Hot Sheet - August 2006
News
Judd Apatow
Will write and produce Walk Hard, a comedy pitch that Columbia has acquired, with Jake Kasdan.
Doug Atchison
Has signed a three-picture, first-look deal with the independent Weinstein Co. in which he will direct his next two pictures.
Kelley Baker '82
Independent filmmaker, is about to go on a self-distributing tour for his lastest movie, Kicking Bird, the story of Martin "Bird" Johnson, a 17-year-old white trash high school kid who runs.
Malik Booth
And his team, Team Voltron, won Best Narrative Film at the Elevate Film Festival for their movie My Letter to Hip-Hop.
Sheldon Candis '02
Directs Young Cesar for CodeBlack Entertainment/Universal Home Video.
Corey Scholibo '01
Has been named arts and entertainment editor at the Advocate. He was formally, a senior account executive at ID-PR.
Dina Chapman '92
Co-wrote the teen comedy The Prom for the Weinstein Company's Dimension Films. She also is currently working on the screenplay adaptation of John O'Farrell's novel The Best a Man Can Get for Little Bird Productions of London and director Peter Cattaneo. Chapman has also had her first book of humor, I Love You, Man...But Not Like That, published by Andrews-McMeel Publishing and due to stores in September 2006.
Pete Chiarelli '99
Is executive producing a DreamWorks Pictures adaptation of the studio's book property Nightlife, about a female serial killer who changes identification every time she commits a murder.
Kon Chu '00
Will directing the teen comedy The Prom for the Weinstein Company's Dimension Films.
Luigi De Laurentiis '03
Is producing the new Filmauro feature, Christmas In New York.
Will Ferrell '90
Plays Ricky Bobby in Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.
James Gray '91
Has been set to rewrite and direct Alphabet City, based on a novel by Steven Knight, who originally wrote the first draft.
Brian Grazer '74
Will be producing the Universal Pictures and Imagine Entertainment thriller The Changeling by J. Michael Straczynski.
Kevin Greutert
Is editing Saw 3, his third in the horror franchise.
Grant Heslov '86
Will launch and run Smoke House, a Warners-based production shingle, with longtime colleague George Clooney in August 2006.
Ron Howard
Will be directing the Universal Pictures and Imagine Entertainment thriller The Changeling by J. Michael Straczynski.
David Klass '89
Is author of the young adult bookFirestorm, which he has also adapted into screenplay for Warner Bros. Pictures. This will be the first in the planned Caretaker Trilogy.
Jon Kroll '89
Will executive produce for New Line Television's Wedding Crashers, a hidden-camera reality take on the comedy feature.
Meredith Jacobson Marciano '81
Has ran a successful casting company in New York City since 1986, and has begun casting an Italian film for Filmauro, which will shoot in NYC called Christmas In New York.
Kevin McCollum '89
Produced the new Off Broadway musical In the Heights, based off the book by Quiara Alegria Hudes.
Chris McGurk
Is in line to run the film side in the new Starz pay TV operation, which is in the making of becoming a full-fledged media company.
Neal Moritz '85
Is producing a DreamWorks Pictures adaptation of the studio's book property Nightlife, about a female serial killer who changes identification every time she commits a murder; producing futuristic crime story, Roadside Picnic, based on the book by Russian writers Boris and Arkady Strugatsky.
Don Murphy '88
Of Angryfilms is producing the Warner Bros. Pictures adaptation of DC Comics' Deadman.
Mack Polhemus '93
Has written and directed two independent features, one of which is a family comedy that premiered at the Dances with Film Festival in Los Angeles, My Bad Dad. It's about a burned-out biker dude who is entrusted with three children when his ex-girlfriend dies.
Chuck Pratt '78
Has signed on to be executive producer of Fox's Vanished. Earlier this year, he signed a deal to wite two blind scripts for 20th Century Fox TV.
Tom Shadyac
Of Shady Acres will produce Magic 8 Ball, a high-concept comedy about the toy, with Universal Pictures.
Michael Shamberg
Was signed with Double Feature partner, Stacey Sher, to a three-year, first-look production deal with Paramount Pictures.
Stacey Sher '85
Was signed with Double Feature partner, Michael Shamberg, to a three-year, first-look production deal with Paramount Pictures.
John Singleton '90
Has signed a five-picture domestic distribution pact with Universal Pictures under his production company, New Deal Productions.
Michael Taylor (Chair of USC CNTV Production Division)
Will produce the romantic drama Unforgettable for Gold Circle and released by Universal.
Andy Tennant '77
Will direct the adventure comedy Fool's Gold starring Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson for Warner Bros.
Rawson Thurber '99
Is directing Groundswell Production's, The Mysteries of Pittsburgh, which will star Peter Sarsgaard, Sienna Miller, Nick Nolte, Jon Foster, and Mena Suvari.
Matthew Weiner '94
Has had his original drama Mad Men, a cinematic drama set in the 1960s Madison Avenue will follow the professional lives, social mores, and sexual exploits of ad execs, bought by AMC to premiere next June.
Benjamin Weissman '74
Is editing the limited anthology series Battleground by Stephen King for TNT.
Laura Ziskin '73
Has been hired to produce the 79th Academy Awards by president, Sid Ganis.
J.D. Crowley
Won three local EMMY awards producing on the air promos while working at KCBS. He also works for Paramount Executive Producer Linda Bell Blue, and Mary Hart of PM Magazine.
Becky Hutner '03
Will be producing and editing a new, daily entertainment show for NBC called Your LA.
Fils and TV Shows
You, Me and Dupree
Mike LeSieur, Screenwriter.
Monster House
Robert Zemeckis, Executive Producer.
Click
Neal Moritz, Producer.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
John Knoll, Visual Effects Supervisor.
My Super Ex-Girlfriend
Sheldon Kahn, Editor.
Ant Bully
Jon Price, Editor.
Zoom
Suzanne Todd, Producer;
Jennifer Todd, Producer;
Nicholas Osborne, Executive Producer;
Trevor Engelson, Executive Producer;
Melissa Rosenberg, Screenwriter.
Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Rickey Bobby
Judd Apatow, Producer.
Invincible
Gordon Gray, Producer;
Ericson Core, Director and Camera.
Beerfest
Lee Haxall, Editor.
The Black Dahlia
Josh Friedman, Screenwriter
Blade: The Series
David Goyer, Executive Producer;
Jon Kroll, Executive Producer.
Entertainment Tonight
J.D. Crowley, Supervising Producer.
em>The Insider
J.D. Crowley, Supervising Producer.
Vanished
Chris Black, Co-executive Producer.
Prison Break
Neal Moritz, Executive Producer;
Zack Estrin, Co-executive Producer.
Weeds
Craig Zisk, Co-executive Producer.
Nip/Tuck
Christopher Baffa, Camera.
Standoff
Tim Story, Director and Executive Producer.
Contact
Justin Wilson
Alumni Relations & Annual Giving
alumni@cinema.usc.edu
213.740.2804
Related Information
