Jesse Zwick '08 (Writer & Director, ABOUT ALEX, PARENTHOOD)

By Stacey Collins

About Alex, opens on August 8th, is writer-director Jesse Zwick’s (08/09) feature film debut. The rookie filmaker managed to pull together an impressive ensamble cast (Jason Ritter, Max Greenfield, Aubrey Plaza, Jane Levy, Maggie Grace, Nate Parker, and Max Minghella). As a firsttime director who took bold moves, Zwick reveals himself as an insightful writer/director with a natural comedic instinct. This poignant dramady tells a story about college friends reunited for the weekend after one of them attempts suicide. Old resentments and romances resurface, as the group discovers new things about each other in a secluded home in the Catskills, despite years staying connected by the ease of social media.

Josh Brener '07 (Actor, SILICON VALLEY, MARON, THE INTERNSHIP, WORKAHOLICS)

By D. Dona Le '05

“It’s annoying how supportive my parents are,” actor Josh Brener ‘07 says frankly. “They are effusively, blindly, obnoxiously supportive, and they’ve encouraged me from the very beginning, even when they were sure I’d be poor and begging them for a place to stay.”

But Brener, who plays Nelson “Big Head” Bighetti on HBO’s hit series SILICON VALLEY, is unlikely to return to his hometown of Houston, Texas, looking for a place to stay.

Last year, Brener co-starred in THE INTERNSHIP alongside Vince Vaughan and Owen Wilson, and he’s also appeared in MARON, THE BIG BANG THEORY, WORKAHOLICS, and GLORY DAZE. While this impressive resume might make another young actor feel confident about his future, Brener operates on a baseline state of panic.

Eve Marson '04 (Producer, FED UP)

By Cristina Slattery '97

Producer Eve Marson '04 was brought on to the team of Fed Up, a new documentary film that is an indictment of the food industry. First shown at Sundance in January, Fed Up premiered internationally at Hot Docs in Toronto this spring. The film, which focuses on the role of hidden sugars in the American obesity epidemic, is narrated and executive produced by Katie Couric. It will be released on May 9th in select theatres and should have a life in the schools after that.

Diane Nabatoff '78, HBS '82 (Producer, TAKE THE LEAD, DANCING IN JAFFA)

By Dayna Wilkinson

Diane Nabatoff '78, HBS '82 grew up wanting to be a singer. Seeing there were no female singing groups on campus, she co-founded the Radcliffe Pitches. “I assumed I’d be an actress and singer after Harvard,” she says.

Hasty Pudding Theatricals altered her career plans.

“Over the years, Hasty Pudding became like a second family. Freshman year I handled props for the show, sophomore year I was the tour manager, junior year I was the publicity manager—I worked my way up.”

Senior year she got the top job and produced the show.

Matt Mazzeo '05 (Former Agent at CAA, Partner at Lowercase Capital)

By D. Dona Le '05

Los Angeles native Matt Mazzeo ‘05 says that “Harvard gave me the opportunity to explore all the classes I loved.”

So he took economics classes, psych classes, science classes, and more, receiving a Renaissance-Man education that has enabled Mazzeo to position himself as an expert voice at the intersection of entertainment and technology.

For seven years, Mazzeo was a star agent at Creative Artists Agency (CAA), focusing on digital media under the company’s Business Development group. He left CAA in November 2012 to join Chris Sacca as a partner at Lowercase Capital, a tech-focused venture capital fund.

Helen Estabrook '03 (Producer, LABOR DAY, UP IN THE AIR, WHIPLASH)

By Cristina Slattery '97

"Every producer treats the job a little bit differently,” says Helen Estabrook ’03, one of the producers of the recently released LABOR DAY as well as a producer of films such as YOUNG ADULT, UP IN THE AIR, and JEFF, WHO LIVES AT HOME.

She continues, "You are creating an entire company,” each time a new production starts.

Right now, Estabrook is running Jason Reitman’s production company and she spends several months a year on set, away from her L.A. base. She explains that different types of producers are needed on a film set and that her role is that of creative producer.

Damien Chazelle '07 - '08 (Writer & Director, WHIPLASH, GUY & MADELINE ON A PARK BENCH)

By D. Dona Le '05

This month, writer-director Damien Chazelle ‘07/‘08 opens the Sundance Film Festival with his feature film WHIPLASH.

Not to mention that before hitting his ten-year college reunion, Chazelle has already sold three screenplays, and his directorial debut, GUY AND MADELINE ON A PARK BENCH (2009), won multiple film awards and was named one of the best films of the year byThe New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Village Voice, and more.

"Ever since I was a little kid, I knew that I wanted to make movies," says Chazelle. Instead of choosing film school for college, he opted to attend Harvard College, where he expected to concentrate in English or a similar field. Then, he discovered Visual & Environmental Sciences.

Andrew Herwitz '83, HLS '90 (Producer, THE BUTLER, ROOM 237, A JIHAD FOR LOVE)

By Dayna Wilkinson

For a long time Andrew Herwitz '83, HLS '90 wasn’t interested in law school. "My mother graduated from Harvard Law School and my father was a professor there, so as a younger person I wasn’t open to the possibility that I might like it.” (His parents told him: "You like to argue, you should be a lawyer.”)

One thing was certain—he wanted to be a Harvard undergraduate. "Growing up outside of Boston, I thought Cambridge would be an ideal place to go to college.”

Unlike Reginald Hudlin and Thania St. John, fellow members of the class of 1983 (and subjects of past Harvardwood Highlights profiles), Andrew wasn’t involved with film as an undergraduate.

Nell Scovell '82 (Writer, Producer, & Director, LEAN IN, SABRINA)

By D. Dona Le '05

Nell Scovell '82 is a true Renaissance woman: comedy writer, magazine writer, blogger, producer, director—and most recently, co-writer of Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In.

When asked how she feels about being known as a feminist comedy writer, Scovell grins. "Well, it’s only recently that I came out as a woman.”

Funnily—and appropriately—enough, Scovell was put in touch with Sandberg through Facebook, which she joined in 2006 at her sister’s request to check out her niece’s activities on the then-new(ish) social networking site.

"I loved Facebook immediately as a way to connect to people, and one of the people I reconnected with was Elliot Schrage, who was a year ahead of me in Eliot House.”

Schrage is Vice President of Communications and Public Policy at Facebook, and he asked Scovell whether she had seen Sandberg’s well-known TED talk.

"Seen it? I’d memorized it! I thought it was incredible, and it was the backbone for Lean In,” says Scovell. Schrage asked her whether she’d be interested in working with Sandberg as her speechwriter.

Alec Nevala-Lee '02 (Novelist, THE ICON THIEF trilogy)

By D. Dona Le '05

Novelist Alec Nevala-Lee '02 knew from a very young age that he wanted to become a writer, and perhaps that influences his first piece of advice to young writers: "Start now.”

"Every life choice I’ve made since I was out of high school has been geared toward [a career in writing], even if it wasn’t obvious at the time,” Nevala-Lee says.

At Harvard, he concentrated in Classics because he believed that knowledge of Latin and Greek would give him a unique toolbox as a writer. "Before the twenty-first century, if you were going to be a writer, an artist, or any other intellectual, you learned these languages,” Nevala-Lee explains, "so I thought, ‘It worked for them, maybe it’ll work for me.’”