horse Whisperer, Matchstick Men, The Jacket, Highlander, Backdraft, Gas Food Lodging, Star Trek IV The Journey Home, The Prophecy, Four Rooms, Cradle Will Rock, Zathura, American Graffiti, Raising Genius, Van Wilder, The Doors, The Last Temptation of Christ, Silver Streak, Repo Man, Stir of Echoes, Bingo, Mom and Dad Save the World, Where's Marlowe, Firehouse Dog, Pacific Heights, Snake Eyes, George of the Jungle, Death Becomes Her, Music of the Heart, Bringing Out the Dead, and many more...
Books
We suggest the following...
Paul Chitlik's Rewrite: A Step-By-Step Guide to Strengthening Structure, Characters, and Drama
Myrl A. Schreibman's Creative Producing From A to Z, and The Film Director Prepares
Hal Ackerman’s Write Screenplays That Sell: The Ackerman Way
Richard Walter's The Whole Picture: Strategies for Screenwriting Success In the New Hollywood
Lew Hunter's Screenwriting 434
Robin Russin and William "Missouri" Downs’ Screenplay: Writing The Picture
Aristotle's Poetics
Joseph Campbell’s The Hero With A Thousand Faces
Lajos Egri’s The Art of Dramatic Writing
Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life
Heroes
"a hero ventures forth from the world of the common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man ".
-Joseph Campbell, The Hero with a Thousand Faces
UCLA Professional Film/TV Programs Alumni's Details
UCLA Professional Film/TV Programs Alumni's Blurbs
About me:
This myspace page is devoted to alumni and current students of the UCLA Professional Programs in Screenwriting and Producing (www.filmprograms.ucla.edu). If you attended any of our courses, or are currently attending any of our courses, we'd love to add you as a friend. When making a friend request, be sure to include a note about yourself.
Tell us about your accomplishments. Send us links to your projects, web sites, blogs, youtube videos, etc.
Also, we have designed our blog section to be a forum for screenwriting and producing questions. Topics will be posted. If you'd like to ask questions, suggest topics, or leave comments, please feel free. And make sure to subscribe to the blog.
If you have ANY suggestions about how to improve this page, please email us and let us know. This page is for you.
Are you not one of the many alumni of our program, but you've stumbled onto our page? That's OK. Feel feel to look around, leave us comments, and read our blog. But if you want specific info on the program and the classes offered, go to www.filmprograms.ucla.edu.
Who I'd like to meet: Alum Travis Wright is working on the remake of “The Warriors” for director Tony Scott. Dave Johnson recently sold his pitch for “Man Wedding” to New Regency in a multi-studio auction. Cindy Davis Hewitt sold her screenplay “This Is Not a Toy” to Miramax. Cindy McCreery's movie “Soccer Mom” will be released by New Line Cinema in 2008.
CHECK OUT THESE LINKS AND SEE WHAT STUDENTS AND ALUMNI ARE UP TO!
Check out Stephen Wolf's "History Matters" http://stephenwolf.com/historymatters/
James Schneider uploaded a short at youtube.com/schippix It's called Roadside Sex. He wrote and appears in it. Many folks from his workshop are involved with it: Jeff DeGrand directed, and Matt Burch and Jackson Kearns helped out on crew.
Here are a few films and shows our Professional Programs instructors and alumni wrote, directed or produced. Send us a jpeg of yours!
(If the above slideshow isn't showing up, hit your refresh button.)
MORE UPDATES FROM VARIETY AND HOLLYWOOD REPORTER!
Bennett Cohen, a current Professional Programs instructor is having his book adapted into a feature. Read the VARIETY October 25, 2007 front page article about this project below.
Jamie Foxx set for 'Zebra Murders'
Actor signs to star in book adaptation
By TATIANA SIEGEL
Jamie Foxx has signed on to topline "The Zebra Murders: A Season of Killing, Racial Madness, and Civil Rights" for DreamWorks. Plan B and Foxx-King Entertainment are producing.
Based on the 2006 book by Prentice Earl Sanders and Bennett Cohen, the story chronicles the series of racially motivated serial killings -- black on white -- that took place in San Francisco in 1973 and 1974. Jamie Foxx will play Sanders, who was one of two black police detectives who led the team that cracked the case. Amid their investigation, Sanders and his partner fought harassment within the police department and organized a union of minority policemen who brought a lawsuit against the city for discrimination, which they ultimately won. Sanders went on to become chief of police.
Matt Carnahan ("The Kingdom") is adapting for the bigscreen.
Plan B's Brad Pitt and Dede Gardner will produce alongside Foxx and Jaime Rucker King. Jeremy Kleiner, Marcus King and Shelby Stone will exec produce. DreamWorks prexy of production Adam Goodman called "Murders" a "compelling and impactful project" and noted that it marks the studio's fourth project with Foxx.
Foxx appeared in last year's ensemble musical "Dreamgirls" and opposite Tom Cruise in the 2004 thriller "Collateral" -- both for DreamWorks. Thesp is also set to star in DreamWorks' "The Soloist," which begins shooting in January.
"Zebra Murders" will be distributed worldwide by DreamWorks/Paramount.
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Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Professional Programs Alum Fernley Phillips Lands Kidman Script
Universal sets Kidman for horror film
Actress to produce Colombian remake
By MICHAEL FLEMING
Universal Pictures has acquired remake rights to the Colombian horror film "Al final del espectro," and will develop it as a starring and producing vehicle for Nicole Kidman.
Juan Felipe Orozco, who helmed the original, is attached to direct the remake. Fernley Phillips ("The Number 23") is writing the script.
Kidman will produce through her Blossom Films banner, teamed with Vertigo Entertainment partners Roy Lee and Doug Davison and Rick Schwartz. Latter was a co-producer of "The Departed" and worked with Kidman as exec producer of "The Others" and "Birthday Girl."
Plan is for Kidman to play a woman who, after a tragedy, is encouraged by her father to take refuge in a fancy apartment building. She becomes a shut-in, and begins to see a ghost.
Vertigo's Lee and Davison exec produced "The Invasion," as well as "The Eye" remake that stars Jessica Alba for Lionsgate. They're producing "A Tale of Two Sisters" at DreamWorks and are prepping the Screen Gems remake of the unreleased Spanish language horror film "Rec."
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Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Dan Mazeau gets yet another deal!
WB sends 'Jonny Quest' to bigscreen
Mazeau to adapt Hanna-Barbera series
By MARC GRASER
Jonny Quest on his first bigscreen adventure.
Adrian Askarieh and Daniel Alter, who have the vidgame-based "Hitman" bowing in October from Fox, will produce the live-action adaptation of the popular 1960s animated TV series from Hanna-Barbera, with Dan Mazeau penning the script.
Series revolved around a young boy who travels the world with his scientist father, adopted brother from India, Bandit the bulldog, and a government agent assigned to protect them as they go on their adventures investigating scientific mysteries.
The show, which is owned by Warner Bros. Animation, aired during primetime on ABC in 1964, lasting only one season. It was updated in the late '80s and '90s as "The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest" on the Cartoon Network. Property's also been spun off as a comicbook from DC.
Askarieh, a longtime fan of the series, is hoping to turn the property into a family-friendly adventure franchise -- something the studio is clearly looking for now that "Harry Potter" is winding down.
Mazeau recently sold his fantasy adventure spec "Land of Lost Things" to Paramount Pictures' Nickelodeon Films, with Arnold and Anne Kopelson producing.
Warner Bros. execs Dan Lin and Matt Reilly will oversee "Jonny Quest" at the studio, which is lensing another film version of an iconic '60s TV series, "Speed Racer."
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Monday, July 30, 2007
Jenna McGrath gets writing gig!
Jenna McGrath, an alum of the Professional Program in Screenwriting who went on to the MFA, just got an assignment according to today's Hollywood Reporter. See below...
McGrath pen registers with 'Store'
By Carolyn Giardina
Strike Entertainment has hired Jenna McGrath to pen an adaptation of Bentley Little's horror novel "The Store."
The story centers on an evil corporation's takeover of a small town.
Marc Abraham and Eric Newman are producing under the Strike Entertainment banner. Executive producers are Vince Gerardis, Eli Kirschner and Tom Bliss. Brie Neimand will supervise the project for Strike.
McGrath is a recent graduate of the UCLA screenwriting program, where she won the 2005 Screenwriter's Showcase for "Reverse Psychology," described as a teen thriller about a young psychopath who seeks to destroy the credibility of her boarding school psychologist.
She is repped by Paradigm.
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Monday, June 04, 2007
Professional Programs alum Dan Mazeau just got a sale!
(Dan completed our first year screenwriting courses in 2004, the advanced courses in 2005, and moved on to the MFA last year.)
See yesterday's Variety article below…
Kopelsons seeking 'Lost Things'
Nickelodeon to produce Mazeau script
By PAMELA MCCLINTOCK
Arnold and Anne Kopelson will produce fantasy family adventure "Land of Lost Things" for Paramount Pictures' Nickelodeon Movies from a script by tyro Dan Mazeau.
Producing with Kopelson Entertainment is Sherryl Clark, previously an exec at the company. Clark now runs the film side of J.J. Abrams shingle Bad Robot.
Nick Movies and producers are keeping the logline for "Land of Lost Things" under wraps.
The Kopelsons' credits include "Don't Say a Word," "A Perfect Murder," "The Devil's Advocate," "Murder at 1600" and "Seven."
Upcoming releases at Nick Movies ("Blades of Glory") include kidpic tentpole "The Spiderwick Chronicles."
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Stephanie Moore, who ran the UCLA Professional Programs for the past 13 years, retired at the end of September 2007. Stephanie has always been the heart and soul of this program and we will greatly miss her. If you have been a student in the Professional Program and had the opportunity to meet Stephanie, you know how kind and devoted she is. If you get the chance, please send her an email here on our space and wish her well. We'll forward it on to her.
Here's a clip from Stephanie Moore's "Life-Size" starring Lindsay Lohan and Tyra Banks.
Life-Size
UCLA Professional Film/TV Programs Alumni's Friend Space (Top 30)
UCLA Professional Film/TV Programs Alumni has 141 friends.
Hi, I was wondering if anyone has experience pitching for TV (my experience is limited to film). I have an idea for a weekly series and just want to know what kind of materials I need (pilot script, treatment, 12 episode summaries?) to get together and, of course, if anyone has any tips about making a winning pitch or getting industry contacts, that would be fab.
