Harvardwood HIGHLIGHTS - May 2026
- 19 hours ago
- 16 min read
In this issue:
MESSAGE FROM HARVARDWOOD
NEWS
Harvardwood Summer Internship Program (HSIP) 2026
Seeking Homestay Hosts for HSIP 2026
Harvard Elections
Featured Job: Motion Picture Marketing Assistant
FEATURES
Harvardwood Profile: David Frankel AB ’81 (director)
Industry News
Exclusive Q&A with Kelly Yang '04 (author)
CALENDAR & NOTES
Making of THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA 2 with Director David Frankel AB '81 (Virtual)
Weekly Freewriting Sessions (Virtual)
Last Month at Harvardwood
Want to submit your success(es) to Harvardwood HIGHLIGHTS? Do so by posting here!
It's May! Let's get into it.
Do not forget to apply for Harvardwood Summer Internship Program, or host an intern! If you can manage both more power to ya...
Come chat THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA 2 with Director David Frankel! $233.6M worldwide opening weekend, and we're gonna try to beat that with this event.
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 Summer Internship Program (HSIP) 2026
Now in its 23rd year, the Harvardwood Summer Internship Program (HSIP) provides a list of summer internship opportunities in the arts, media, and entertainment to interested Harvard students. In addition, HSIP facilitates career-related activities throughout the summer for participating students and companies virtually and/or in-person in LA, NY, and other cities with multiple students. Past program events have included film screenings, industry panels, and networking pool parties.
Internship opportunities are released and applications are accepted on a rolling basis. Positions may be filled on a first-come, first-served basis, so we encourage students and companies to submit their materials as early as possible.
For more information, visit the HSIP page.
Seeking Homestay Hosts for HSIP 2026
Every year, our Harvardwood Summer Internship Program (HSIP) offers a few dozen Harvard College students the opportunity to pursue summer internships in the arts, media, and entertainment sectors. HSIP facilitates career-related activities throughout the summer for participating students and companies both virtually and in-person in Los Angeles and other cities with multiple students.
We are currently looking for homestay hosts for part or all of Summer 2026 in LA, NYC, and other large cities to help defray the cost of living for students, many of whom could not otherwise afford to participate in low-paying arts/entertainment internships. 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 fill out this form if you're able to host. Thank you!
Harvard Elections
Harvard Elections are now underway, with paper ballots in mailboxes and online voting open through May 19th. Harvard alums are eligible to vote in the elections for both the Board of Overseers and Harvard Alumni Association (HAA) Elected Director, and we encourage you to inform yourself about these roles and the candidates who have been nominated. As an organization focused on promoting the arts, media and entertainment, we are eager to support individuals who align with that mission.
Mia Alpert AB '99, Harvardwood Co-Founder, has been nominated for HAA Elected Director. As many of you know, Mia has played a crucial role in founding Harvardwood as a 501c3 nonprofit (and HAA SIG) as well as in creating and facilitating its many programs, events, resources, fellowships and publications. Under Mia’s volunteer leadership, and with support from all of you as program participants, guest speakers, mentors, donors, volunteers and more, over the last quarter-century Harvardwood has grown into a truly global organization that includes thousands of community members around the world.
You can read Mia’s candidate statement here.
We also want to note the following nominees, who are fellow Harvardwood members:
Clive Chang MBA ’11 for Overseer (be sure to check out Clive's profile below)
Allison Charney Epstein AB ‘89 for HAA Elected Director
Jimmy Biblarz AB ’14, JD ’21, PhD ‘23 for HAA Elected Director
The deadline to vote is May 19th at 5pm ET. Happy voting!
Featured Job: Motion Picture Marketing Assistant
Job Description:
We are looking for an Assistant to join our Motion Picture Marketing group in Los Angeles. The Assistant will provide support to the Head of Motion Picture Marketing. Motion Picture Marketing works in consultation with studios to offer strategic support for the launch and promotion of motion pictures. The ideal candidate will have a passion for marketing and film and is continually learning about the industry. They will be agile and able to juggle scheduling and calls on a high-volume desk, successfully communicate with industry executives, plan screening events, and pull data to track box office performance. Growth opportunities exist for top performers.
Alumni Profile: David Frankel AB ’81 (director)
by Laura Frustaci AB '21
Join us for an event with David!
David Frankel is the director of THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA 2, which will be released by Disney in May. His previous work as a director includes THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA, MARLEY & ME, THE BIG YEAR, COLLATERAL BEAUTY, JERRY AND MARGE GO LARGE, ONE CHANCE, MIAMI RHAPSODY, and HOPE STREEPS. He won an Academy Award for Best Short for his film, DEAR DIARY, and an Emmy for his direction of HBO’s BAND OF BROTHERS. His other work for HBO includes the pilot for ENTOURAGE, several episodes of SEX AND THE CITY, and FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON. His other television work includes episodes of THE MORNING SHOW for AppleTV+; the pilots for MANIFEST (on NBC & Netflix), THE BAKER AND THE BEAUTY (on ABC) and THE IRRATIONAL (on NBC); and the Netflix pilot for INVENTING ANNA, starring Julia Garner. He lives in Miami with his wife, Jennifer Beber.
David Frankel AB ’81 got his first Hollywood job at the end of his junior year summer, a rare and incredibly lucky occurrence. “A Harvard alum named Michael Garin came to the Harvard Crimson, and he was looking to hire interns.” David recalls. “We met for half an hour, and he offered me the job.” The day after graduation, David went to work at the then-growing company Telepictures. While there, David remembers learning about business, television distribution, production, and editing. He cites this as a very important experience developmentally. “I probably didn't realize it at the time, but that was the best training to one day be a director–to understand how the pieces of film work together to create narrative, or story, or entertainment.”
David spent his nights and weekends writing screenplays. After four years at Telepictures, David got what he calls “another lucky break.” Director/producer/writer Norman Steinberg of BLAZING SADDLES fame read one of his scripts. “He hired me to create a TV series with him for an actress named Ellen Burstyn. So, we created a sitcom called THE ELLEN BURSTYN SHOW, inventively enough,” David laughs, “and that launched me into a career in television.” After co-creating two other shows with Steinberg, David created his own series called GRAPEVINE. He then wrote the film MIAMI RHAPSODY, which got made by Disney.
After that film, David took a break to travel the world, which inspired him to create the show DEAR DIARY, made as a half-hour at ABC. “But it was a little too unusual for network TV at the time,” David explains. “So, instead, we submitted it for Oscar consideration, and ultimately, I won an Academy Award for Best Short Film.” That caught Tom Hanks’ attention, and David spent the next few years working mainly with HBO. “I directed BAND OF BROTHERS, SEX AND THE CITY, and that led to directing the pilot for ENTOURAGE,” David recounts. “That pilot gave me enough street cred to be considered to direct THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA.”
Twenty years later, THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA 2 has just been released in theaters. David says that until very recently, he and writer Aline Brosh McKenna AB ’89 had actively discouraged a sequel, but after seeing Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, and Emily Blunt reunite at the 30th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards in 2024 to present an award, David and Aline started thinking about what a sequel would look like. All three actresses had previously mentioned they were interested in participating if a sequel were to happen, and everything fell into place from there. “Aline wrote a great script right off the bat,” David states, noting that Disney Live Action Studios President David Greenbaum said it best: “He said, ‘I would make this movie whether it was a sequel or not.’” A pretty strong endorsement!
Getting the original actors on board was easy; the production team was willing to work around scheduling challenges to ensure that everyone could be involved. “They all just connected so well. The friendships that were formed… Annie and Emily, just because of their experience on the first movie, are always… linked by that experience. They were 22 when we made the first movie. And Meryl's been pursued by the ghost of Miranda Priestly… I don't think she ever imagined that in her long, illustrious career, this would become maybe one of her most iconic characters,” David smiles. “Aline’s script really gave everybody the platform to [explore these characters], and it also created these great new characters, and that was really fun, to cast a younger generation of employees at Runway.”
Though the fashion hasn’t changed much since the first film was made, because the goal is always timelessness, what has changed is the film industry itself. Specifically, David calls out the distribution process. The original THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA ran in theaters for six months before anyone even contemplated sending it to home video. “Now, that doesn't happen,” David laments. “If you're lucky, and you've had an incredibly successful run, you're going to be in theaters for six or seven weeks. So, that's really different, where you have to just burst onto the scene.” It becomes more challenging for projects to get greenlit when studios are thinking about their bottom line. “There was this period in Hollywood where if you made a movie for a reasonable price, you could not lose money,” David explains. “That emboldened [studios] to make all kinds of movies. Because if you could make it for a reasonable budget and market it reasonably well, you at least would break even, because the home video sales would fill in the gaps of any losses at the box office… There was this real freedom.” What has particularly dampened that, David says, is streaming. Streaming has made it far harder to get audiences in theaters, because they can just wait a few weeks and watch the movie at home when it goes to streaming. Says David of THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA 2, “I like to think we made something that's worth leaving the house for.”
Having worked both as a writer and a director, David says the reason he favors directing more these days is that, “Writing for me is very lonely and very hard. And directing is also very hard, but not lonely at all. You're attending a party every day when you're on the set, and you're in this wonderful creative cocoon… I really enjoy the experience, and I really have a great respect for the writers that I've worked with, and it's fun to sort of find a shared vision and bring that to life.” He also muses, “Writers are just so vulnerable, and I felt like if I can avoid that, I'm going to try. I've worked very closely with the writers of the movies that I've made. But they've done all the heavy lifting, and I'm really in awe of the work they do. It’s just really fun to collaborate.”
In terms of the differences between directing film and TV, David says the primary difference is how much time you have for each project. “The budget and the schedule are usually the biggest differences… Some of the most creative work in filmmaking is done for television, as much as it is for film. [Modern shows] are as cinematic and powerful as almost anything in features, and now all the creative people go back and forth, and it's so fluid… [But] at the end of the day, you're taking the words on a page and trying to get the best performance you can from the actors. The work is the same.”
When asked what advice has stayed with him throughout his career, David's answer was fairly straightforward: “It starts with drive, it starts with hard work, and then you have to get lucky. It's all those things combined, but it only happens if you go home and write,” David says. This is based on advice he once got from a coffee chat with Robert Evans, producer and former head of Paramount Pictures, responsible for THE GODFATHER and LOVE STORY. “He was a legendary movie executive and producer,” David recalls. “I went into this giant office, and he had a big desk set on a platform… And it was dark, and he was wearing sunglasses.” He asked what David wanted to do. David responded that he was hoping to work as a gofer on a movie. Mr. Evans responded with, “What do you really want to do?” To that, David responded that he wanted to be a writer. And Mr. Evans told him to just go home and write. There wasn’t anything to learn getting coffee for people. “That's the best advice, and it's still the only advice, I think, that makes any sense,” David says. You have to do the work.
Looking ahead, David jokes that he’s out of work for now. “I have no plans, and I'm looking forward to reading stuff that might be sent my way,” he grins. “That's part of the excitement of being unemployed: not knowing which way the wind is going to blow you next, which world I'm going to get to dive into next. And I'm very often surprised… projects come along, and the right people are involved, and there's enthusiasm, and it's a chance to either work with people I admire, or work on a story that feels quite personal to me. I try to invest as much of myself in the work as possible.”
Industry News
Matthew Aucoin AB ’12 was appointed as a visiting professor of composition and conducting at Boston University’s College of Fine Arts last fall. Aucoin—whose work has been performed by artists like Yo-Yo Ma AB '76 and whose opera EURYDICE received a Grammy nomination—will mentor students through one-on-one lessons and lead an opera performance workshop. (Daily Free Press)
Marty Bowen AB ’93 is executive producing the upcoming Paramount fantasy film CHILDREN OF BLOOD AND BONE. An adaptation of Tomi Adeyemi’s AB '15 bestselling novel, it features a star-studded cast including Viola Davis, Idris Elba, and Cynthia Erivo, and is set for release in 2027. (ScreenRant)
Marty Bowen AB ’93 produced the SXSW breakout horror film MONITOR. Directed by Matt Black and Ryan Polly, the film follows a group of content moderators haunted by a sinister digital entity after encountering a disturbing video, tapping into contemporary anxieties around online spaces. (Deadline)
Néstor Carbonell AB ’89 has joined the cast of MAYOR OF KINGSTOWN for its fifth and final season on Paramount+. Carbonell will take on a recurring role as Enrique Molina, a powerful figure who arrives in Kingstown seeking vengeance for a missing relative, adding a new layer of tension to the series’ criminal underworld. (Variety)
Han-na Chang AB ’04 has been appointed president of the Seoul Arts Center. Chang—who made her international debut at age 11 after winning the Rostropovich Cello Competition—will begin a three-year term leading one of South Korea’s most prominent cultural institutions, bringing decades of global performance and conducting experience to the role. (Pizzicato)
Cliff Chiang AB ’98 had exclusive artwork released for the upcoming post-apocalyptic sci-fi series IF DESTRUCTION BE OUR LOT. The series imagines a future where humanity has gone extinct, leaving behind only the robots that once served them, and explores themes of legacy, technology, and survival through a striking visual lens. (ScreenRant)
Clive Davis JD ’56 will sit for a one-on-one conversation with his son, Raine Group partner Fred Davis, at the Amplify Music Investment Summit in New York on May 8th. The discussion will explore the evolving music industry as an investment landscape, bringing together perspectives from both a historic industry leader and a leading music investment banker. (Variety)
Reginald Hudlin AB ’83 is directing and producing PHANTOM, a live-action television series based on the classic comic THE PHANTOM. The series, backed by King Features, will reimagine one of the earliest costumed superheroes, known as “The Ghost Who Walks,” for a contemporary audience, marking a major expansion of the long-running global franchise. (Variety)
Colin Jost AB ’04 will star in and executive produce a new Peacock drama series based on the true story of dentist-turned-drug kingpin Larry Lavin. The series marks a significant shift for Jost into dramatic television, as he takes on the role of Lavin—who secretly built a cocaine empire while maintaining the facade of a suburban professional. (Deadline)
Tommy Lee Jones AB ’69 will star alongside Ice Cube in the upcoming film OUTSIDE MAN, written and directed by Oscar-winner Brian Helgeland. The film follows a former Chicago mob enforcer seeking a fresh start in rural Texas, where he forms an unlikely bond with a retired Texas Ranger played by Jones—until both men’s pasts threaten to resurface. (Deadline)
Marshall Lewy AB ’96 is an executive producer of Ana Huang’s bestselling GODS OF THE GAME series, set in the English Premier League. Amazon MGM Studios will be developing a three-film adaptation. (Variety)
B. J. Novak AB ’01 will host the 2026 PEN America Literary Gala at the American Museum of Natural History. The event brings together leaders across publishing and the arts to celebrate and defend free expression, with honorees including Ann Patchett and Jason Blum. (AP News)
Marc Resteghini AB ’99 produces YOUNG SHERLOCK, which was renewed for a second season following the success of its debut. Resteghini serves as an executive producer on the Guy Ritchie–developed series, which reimagines Sherlock Holmes as a young detective navigating his first major case at Oxford. (Variety)
Bashir Salahuddin BS ’98 will star in the indie dark comedy RUTHIE JOINS A DEATH CULT alongside Nina Concepción and Michael Strassner. Salahuddin will play the enigmatic leader of the cult, in a film that follows a lonely young woman who joins a death cult in search of connection. (Deadline)
Exclusive Q&A with Kelly Yang JD '05 (author)
Kelly Yang JD '05 is the #1 NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author of the FRONT DESK series, NEW FROM HERE, FINALLY SEEN, FINALLY HEARD, young adult novels PARACHUTES and PRIVATE LABEL, and picture books YES WE WILL and LITTLE BIRD LAILA. Her books have earned multiple awards, including the 2019 APALA Award for Children’s Literature and the Strega Prize, and have featured on multiple best of the year lists. FRONT DESK was named one of the Best Books of the 21st Century by Kirkus Reviews. In addition, Kelly has written screenplays and television pilots for Netflix, CBS Studios, and the CW. Kelly immigrated to the United States when she was six years old and grew up in Southern California. She went to college early and is a graduate of UC Berkeley and Harvard Law School. THE TAKE is her first adult novel.
Q: Congratulations on THE TAKE! What inspired the novel, and what do you most hope that readers take away from reading?
Thank you! I’ve wanted to write a novel about aging for some time because I’ve had a very unconventional experience with aging, having gone to college at an early age. I hope readers take away that they are never too young or too old to do what they want to do!
Q: What was the experience like pivoting from children’s literature to YA literature, and now to adult literature with THE TAKE?
It’s been a wild ride! Writing for every age group has its unique set of rewards and challenges! I love that with adult literature I get to write messy, complex characters who make questionable decisions. I’m finding that to be so much fun!
Q: You’ve written a compelling tale about two complex, nuanced female characters. Were there any surprises that you ran into in the writing process as you were getting to know these characters?
Yes! The biggest surprise was how much sympathy I had for Ingrid. I didn’t intend for that to happen. I wrote her as satire, but I found myself at various points really relating to her and having an incredible amount of empathy for what she’s going through and going up against! It’s not easy to be one of the only top female producers in a studio!
Q: How did your time at Harvard Law School and in the professional world prepare you for what you now do as a novelist?
My time at Harvard Law School and in the professional world prepared me in the sense that I know who I am. I know what it is I have to do. Being a novelist is about putting in the work. It’s about showing up, every day, even when it’s hard. Even when the writing’s not working. Even when it’s 4am and you’re exhausted, but you still have to get on that flight to go to the next city on tour. It’s diligence, relentless and dedication. And being kind to people!
Q: What has been your experience with the publishing process? How did you first get your agent? How long does it take to get from a manuscript to a finished copy on shelves?
Like all authors, I’ve had my share of ups and downs in the publishing industry. I’ve been orphaned by editors mid-revision. I once had both my publisher and my editor leave to start a new publishing house! I’ve seen it all! I got my first agent by cold emailing agents. I didn’t know anyone in publishing or agenting, but I just kept trying. As with everything in life, if you try hard enough, you’ll push through. It generally takes two years for a manuscript to hit shelves!
Q: What is your writing process like? Do you outline? Are there any writing rituals you follow?
My writing process is this: I wake up, drop off my kids at school, then my butt’s in my chair. I write as much as I can for the entire morning, then break for lunch. Then I’m back at my desk writing until the first kid comes home from school and demands I become their Uber driver. I do outline and I’m a firm believer in outlining, but I have a podcast with my good friend Kate DiCamillo who does not believe in outlining and we’re always chatting about our very different processes. There is no “right” way to write – do whatever works for you!
Q: Which craft books do you recommend for those looking to write a full-length novel?
SAVE THE CAT and ON WRITING by Stephen King.
Q: How do you deal with writer’s block, if you believe in that? Were there any places in your most recent novel that you got stumped on something?
I don’t believe in writer’s block. I believe in writer’s bored, as in you’ve written the story into a corner and now you’re bored. Sometimes that happens when you’ve overplanned. So then I try to go back to the last part in the story where things were still exciting and fresh to me, and start from there again, and let myself go where the story needs to, even if that means deviating from my plan!
Q: What advice do you have for those who have an idea for a novel but are too intimidated to sit down and write?
Just do it! Don’t worry about what anyone else thinks or says, if you have a story in you – go write it! The world is waiting!
Making of THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA 2 with Director David Frankel AB '81 (Virtual)
Thursday 05/07
Join us for an exclusive conversation with the David Frankel AB ’81, director of THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA and THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA 2, six days after the sequel's release on May 1st.
Harvardwood Freewriting Sessions (Virtual)
Thursdays, Ongoing
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.
Ninety minutes, zero distractions, and 100% writing. Perfect for Harvardwood members looking to make steady progress.
Held weekly on Thursdays, 8am-9:30am PT (11am-12:30pm ET).
Last Month at Harvardwood
Last Month at Harvardwood, we talked HBO Drama Programming with VP Chris Salvaterra AB '90, 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.
If you're new to Block Blast, remember: focus on the flow of the combo, not just the size of the clear. Rhythmic play is winning play!