Harvardwood HIGHLIGHTS - January 2026
- 6 days ago
- 15 min read
Updated: 4 days ago
In this issue:
MESSAGE FROM HARVARDWOOD
NEWS
Harvardwood 2025 Volunteers of the Year
Harvardwood Holiday Lunch Auctions Open for Bidding through Jan 6th
Boston Harvardwood Writers Program Applications Open through Jan 11th
Harvardwood Artist Launch Fellowship and Harvardwood Emerging Visual Artist Fellowship Applications Open through Jan 19th
Seeking Homestay Hosts for Harvardwood 101 Students
Featured Job: Media Strategy and Planning Manager
FEATURES
Harvardwood Profile: Marty Bowen AB '91 (producer)
Industry News
Exclusive Q&A with Ashely Alker, M.D., M. Sc. '09 (author, physician)
CALENDAR & NOTES
An Exclusive Conversation with Scott Belsky of A24 (Virtual)
Weekly Freewriting Sessions (Virtual)
Harvardwood goes to Sundance!
Last Month at Harvardwood
Want to submit your success(es) to Harvardwood HIGHLIGHTS? Do so by posting here!
Happy Holidays to you all, and we are excited to ring in the New January 3rd with Harvardwood's New Year's Resolutions!
Auction off a lunch with one of the board members' dogs
Meditate on whether they're gonna get to make those last 2 Avatars
Sleep later, because my god I can barely make it past 8 pm these days
Think of some really funny topical Halloween costumes that will no longer be funny or topical when our Halloween Party comes around
Stop biting each other's nails
Start a Harvardwood gym program (this already ended on January 2nd)
Get an MFA for Harvardwood
Get after it (in general)
In other news, Harvardwood Holiday Lunch Auctions are Open for Bidding through Jan 6th, and Harvardwood Artist Launch Fellowship and Harvardwood Emerging Visual Artist Fellowship Applications are open through Jan 19th! Lot goin' on with this Jan business.
We also have coming up an An Exclusive Conversation with Scott Belsky of A24 and we are starting Weekly Freewriting Sessions this month! If you somehow miss all that, come chill with us at Harvardwood goes to Sundance! We're really hangin' loose (in a structured, neurotic way) this month.
As always, if you have an idea for an event or programming, please tell us about it here. If you have an announcement about your work or someone else's, please share it here (members) and it will appear in our Weekly and/or next HIGHLIGHTS issue.
Best wishes,
Grace Shi
Operations and Communications
Harvardwood 2025 Volunteers of the Year
Harvardwood was thrilled to honor our Volunteers of the Year at our Holiday Party. Thank you to Brian Mendel and Rachel Harner for seamlessly running the Harvardwood Sagansky TV Writers Program!
Harvardwood Holiday Lunch Auctions Open for Bidding
New Year, New You, anyone? Treat yourself to lunch with one of our industry VIPs to get the New Year off to a strong creative start! Four exclusive lunch offerings open for bidding through January 6th!
Leading Indie Film Distributors Howard Cohen AB '81 and Eric d'Arbeloff MBA '93
Boston Harvardwood Writers Program Applications Open
Strengthen your TV pilot and feature film writing skills in the Boston Harvardwood Writers Program! This group will meet on Tuesdays, 7:30 - 9:00 pm, twice per month (January to May) on Zoom to workshop scripts by participants.
Applications accepted through January 11th.
Priority will be given to Boston-area writers; there may be opportunities for in-person gatherings as the program progresses. We welcome Harvard College undergraduates!
Harvardwood Artist Launch Fellowship and Harvardwood Emerging Visual Artist Fellowship Applications
Applications are open through Monday, January 19th.
The Harvardwood Emerging Visual Artist Fellowship is in its second year. This year, the committee will award a fellowship amount of $24,000 to one visual artist.
The Harvardwood Artist Launch Fellowship is in its fifth year, and the committee will award at least one fellowship amount of $24,000 to an artist in any discipline other than the visual arts.
If you have questions about eligibility, please read more on the HEVAF here or the HALF here, or email us at admin@harvardwood.org
APPLY HERE for HEVAF
APPLY HERE for HALF
Seeking Homestay Hosts for Harvardwood 101 Students
Every year, our Harvardwood 101 career exploration program offers a few dozen Harvard College students a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to attend discussions with Hollywood executives, agents, writers, and artists.
Our Harvardwood 101 “Winternship” program (short-term professional experiences) spans 1-2 weeks in January, and we are currently looking for homestay hosts during that time in LA (approx. January 10-24, 2026).
If you’re able to provide a spare room/couch/air mattress to host a college student (or three!), we’d be eternally grateful.
Please contact Programs Director Laura Yumi Snell at programs@harvardwood.org with your name, address/neighborhood, and the number of students you’re able to host. Thank you!
Featured Job: Media Strategy and Planning Manager
Job Description:
The Media Strategy & Planning team is seeking a highly motivated individual with a passion for Entertainment. The Manager, Media Strategy & Planning is primarily responsible for supporting the Director, Media Strategy & Planning in the planning and buying process of all paid media plans in support of Peacock and NBC Entertainment titles.
Alumni Profile: Marty Bowen AB '91 (producer)
Before founding the production company Temple Hill, Marty was a partner and top literary agent at United Talent Agency. His UTA client roster included Charlie Kaufman (ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND), Larry McMurtry (BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN), David Stern & David Weiss (SHREK 2), and actors Bernie Mac, James Gandolfini, and Wesley Snipes. Films Marty produced at Temple Hill include FATHERHOOD starring Kevin Hart, FIRST MAN starring Ryan Gosling and directed by Damian Chazelle, THE HATE YOU GIVE, and the TWILIGHT franchise. Marty’s TV credits as executive producer include: LOVE VICTOR, DAVE, THE OUTSIDER, and REVENGE.
Marty Bowen AB ’91 is a film and television producer whose work is defined by emotional intimacy, literary adaptation, and global storytelling. As the co-founder of Temple Hill Entertainment, Bowen has helped bring some of the most resonant stories of the past two decades to the screen, including THE TWILIGHT SAGA, THE FAULT IN OUR STARS, SMILE, and THE MAZE RUNNER franchise. Producing across genres that range from YA romance and coming-of-age stories to horror and musicals, Temple Hill’s projects consistently reflect Bowen’s belief that stories endure not because of spectacle alone, but because of emotional truth. Today, Bowen continues to expand Temple Hill’s slate while remaining committed to emotionally grounded storytelling, flexibility in a shift industry, and supporting stories that resonate across cultures and formats.
When Bowen arrived at Harvard, film and television were far from his mind. Raised in Texas as the son of a banker, he came to campus with traditional ambitions and the assumption that success followed a conventional path—often toward finance or business. He played football, went to class, and believed Harvard was meant to prepare him for that kind of future. “I thought the box that it was supposed to check was to prepare me for a life in finance and business,” Bowen reflects.
Yet outside of football and academics, he found himself increasingly drawn to performances on campus, carving out time to attend plays and musicals simply because he enjoyed them. “My gut classes were self-studies in film or theater,” he recalls. At the time, those evenings didn’t feel like aspirations so much as escapes. “I didn’t look at that as work. I looked at that as relief,” Bowen says.
Harvard, for him, was not a place of immediate clarity, but one of possibility—an environment that allowed curiosity to exist without the pressure of knowing exactly where it would lead. It wasn’t until after graduation, as he began questioning the careers he was “supposed” to want, that he realized those so-called side interests pointed more closely toward what genuinely excited him.
After graduation, Bowen moved to Los Angeles without a job, an apartment, or a safety net, giving himself a limited window to try the entertainment industry. “There’s a kind of freedom in having very little,” he reflects. He initially found his way into the mailroom at United Talent Agency, choosing UTA deliberately because it was a young, growing company where he believed he could learn quickly and take on responsibility early. While the uncertainty and rejection of those early months were formative, Bowen also began to recognize that this was a world in which he could succeed. “I did realize that this was a world that I thought I could be good in,” he recalls.
Bowen entered UTA’s trainee program and rose through the ranks to become a literary agent and eventually a partner, working closely with writers such as Charlie Kaufman (ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND) and Larry McMurtry (BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN). Representing writers at that level sharpened his understanding of storytelling at its most fundamental: voice, character, and emotional authenticity, while teaching him how central trust is to the creative process.
By the mid-2000s, Bowen had reached a point in his career where founding a production company felt possible. After years of working closely with writers and material, he had built the relationships and industry trust needed to take that next step. Yet even as he succeeded as an agent, Bowen began to feel the limits of the role. “I realized as much as I enjoyed being an agent that I didn’t think I could do it for the rest of my life,” he says. For Bowen, it came down to a simple philosophy: “If you are competitive, and you are trying to win a race, if you don’t really care, then it’s probably not a race you should be running.”
In 2006, he left United Talent Agency to cofound Temple Hill Entertainment alongside producer Wyck Godfrey. Built around a commitment to emotionally driven, character-first storytelling, the company’s early projects, beginning with THE NATIVITY STORY, set the foundation for a slate that would grow across film, television, and publishing, while remaining rooted in emotional authenticity.
As Temple Hill expanded throughout the 2000s and 2010s, Bowen’s role evolved from building a slate to shaping a creative philosophy at scale. Producing projects like THE TWILIGHT SAGA tested that philosophy at unprecedented scope, reinforcing his belief that scale only works when grounded in character and emotional truth. Producing across franchises, literary adaptations, and original projects required Bowen to constantly balance emotional intimacy with commercial reach—reinforcing his belief that scale only works when grounded in character and feeling. Temple Hill’s growth during this period reflected Bowen’s ability to shepherd stories that resonated widely without losing their emotional core.
When streaming fundamentally altered the movie industry's structure, Bowen saw it as an opportunity to expand Temple Hill's reach. He began thinking more globally about storytelling and the kinds of voices Temple Hill could support, a shift reflected in the company’s expansion into London. For Bowen, global growth was not about reinvention, but about extending Temple Hill’s core values across new cultural contexts—recognizing that emotionally resonant stories are not bound by geography. As streaming expanded and traditional theatrical models were upended, Bowen adapted without abandoning his guiding principles, allowing Temple Hill to produce across borders and formats while remaining anchored in emotional authenticity.
That philosophy is evident in Bowen’s current work, including Temple Hill’s adaptation of CHILDREN OF BLOOD AND BONE, the bestselling novel by Harvard alum Tomi Adeyemi AB ’15. Drawn to the book’s cultural specificity, expansive world-building, and deeply personal emotional core, Bowen saw the project as emblematic of the stories he feels compelled to champion: narratives that are epic in scale yet intimate at their center. The adaptation reflects both Bowen’s long-standing commitment to literary storytelling and Temple Hill’s evolution into a company that thinks globally about narrative impact, grounded in human experience.
In an increasingly fragmented media landscape, Bowen’s approach to storytelling has only become more intentional. Rather than designing projects to chase algorithms or short-lived trends, he remains focused on sincerity. “Emotion cuts through noise,” he notes. Across Temple Hill’s diverse slate, Bowen finds himself returning again and again to the same emotional terrain: love, fear, identity, and belonging. Genre, for him, is simply a vessel. What ultimately matters is whether a story creates a genuine emotional entry point for its audience.
It is a philosophy Bowen traces back to those evenings at Harvard, sitting in darkened theaters and watching stories simply because they moved him. Decades later, he still returns to the same instinct when evaluating a project: Does this story matter? Does it feel true? The answer determines everything that follows.
Industry News
Darren Aronofsky AB '90 is reuniting with Gillian Flynn to develop an original erotic thriller for Sony Pictures, with Flynn set to write the script and Aronofsky attached to direct, marking the pair’s first feature collaboration since GONE GIRL. (Deadline)
Rubén Blades LL.M. '85, the Grammy-winning musician and actor, wrote the original song "Imigrantes" for the animated climate-change film BLACK BUTTERFLIES, speaking with VARIETY about how crafting the song felt like a natural fit for the project ahead of the film’s U.S. release. (Variety)
Nicholas Britell AB '03 composed the score for JAY KELLY, and in an interview he explained how he and director Noah Baumbach experimented with the music to deepen the film’s emotional impact — including writing the main theme backwards so it would feel subconscious and subtly shape key moments of memory and reflection. (GoldDerby)
Robert Carlock AB '95 will join Tina Fey for a live conversation titled CREATIVE MISCHIEF AND THE ART OF BEING FUNNY TOGETHER at Sanders Theatre on January 30, 2026, as part of the Office for the Arts’ 50th anniversary LEARNING FROM PERFORMERS series at Harvard. The event will feature insights into their creative process and collaboration, with free tickets available to Harvard ID holders and the public. (Harvard Gazette)
Peter Gaffney AB '81, who most recently directed for THE CONJURING franchise, is set to helm a new Netflix creature feature that’s being positioned as a rival to TROLL, focusing on a fearsome Yeti-style monster in a fresh take on the bigfoot mythos. The project continues Netflix’s push into high-profile monster movies by pairing Gaffney’s horror experience with a larger-than-life, snow-bound adversary. (MovieWeb)
Jonathan Goldstein JD '95 and longtime creative partner John Francis Daley have signed with WME for representation, shortly after being tapped to write and direct the next STAR TREK feature, continuing their successful filmmaking duo career that includes DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: HONOR AMONG THIEVES and GAME NIGHT. (Deadline)
David Heyman AB '83 is teaming with Warner Bros. Pictures to develop a film adaptation of UNDER STORY, the forthcoming novel by Chloe Benjamin, author of THE IMMORTALISTS. Heyman’s production banner Heyday Films will produce the adaptation, which was optioned ahead of the book’s September 2026 publication. (Hollywood Reporter)
Tom Morello AB '86, Grammy-winning guitarist of RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE and AUDIOSLAVE, has created a new original song for FINAL FANTASY XIV’s upcoming Patch 7.4, collaborating with composer Masayoshi Soken. The track marks a major crossover between rock music and gaming and will debut with the update later this year. (Vice)
Dean Norris AB '85, best known for his role on BREAKING BAD, is set to star in the upcoming supernatural horror-comedy DUBBELS, alongside Jessica Garza (THE PURGE), DEADLINE reports. The film, which recently wrapped production in the Catskill Mountains, follows an engineering team confronted with cursed mountain springs and is expected to be completed in spring 2026. (Deadline)
Noah Oppenheim AB '00 and his production company Prologue Entertainment have signed an exclusive first-look deal with THE ATLANTIC to develop film and television projects based on the magazine’s journalism and archival reporting, with RedBird IMI also holding first-look rights for unscripted content, marking a strategic expansion for Prologue into adaptations rooted in real-world stories. (Hollywood Reporter)
Natalie Portman AB '03 has joined UNCAGED INNOVATIONS as a strategic partner and advocate for sustainable luxury, teaming up with the biomaterials company to promote animal-free, grain-based leather alternatives and help accelerate their adoption in fashion and luxury markets, in line with her long-standing commitment to animal welfare and ethical consumerism. (Financial Post)
CHAD POWERS — the sports comedy starring Glen Powell as a washed-up college quarterback reinventing himself — has been renewed for a second season at Hulu, with Powell set to return in the lead role. Executive producer Luvh Rakhe AB '01 is also confirmed to be back on the creative team for Season 2. (The Hollywood Reporter)
Steven Schneider PHD '06 AM '06 is onboard as an executive producer on the newly announced PARANORMAL ACTIVITY film in development at Paramount Pictures, with horror heavyweight James Wan producing alongside Jason Blum’s Blumhouse-Atomic Monster, marking a revival of the iconic found-footage franchise. (Deadline)
Nicholas Stoller AB '98 is developing a scripted CLUE series for Peacock with Dana Fox set to write the project for the streaming platform, expanding the classic board game’s brand into a new serialized narrative. (Deadline)
Exclusive Q&A with Ashely Alker, M.D., M.Sc. '09 (author, physician)
Ashely Alker is a practicing emergency medicine physician and adjunct professor at George Washington Medical School and the author of 99 WAYS TO DIE: AND HOW TO AVOID THEM (St. Martin’s Press; January 2026). Dr. Alker specializes in using media to create accurate public health messaging. She has been featured in USA Today, BBC World, San Diego Union-Tribune, TEDMED, and TEDx San Diego. She serves as the Chief Medical Media Officer of Doctorpedia, a patient education organization, and produced and co-hosted the “COVID Frontlines” public health education webcast. Ashely also contributes to public health education as a medical technical consultant and screenwriting editor for over 20 television shows, including TV and film for Netflix, HULU, HBO, CBS, Disney, and Apple TV.
Purchase a copy of the book here!
Q: What inspired you to write a book about death that’s not only practical but also funny? Was there a specific moment or experience that sparked the idea?
Ever since I was a kid, I have been writing constantly, mostly in journals. When I became involved in medicine, writing became an outlet for me personally but also professionally. I started to capture patient stories as a way to teach people about health. I collected these stories, and they became the beginning of 99 WAYS TO DIE. This writing continued through my career, and eventually, I decided it was something that could go out into the world and make it a better place.
Q: How did you narrow it down to exactly 99 ways to die? Did any particularly absurd or terrifying ones just miss the cut?
Honestly, I wanted 100, but I got cut off.
Q: Were there any stories you found too intense, sad, or ethically tricky to include in the final draft?
Stories about children. This is something no one should have to experience, and they are difficult to relive for healthcare providers. There is a lot of psychological trauma in this job… and sometimes physical trauma, unfortunately.
Q: Your writing balances medical facts with dark humor so deftly! How did you work to strike that tone without making light of more serious or somber situations?
That is really tough, and hopefully I hit the mark. The emergency department often uses dark humor to get through the tough days and nights. It is often how we communicate and lift each other up. For the outside world, it might seem callous and at times crass, but we have jobs that many cannot imagine, and our careers ask unthinkable sacrifices from many of us. All this to say, I definitely toned it down for the book, but I have spent many years communicating through dark humor with friends and colleagues. And this form of empathy is where many of us find the fortitude to continue.
Q: Which of the 99 ways to die is the most preventable? And which one should we as a society be more afraid of than we probably are?
The most preventable are the vaccine-preventable diseases and medical influencers. Don’t buy healthcare from influencers.
Q: Were there any death scenarios that even surprised you while researching them, despite all your ER experience?
Lazarus effect. It also made me really nervous about declaring anyone dead.
Q: What’s a simple tip from the book that everyone should remember—and that might actually save their life?
Don’t give children under one any form of honey. It can cause botulism.
Q: You cover everything from poison to serial killers to natural disasters. Was there one category that was particularly fun or challenging to write?
Serial killers was fun to write, since I had unfortunately met one.
Q: You’ve seen a huge range of catastrophes, from the more boring and commonplace to the rare and extreme. In your experience, do people worry more about the wrong kinds of dangers?
Definitely. The things that kill most of us, we do every day, like driving, eating unhealthy foods, smoking, and drinking alcohol. For instance, I am afraid of flying on planes, and this is statistically the safest way to travel.
Q: Who did you write this book for? People with anxiety? Medical nerds? True crime fans? All of the above? What are you hoping readers take away from this book?
The general public. Medical people may find it fun, but it wasn’t written for them; they already have plenty of medical books. My passion is making health information captivating and accessible for everyone. I hope readers take away a few important lessons, because they can be lifesaving.
Q: How has writing this book (and reflecting on death in almost 100 different ways) changed your own relationship with risk, safety, and, dare I say it, mortality? Or is there nothing in the book that fazes you, considering all you’ve experienced in your medical career?
I have always been an anxious and, therefore, cautious person. I am an emergency medicine doctor who seeks to prevent emergencies. I would love to put myself out of business.
In the moment I appear calm, but death fazes me. It is a rough reality that we all face, and it is part of my life personally and professionally more than anyone would like, but it is something that also needs to be talked about and prepared for.
We live life like we have infinite time because the thought of having any less is disturbing, but it also makes life precious.
An Exclusive Conversation with Scott Belsky of A24 (Virtual) - Waitlist only!
Thursday 01/08
Harvardwood members are invited to a behind-the-scenes conversation with Scott Belsky, Partner at A24. Join us for an intimate, candid discussion about creativity, storytelling, and the bold choices that define A24. Space is limited; this is a private, member-only event. Members, please RSVP to join the waitlist admin@harvardwood.org.
More info HERE
Weekly Freewriting Sessions (Virtual)
Beginning 01/08
Kick off the new year by committing to your creative goals! Join our weekly online sessions to make real progress on your writing. Whether you’re starting a new project or advancing ongoing work, this is your dedicated space to write consistently and build momentum.
One hour, zero distractions, and 100% writing. Perfect for Harvardwood members looking to make steady progress.
Will be held on Thursdays, 8am-9am PT (11am-12pm ET), beginning January 8th.
After RSVPing and membership status is confirmed, participants will receive Zoom to join.
Harvardwood goes to Sundance!
01/24-27
Email admin@harvardwood.org and let us know if you'll be attending Sundance! We're hoping to organize a gathering between Jan 24-27.
Last Month at Harvardwood
Last Month at Harvardwood, we had a Holiday Party, met up with the Actors Collective, and more!
Want to submit your success(es) to Harvardwood HIGHLIGHTS? Do so by posting here!
Become a Harvardwood member! We work hard to create programming that you, the membership, would like to be engaged with. Please consider joining Harvardwood and becoming an active member of our arts, media, and entertainment community!
DISCLAIMER
Harvardwood does not represent or endorse the accuracy or reliability of any of the information, content or advertisements (collectively "Materials") contained on, distributed through, or linked, downloaded or accessed from any of the services contained in this e-mail. You hereby acknowledge that any reliance upon any Materials shall be at your sole risk. The materials are provided by Harvardwood on an "AS IS" basis, and Harvardwood expressly disclaims any and all warranties, express or implied.
The game lets you craft your own story based on your choices, making each franchise into its own unique tale.
Retro Bowl
In fnaf free, losing focus can be just as dangerous as making the wrong move. The night guard must stay alert through long hours of tension and silence. Survival depends on patience, awareness, and the ability to stay calm under pressure.
Higher difficulty modes stress mental and physical stamina and require almost flawless execution. As players try to raise their scores, complete combinations, or master particularly fnf challenging tracks, this depth adds value to the game over time.
Sprunki Retake stands out with its charming design and smooth gameplay. Whether you play for a few minutes or longer sessions, it’s always easy to jump in and have fun.