Ken Kragan HBS '60 (Manager, Producer, & Former President of the Country Music Association)

By Dayna Wilkinson

Question: What do Kenny Rogers, Lionel Richie, Burt Reynolds, the Smothers Brothers, Olivia Newton-John and the BeeGees have in common?

Answer: Ken Kragen MBA '60 was their manager.

The winner of multiple "Manager of the Year" awards, Ken has been the president of the Country Music Association and received two MTV Awards, an American Music Award, an NAACP Image Award and a United Nations Peace Medal, among other accolades. He’s probably best known as principal organizer of the original "We Are The World” and Hands Across America, the landmark charitable events.

Thania St. John '83 (Writer & Producer, ROSWELL, DROP DEAD DIVA, UNNATURAL HISTORY)

By D. Dona Le '05

Television writer and producer Thania St. John (née Papas) ’83 knew her calling even when she was "a little person,” avidly watching as many television shows as she could digest.

"I would make people rehearse during recess and bring costumes in, and the teachers would ask, ‘What’s this?’ And I would say, ‘We’re putting on a show!’”

Putting on a show is what St. John still does today. She has worked as writer and producer for a number of successful, widely acclaimed television series, including LIFE GOES ON, LOIS AND CLARK, and ROSWELL, to the more recent HUFF, EUREKA, DROP DEAD DIVA, and UNNATURAL HISTORY.

Gregg Hurwitz '95 (Author)

By Dayna Wilkinson

Gregg Hurwitz’s tenth novel will be released on July 6th. "I’m really excited about this one,” he says, "in some ways I’m more excited about this than any of my other books. It’s an homage to the suspense and paranoia of REAR WINDOW where you realize someone’s watching all the time.” The film rights to this novel, THEY’RE WATCHING, have already been snapped up.

Anyone who knew Gregg Hurwitz as a child wouldn’t be surprised that he grew up to be a writer. "When I was young I wasn’t allowed to watch TV so I read all the time. All I ever wanted to be was a writer. I wrote mysteries that I illustrated with crayons and put together with cardboard covers. I still have some of them on my shelf.”

Geoffrey Fletcher '92 (Screenwriter & Director, PRECIOUS)

By Cristina Slattery '97

"My name mean somethin’ valuable—Precious,” the protagonist of the novel, PUSH, by Sapphire, asserts. Geoffrey Fletcher ’92, winner of the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for the film PRECIOUS: Based on the Novel "Push” by Sapphire, and the first African American to win an Oscar for screenwriting, agrees. He says he fell in love with the character and likens her resilience to that of Odysseus and her self-awareness to that of Huck Finn.

"Who hasn’t felt underestimated or discarded?” Fletcher asks.

Rodrigo Garcia '82 (Director, TEN TINY LOVE STORIES, NINE LIVES, THE SOPRANOS, IN TREATMENT)

By D. Dona Le '05

Rodrigo Garcia’s successful, unique career is stamped by both his driven independence and his ceaseless pursuit of themes, projects, and characters that he finds personally compelling.

The son of renowned writer Gabriel García Márquez, Garcia has carved a wholly distinct name for himself in the film and television industry. He has written and directed a number of films, including THINGS YOU CAN TELL JUST BY LOOKING AT HER (2000), TEN TINY LOVE STORIES (2001), NINE LIVES (2005), and more recently, the much-anticipated MOTHER AND CHILD, due for release in the United States in May 2010. Furthermore, Garcia has directed episodes for such television series as IN TREATMENT, SIX FEET UNDER, and THE SOPRANOS, among others.

Michael Cohen '99 (Composer for Film, TV, Commercials, & Video Games)

By Cristina Slattery '97

"You have to be prepared for luck,” Hollywood, Florida born-and-bred Michael Cohen ’99 advises those eager to succeed in Hollywood (California). An almost-chance encounter with a Mather House tutor helped Cohen change his professional focus post-Harvard from law to music. The tutor persuaded Cohen to apply to USC’s Thornton Scoring for Motion Pictures and Television program, for which he turned down Harvard Law School. However, he explains, he had been mastering instruments (bass guitar in 9th grade, guitar in 12th) since his childhood in South Florida.

Todd A. Kessler '94 & Glenn Kessler '92 (TV Writers & Producers)

By Dayna Wilkinson

Todd Kessler: "It’s a rare moment in one’s career when you get to work with people you’ve known your whole life and do a show that’s inspiring with great actors…We really try to not take it for granted.”

Glenn Kessler: "To be able to work with people you’ve enjoyed for so long and you’ve been interested in collaborating with is certainly a dream come true.”

Phrases like "Inherent trust,” "rare opportunity,” and "long-time friends” are often heard when the topic is Damages, the character-driven legal thriller starring Glenn Close, now in its third season on FX. Todd Kessler ’94, Glenn Kessler ‘92 and Daniel Zelman ’90 are the show’s co-creators and executive producers. On the Damages set the three men are referred to simply as KZK—also the name of their production company.

David Seltzer '87 (Writer, Producer, & Director, THE OMEN, BIRD ON A WIRE)

By D. Dona Le '05

Proactive, versatile, and entrepreneurial are three words that perhaps best describe David Seltzer '87, founding partner of Management 360, and explain the upward trajectory of his career. Seltzer’s path from Harvard to Hollywood is marked by the well-engineered pursuit of his interests, driven by a true passion for the creative arts. Today, Seltzer manages an impressive group of actors, including Eva Mendes, Holly Hunter, Josh Hartnett, Christina Ricci, Eric Dane, and Ben McKenzie, among others.

Seltzer was raised outside of New York City, where he studied drama and voice in high school. He continued performing at Harvard where his concentration was History and Literature. He wrote his senior thesis on Laurence Olivier’s film adaptation of Shakespeare’s Henry V.

Jon Steinberg '97 (Writer & Producer, HUMAN TARGET, JERICHO)

By Sean O'Rourke MAT '68

When Jon Steinberg '97 was an undergraduate in Mather House, he concentrated in government, but movies were his passion. After graduation he went to law school at the University of Pennsylvania and later practiced at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius in Philadelphia for a year. But the draw to Los Angeles and the movie industry was too much to ignore. So he packed up his car and drove to California.

Jeff Schaffer '91 (Writer, Producer, & Director, SEINFELD, CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM, BRUNO, EUROTRIP)

By Sean O'Rourke MAT '68

In college the friends we make and the groups we join are sometimes more important than the professors whose courses we take. This is certainly true for Jeff Schaffer '91. He came to Cambridge with vague aspirations to become a doctor, an archeologist, or at least a scientist of some sort, and it just did not work out that way.

He drifted from classics to archeology to biological anthropology. But more importantly, he joined the Lampoon. And he spent more time in the Castle than the Yard. His was not a classic Harvard experience (is there such a thing?), but it was great education for a comedy writer.