John Lee Hancock

Credits: The Rookie, The Alamo, The Blind Side

JOHN LEE HANCOCK (Director/Screenwriter) most recently wrote and directed "The Blind Side," starring Sandra Bullock. He previously directed the "The Rookie," starring Dennis Quaid, which won the 2002 ESPY Award for Best Sports Movie. He also directed and co-wrote the historical drama "The Alamo," starring Quaid and Billy Bob Thornton.

Hancock most recently co-wrote the screenplay for the musical drama "The Goree Girls," to star Jennifer Aniston, which is slated for release in 2010. His upcoming films also include the drama "The Starling," which he is set to direct, and the fact-based Hurricane Katrina drama "The American Can," which he is co-writing and will direct.

Originally from Texas City, Texas, Hancock earned a law degree from Baylor University. Upon moving to Los Angeles, he traded his legal career for the chance to start the theatre company Legal Aliens, with actor Brandon Lee. He wrote and directed several original stage plays there before launching his film and television career.

Hancock’s first major motion picture screenplay, "A Perfect World," was directed by Clint Eastwood, who also produced and starred alongside Kevin Costner and Laura Dern. Hancock then wrote "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil," the screen adaptation of the acclaimed book, also directed by Eastwood. He made his producing debut with the family drama "My Dog Skip," starring Kevin Bacon, Diane Lane and Frankie Muniz, under the direction of Jay Russell.

For television, Hancock created the CBS series "L.A. Doctors," on which he was an executive producer, director and writer. Later, he served as executive producer of the network’s drama series "Falcone," also directing episodes.

Hancock is currently an advisor at the Sundance Institute Screenwriting Lab.

Craig Mazin

Credits: The Specials, Scary Movie 3, Scary Movie 4

Craig Mazin is the co-writer of the hit comedies Scary Movie 3 and 4. Currently, he is writing The Hangover 2 with director Todd Phillips, as well as an action-comedy for producer Jerry Bruckheimer, a science-fiction comedy for Paramount Pictures, and a family adventure for 20th Century Fox. 

Craig served on the Board of Directors of the Writers Guild of America, West from 2004 to 2006. He also runs The Artful Writer—a website for professional and aspiring screenwriters.

Craig lives with his wife and two children in a small town north of Los Angeles.

theartfulwriter.com

Linda Lichter

Credits: Finding Neverland, Pirates of the Carribean Trilogy, Quantum of Solace, Little Miss Sunshine, Babel, Juno, Paranormal Activity

Linda Lichter received her degree from the University of California, Berkeley in 1973 and her law degree from Boalt Hall, The University of California in 1976.  She’s a partner in Lichter, Grossman, Nichols, Adler & Feldman, Inc.  The firm specializes in representing individuals and companies in their transactions in the entertainment business.

Linda has been involved in the legal and business aspects of development, production and distribution of many studio and independent features and the representation of many types of talent (writers, directors, producers and actors) in the entertainment industry.  In the last year she has been involved in such projects as “The Last Station,” “Anvil!” “Youth in Revolt,” “Alice in Wonderland,” “The Big Bang Theory,” “Castle” and “Paranormal Activity.”  She has been included on The Hollywood Reporter’s list of the “100 Most Powerful Lawyers in Hollywood” and the “100 Most Powerful Women in Hollywood.”  She is also listed as one of the best lawyers in America in Chambers USA and Super Lawyers.  She has taught or lectured at Stanford Business School, the University of California Law School, the UCLA Entertainment Law Symposium and the USC Entertainment Law Symposium, and has been on numerous panels for FIND, IFP East, Film Angels and Sundance.  Linda has served on the boards of Los Angeles Theater Works, Women in Film, The Executive Board of the College of Letters and Sciences of the University of California at Berkeley, The Actor’s Gang, and is newly on the board of the Telluride Film Festival.

She lives in Pacific Palisades and is married to Nick Marck, a director, and they have three children, ages 21, 24 and 27.

Derek Haas and Michael Brandt

Credits: Wanted, 3:10 to Yuma, 2 Fast, 2 Furious

Writers Michael Brandt and Derek Haas are the force behind such engaging, fast-paced, kinetic screenplays as 2008’s blockbuster WANTED.  Brandt and Haas’s adaptation of the acclaimed graphic novel starred James McAvoy, Morgan Freeman and Angelina Jolie and grossed $339 million worldwide.

Brandt and Haas are currently adapting the novel THE THIRTEENTH HOUR for New Line Cinema with Michael DeLuca producing.  The story follows a man falsely accused of brutally murdering his wife who is given an opportunity to go back in time, in one hour increments for 12 hours, to find and stop his wife’s killer before it’s too late. 

Brandt and Haas also adapted THE MATARESE CIRCLE, based on Robert Ludlum’s novel, for MGM with Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Nick Wechsler producing.    Denzel Washington and Tom Cruise are attached to star and David Cronenberg will direct. 

Brandt and Haas first met at Baylor University in 1989, where they attended both undergrad and graduate school. At Baylor, Brandt received an MA in Film and Haas graduated with an MA in English Literature. The duo started writing screenplays together in the mid 1990s.

Their first produced work, Universal’s 2 FAST 2 FURIOUS, has amassed over $236M in worldwide box office. In September 2007, Brandt and Haas wrote the film 3:10 TO YUMA, starring Russell Crowe and Christian Bale, directed by James Mangold.

Haas’s first best-selling novel, THE SILVER BEAR, a thriller centered on the life of an assassin, was published by Pegasus books (distributed by Norton) in July 2008, and the sequel, COLUMBUS, just came out in November.  Haas is the creator and editor of the website popcornfiction.com, that weekly publishes genre short fiction from top screenwriters.

popcornfiction.com

Scott Frank

Credits: The Lookout, Minority Report, Out of Sight, Get Shorty

Scott Frank grew up in Los Gatos, California.  He received a B.A. in Film Studies from the University of California at Santa Barbara in 1982.

His screenplays include Out of Sight which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. 

Out of Sight alsowon the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, the Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America as well as Best Screenplay awards from the National Society of Film Critics and the Boston Society of Film Critics

Scott Frank's other screenplay credits include: The Interpreter, Minority Report (Saturn Award winner for Best Science Fiction Screenplay), Get Shorty (Golden Globe and Writers Guild nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay, Edgar Award nomination for Best Mystery Screenplay), Dead Again (Edgar Award nomination for Best Mystery Screenplay) and Little Man Tate.

In 2008, his directorial debut, The Lookout, won the Independent Spirit award for “Best First Feature.”

David Simon

Credits: The Wire, Generation Kill, Treme + The Corner

David Simon, 49, is a Baltimore-based journalist, author and television producer.  Born in Washington, he came to Baltimore in 1983 to work as a crime reporter at The Baltimore Sun.  While at the paper, he reported and wrote two works of narrative non-fiction, Homicide: A Year On The Killing Streets and The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood, the former an account of a year spent with the city homicide squad and the latter, a year spent on a West Baltimore drug corner.

Homicide became the basis for the NBC drama which aired from 1993 to 1999 and for which Simon worked as a writer and producer after leaving The Sun in 1995. The Corner became an HBO miniseries and won three Emmy Awards in 2000.  The Wire, a subsequent HBO drama, aired from 2002 to 2008 and depicted a dystopic American city contending with a fraudulent drug war, the loss of its industrial base, political and educational systems incapable of reform and a media culture oblivious to all of the above.

Also last year, Simon served as a writer and executive producer of HBO's Generation Kill, a miniseries depicting U.S. Marines in the early days of the Iraq conflict.  He is currently at work on a drama about post-Katrina New Orleans entitled "Treme," which is slated to be broadcast on HBO in 2010. Simon also does prose work for The New Yorker, Esquire and The Washington Post, among other publications.

Marianne & Cormac Wibberley

Credits: National Treasure, National Treasure: Book of Secrets

Marianne & Cormac are a married writing team. They both grew up in Southern California and attended UCLA.

In 1993, they sold their first spec script to Disney, although it was never produced. The 6th Day starring Arnold Schwarzenegger was their first major motion picture. Their credits also include I Spy, Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle, Bad Boys II, The Shaggy Dog, G-Force, National Treasure and National Treasure: Book of Secrets. They are currently working on projects for Sony, Fox, Warner Brothers, and USA. Cormac & Marianne have been writing together for 17 years.

Alec Berg

Jeff Lowell

Credits: John Tucker Must Die, Over Her Dead Body, Hotel for Dogs

Jeff Lowell has written, produced and directed features and television for more than fifteen years.  In TV, he's worked on such shows as The George Carlin Show, Drew Carey, Just Shoot Me, Sports Night, Cybill and Spin City.  On the feature side, he wrote John Tucker Must Die, Hotel For Dogs, and wrote and directed Over Her Dead Body.

He currently has projects in various stages of development at multiple studios. 

Jeff took his wife and children and fled Los Angeles for Charlottesville, Virginia five years ago.

Richard Lagravanese

Credits: The Fisher King, Freedom Writers, P.S. I Love You

RICHARD LAGRAVENESE was born in Brooklyn, New York.  He attended Emerson College and NYU’s Experimental Theatre Wing at the Tisch School of the Arts.

Screenwriting: “THE FISHER KING”, directed by Terry Gilliam. (Academy Award nomination) “THE REF,” (directed by Ted Demme), “A LITTLE PRINCESS “(directed by Alfonso Cuaron)… “UNSTRUNG HEROES” (directed by Diane Keaton). “THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY “(directed by Clint Eastwood..”THE MIRROR HAS TWO FACES” (directed by Barbra Streisand)...”THE HORSE WHISPERER” (directed by Robert Redford) and “BELOVED” (directed by Jonathon Demme).

Directing & Screenwriting: “LIVING OUT LOUD” starring Danny DeVito, Holly Hunter and Queen Latifah….“PARIS J'TAIME” with Fanny Ardent and Bob Hoskins… “FREEDOM WRITERS”, with Hilary Swank and Patrick Dempsey ( Awarded the Humanitas Prize).….   “P.S. I LOVE YOU”, with Hilary Swank, Gerard Butler,  Kathy Bates Lisa Kudrow, Harry Connick Jr., Gina Gershon and Jeffrey Dean Morgan.
    
LaGravenese co-directed and co-produced (with the late Ted Demme), a three part documentary for IFC entitled A DECADE UNDER THE INFLUENCE, which explores the breakthrough films and filmmakers of the 1970's. The film won the National Board of Review William K. Everson Award for film history and earned an Emmy nomination for best documentary.

Eric Overmyer

Credits: St. Elsewhere, Homicide: Life on the Street, Law & Order

Phil Robinson

Credits: All of Me (writer), Field of Dreams (writer/director), Sneakers (co-writer/director)

Writer-director Phil Alden Robinson was born in Long Beach, New York, and graduated Union College in Schenectady, New York with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science. He received an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from Union College in 1996.

Credits include:

ALL OF ME, starring Steve Martin and Lily Tomlin (1984) - Writer

IN THE MOOD, starring Patrick Dempsey, Beverly D’Angelo and Talia Balsam (1987) - Writer / Director

FIELD OF DREAMS, starring Kevin Costner, James Earl Jones and Burt Lancaster (1989) - Writer / Director

SNEAKERS, starring Robert Redford, Sidney Poitier, Dan Aykroyd, Mary McDonnell, River Phoenix, David Strathairn and Ben Kingsley (1992) - Co-writer / Director

FREEDOM SONG, a TNT movie about the Civil Rights movement, starring Danny Glover and Vondie Curtis Hall (2000) – Co-Executive Producer / Co-writer / Director

BAND OF BROTHERS - HBO, produced by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks (2001) - Director (Episode One)

THE SUM OF ALL FEARS, starring Ben Affleck and Morgan Freeman (2002) - Director

"Field of Dreams" earned nominations for the Directors Guild Award, the Writers Guild Award, and three Academy Awards, including Best Screenplay Adaptation. It has won the Christophers Award, and Premiere Magazine's Readers Poll for Best Picture of 1989.

“Sneakers” was nominated for an “Edgar” Award by the Mystery Writers of America.

“Freedom Song” won the Writers Guild Award for Best Original Longform, was nominated for 2 Emmy Awards, 3 NAACP Image Awards (including Best TV Movie), a Screen Actors Guild Award, and the Humanitas Prize. It received The Christopher Award, the San Francisco Film Society's "Golden Gate Award", and a National Association of Minorities in Communications Image Award.

For "Band of Brothers", he (along with all the directors on the series) was nominated for a Directors Guild Award and won an Emmy Award for Best Directing of a Miniseries, Movie or Dramatic Special.

In 1990, he was named "Screenwriter of the Year" by the National Association of Theatre Owners, and in 1994 received the Writers Guild’s Valentine Davies Award for contributions to the entertainment industry and the community-at-large.

He serves on the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, on the Board of Overseers of the UCLA Hammer Museum, and is a past member of the Writers Guild of America, West Board of Directors.

In 1992, he accompanied the United Nations High Commission for Refugees as an observer on relief missions to Somalia and Bosnia, for which he wrote and directed his first of five documentaries for ABC News "Nightline". One, “Sarajevo Spring”, was nominated for a national News & Documentary Emmy Award in 1997.

He was nominated in 2009 for another Emmy (Outstanding Writing For A Variety, Music Or Comedy Special) as one of the writers for the “81st Annual Academy Awards” broadcast.

Glenn Gainor

GLENN GAINOR is the Senior Vice President in charge of physical production for Sony Pictures’ Screen Gems, a position he has held since January of 2007. Gainor executive produced the thriller Vacancy for Screen Gems as well as recent box office hits Prom Night, Quarantine, and Obsessed.

As quoted in Kodak’s In Camera Magazine, Gainor says, “We are committed to reviving the tradition of producing films in Los Angeles, where we can draw upon a deep pool of talented people who are happy to be working at home. We are building a family with many people collaborating with each other on different projects.”  In the article, Gainor also cites the unique support infrastructure in the city, including stages and the backlot at the studio, equipment rental companies, labs and post-production facilities.

And in the PGA’s Produced By Magazine article entitled “Reviving the Spirit of Old Hollywood,” Gainor says, “Part of the magic of Hollywood in the early days was that every studio was like a family. The same people worked together on different projects. We don’t have writers, directors and actors under contract today, but we are rebuilding the collaborative spirit”.

As head of physical production, Gainor oversaw production on This Christmas, First Sunday, Lakeview Terrace; The Stepfather, Armored, The Roommate, Easy A, Straw Dogs, and the Gwyneth Paltrow, Tim McGraw film Country Strong shooting in Nashville.  Additional films Gainor produced at Screen Gems include Death at a Funeral, Priest and the original musical Burlesque starring Christina Aguilera and Cher.
 
 Gainor is the 2009 recipient of the California on Location Signature Award, given in appreciation for his efforts in preserving California’s film industry. Gainor also served as keynote speaker at the COLA Awards.

Other producing credits include the comedy Strange Wilderness for Adam Sandler’s Happy Madison Productions; Grandma’s Boy, Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo; Sonny, directed by Nicolas Cage; Starship Troopers 2; and the thriller Skeletons in the Closet.

Gainor served as line producer on A Rumor of Angels as well as the critically acclaimed Panic, directed by Henry Bromell.  Gainor co-produced George Hickenlooper’s The Man from Elysian Fields, as well as Happy, Texas.  Gainor has also produced for the stage, teaming with Ovation Award winning director Andy Fickman for the musical “Sneaux.”

A graduate of the film program at California State University at Northridge, Gainor launched his career in the film industry when he wrote and produced an independent pilot that led to an offer to write for an ABC series, but Gainor chose to pursue his career in producing.

Chris Kletzien

Chris Kletzien almost (?)  graduated from world renowned safety school Emerson College before working as a writer in Los Angeles for fifteen years.   His TV writing credits include sketch comedy, game shows, award shows (live and taped), daytime talk, nighttime talk, reality, clip shows, specials (live and taped) and back door pilots.  He has had primetime TV development deals for alternative programming, animation, half hour comedy and one hour drama.  He has sold both independent screenplays  (Bandeira, RKO) as well as a number of studio projects (Film Colony/Warner Brothers, Ted Demme's Spanky Pictures/New Line, Jersey/Universal).  

Perhaps his biggest challenge and most impressive accomplishment as a WGA member was that along the way he got laid (a verifiable) three and a half times.

Diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 2006 he and his wife, Susan, live in Nashville, TN.    He faces his new life with bravery, humor and a shred of dignity he hid from producers in the floor safe of his Hollywood Hills house.   He currently gets belligerent after a glass of wine and threatens to write his Hollywood tell-all ("Fifteen Minutes of Blame"?  No?  "Live Wrong and Prosper"?  No?  "When Good Things Happen to Bad People"?  No?) but in reality is just so very, very grateful for the opportunity to have known the people who passed through his life there.   Thank you all for the ride.  Except you, (insert name here)...

You know what you did.

Molly Smith

Molly Smith developed her passion for filmmaking at a young age, participating in a summer film program at NYU. She worked on several early productions at Alcon Entertainment, including The Affair of the Necklace, Insomnia, and Love Don't Cost a Thing, and after graduating from NYU joined Alcon full-time as a production executive.

Following the tragic loss of her oldest sister, Molly brought the project P.S. I Love You to Alcon. It was through the emotional experience of making this film together that Molly and Hilary Swank decided to partner. They founded 2S Films in late 2007 and have a number of films in active development.

Molly was also the Executive Producer on The Blind Side. The film earned Sandra Bullock the Academy Award for Best Actress and was nominated for Best Picture of the Year.

Currently, Molly is producing the long-awaited film adaptation of Emily Giffin’s best-selling novel Something Borrowed, starring Ginnifer Goodwin, Kate Hudson, and John Krasinski.

Ray McKinnon

RAY MCKINNON is a long time independent filmmaker, writer and actor. In 2002, his 38 minute penned and directed dark comedy, “The Accountant”, won an Academy Award® for Best Live Action Short Film. In 2004, he made his feature length film writing and directing debut with the independent film “Chrystal”. Starring Billy Bob Thornton and Lisa Blount, “Chrystal” was one of 16 films selected for the dramatic competition at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival and was released theatrically in 2005. McKinnon then wrote, directed and starred in the droll comedy, “Randy and the Mob,” which won the Audience Choice Award and the President’s Award at the 2007 Nashville Film Festival and was released theatrically that year. “That Evening Sun” adapted from the William Gay short story which McKinnon both produced and co-stars with Hal Holbrook, Walton Goggins, Barry Corbin, Carrie Preston, Mia Wasikowska and Dixie Carter debuted last year at the SXSW Festival in Austin where it won the Audience Award and a Special Jury Prize for Best Ensemble Cast. McKinnon’s portrayal of Lonzo Choat in “That Evening Sun” was nominated as Best Supporting Actor at this year’s 25th annual Film Independent Spirit Awards. McKinnon’s other film acting credits include last year’s portrayal of Coach Cotton in the Atlanta filmed, Oscar nominated, “The Blind Side”. Other credits include “The Missing,” “O Brother, Where Art Thou?”. “Come Early Morning,” “Things That Hang From Trees,” “The Grass Harp,” “Apollo 13,” “A Perfect World” and “Bugsy.” On the small screen, McKinnon inhabited the tragic, tumor riddled, Reverend H.W. Smith on HBO’s acclaimed series “Deadwood”.

As a writer, McKinnon sold his spec pilot ‘Rectify” to AMC in 2009 and is currently adapting the book, “Deer Hunting with Jesus” as a series for HBO. McKinnon continues co-creating a series of subversive short films with comrade in disarms, writer and performance artist, Graham Gordy. Born and raised in Georgia, McKinnon now lives in Arkansas with his wife and frequent producing partner and muse, actress Lisa Blount.

Dave Jordan

DAVE JORDAN launched Format in 2002 after more than a decade in the music business with the goal of providing his clients with a breadth of music-related services and expertise. He started Format’s publishing division in 2004 and has steered its exponential growth with nearly 1000 placements in popular films, television programs, and new media ventures.

In 2005, Dave launched the management division and has seen his innovative composers, songwriters and producers succeed by having their distinctive work heard in feature blockbusters such as Alvin and The Chipmunks and Iron Man, and television hits like Gossip Girl and Smallville.

As a music supervisor, Dave has over 45 major studio films and soundtracks to his credit, including the mega-blockbusters Iron Man, Iron Man 2 and Transformers, The Incredible Hulk, Fantastic Four, and Cheaper By the Dozen. Dave’s versatility and facility with how music plays an integral part in film and television has enabled him to work on a wide scope of projects in multiple genres, including big budget comic book adaptations such as Daredevil, the comedic Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, the dramatic Reign Over Me, and the children’s movie Marmaduke.


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Howard Paar

 After moving from London, Howard Paar began his US career as a Los Angeles-based club creator/DJ working with such bands as The Specials, The Clash, The Cure and Echo & The Bunnymen. He went on to become Vice President of Soundtracks at Mercury/Polygram where he executive produced many soundtracks including The Big Lebowski, in addition to placing numerous songs in films and television shows such as the theme songs for King Of The Hill and Ellen. He then joined Richard Branson’s V2 Records as Head of Film & TV where he worked closely with groundbreaking artists like Moby.  Paar went on to become an independent music supervisor, and continued to work with Moby whose album "Play" became the first in history to have media placement for all tracks. Paar now works with a number of artists who create music for visual media.

A Grammy nominee for the Dogtown and Z-Boys soundtrack, Paar has music supervised over 30 films including the Academy Award-winning feature film Monster directed by Patty Jenkins, as well as multiple films with such iconic filmmakers as Allison Anders, Larry Clark and Gregg Araki. His additional feature film credits include Herbie Fully Loaded and Daltry Calhoun executive  produced by Quentin Tarantino  Paar has served as music supervisor for a number of television series including multiple seasons of Showtime's The L Word.  He recently completed work on the independent films Sympathy For Delicious, directed by Mark Ruffalo and Ceremony, directed by Max Winkler.