Harvardwood Presents: An Exclusive Evening at THE ENGAGEMENT PARTY West Coast Premiere and Meet Playwright Sam Baum ’98!
When: Wednesday, October 18th at 8pm PT
Where: The Geffen Playhouse
10886 Le Conte Avenue
Los Angeles, California 90024
Join us for an evening at the theater. We'll be attending The Engagement Party, written by Harvard College alum Samuel Baum AB '98.
Samuel Baum is a playwright, screenwriter, and producer. He is thrilled to be collaborating with Geffen Playhouse on the West Coast premiere of his play, The Engagement Party, directed by Tony Award winner Darko Tresnjak. The play was originally produced at Hartford Stage, where it received four Critics Circle Awards, an Edgerton Foundation New Play Award, and grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Laurents/Hatcher Foundation. As a screenwriter, Baum was nominated for a WGA Award for the Emmy–nominated HBO Film The Wizard of Lies, starring Robert DeNiro. Previously, Baum created and executive produced the Fox television drama Lie to Me, which ran for three seasons. He also co-created and executive produced the ABC series The Evidence, as well as television pilots for Amazon, Netflix, Showtime, and CBS. He is currently an executive producer of the NBC series The Irrational, inspired by the work of behavioral psychologist Dan Ariely. Originally from New York, Baum is a graduate of Harvard College.
The show will run 80 minutes with no intermission. Post show, The Geffen is hosting a talkback with the creative team of the show. After this full-audience talkback, Harvardwood members will join writer Sam Baum for an exclusive meet and greet.
Play synopsis:
The champagne is on ice, the hors d'oeuvres are perfectly arranged, and the table is exquisitely set. At a swank Park Avenue apartment, a young couple is celebrating their engagement with an intimate gathering of family and friends. When a glass of wine is spilled, the night takes an unexpected turn, unleashing a spiraling sequence of events and revelations that will irrevocably change their lives.
Directed by Tony Award winner Darko Tresnjak (A Gentlemen's Guide to Love and Murder, Anastasia), The Engagement Party’s original production at Hartford Stage in 2019 was heralded as a "masterful piece of playwriting” and a “theatrical experience worth its 85 minutes in gold."
Tickets:
Member Price: $65
Non-Member Price: $75
Register for this event at the link below. Harvardwood members, friends, and non-members are ALL welcome, but every attendee must register for themselves individually. So if you're inviting others to join you for this panel, please forward them the link to this page so they can sign themselves up. Thank you!
Members, Register Here
Purchase ticket $65 Members
If you can't access the RSVP button for dues-paying Harvardwood members, make
sure you're logged in. If you still have issues accessing the page, your membership
has lapsed, so renew your dues as a Full Member or Friend of Harvardwood.
Harvardwood Presents: In-Person 101 Info Session
Harvard Campus, Mignone Center for Career Success
Harvardwood invites current students to come learn more about Harvardwood and the annual Harvardwood 101 career exploration program, which takes place during the January term and offers a one-week “boot camp” portion (which will be in-person again for 2024) as well as optional 1-2 week “J-termships” (virtual and/or in-person opportunities).
Hope to see you there!
Harvardwood x Penntertainment Co-Present: Penntertainment x Harvardwood Fall Mixer
1400 N. Cahuenga Blvd (Godfrey Hotel)
Join us for the first Penntertainment x Harvardwood mixer since before times! Co-hosted by Harvardwood, Penntertainment, HCSC, HBSASC, PCLA and Wharton So Cal, this event is for all creatives and producers in the TV/Film/Music/Content/Tech worlds from both schools to find opportunities to meet and collaborate at a friendly, low key happy hour at the rooftop bar at the Godfrey Hotel in Hollywood.

Harvardwood Presents: Independent Film Distribution
Thursday, October 5th 5 pm PT / 8 pm ET (virtual)

Gene Pao (HBS '97) is currently EVP, Strategy and Digital at Shout! Studios, an independent film and TV distributor, where he oversees overall company strategy, production, marketing, distribution, and digital operations. Over the past several years, Shout has expanded its business to indie film distribution--having released a number new films this year including LINOLEUM (Jim Gaffigan), THE MAGIC FLUTE (F. Murray Abraham), WHAT'S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT? (Shazad Latif, Lily James, Emma Thompson), and hitting theaters on 9/29, THE KILL ROOM (Uma Thurman, Samuel L. Jackson, Joe Manganiello). Prior to Shout, Gene spent 12 years at Disney, Fox, and NBCU in cable distribution, digital media, and live sports broadcasting/livestreaming. In 2022, Gene was named one of the Top 40 Most Important People In Streaming by Media Play News.
Register for this event at the link below. Harvardwood members, friends, and non-members are ALL welcome, but every attendee must register for themselves individually. So if you're inviting others to join you for this panel, please forward them the link to this page so they can sign themselves up. Thank you!
Members, Register Here
Purchase ticket $5.50 Members
If you can't access the RSVP button for dues-paying Harvardwood members, make
sure you're logged in. If you still have issues accessing the page, your membership
has lapsed, so renew your dues as a Full Member or Friend of Harvardwood.
Harvardwood Presents: Creating Free Time with Alex Soojung-Kim Pang
Tuesday, November 14th 5:30 pm PT / 8:30 pm ET (virtual)
Join Harvardwood for a conversation with author and program director of 4 Day Week Global, Alex Soojung-Kim Pang!

Alex Soojung-Kim Pang is program director at 4 Day Week Global, a nonprofit advocating for the 4-day workweek. His trilogy of books— SHORTER: Work Better, Smarter and Less— Here’s How (Public Affairs, 2020); REST: Why You Get More Done When You Work Less (Basic Books, 2016), and THE DISTRACTION ADDICTION (Little Brown, 2013)— shows how companies and individuals can better integrate rest, creativity, and focus into digital-age lives and work. Alex has been a consultant at Institute for the Future and Strategic Business Insights, and a visiting scholar at Microsoft Research Cambridge, Oxford University, Stanford University, and UC Berkeley. Alex received a Ph.D. in history and sociology of science from the University of Pennsylvania.
Harvardwood Presents: TV for Young Audiences
Join Harvardwood for a conversation about television for young audiences with Kari Kim, Sean Presant AB '93, Loni Steele Sosthand AB '97, Tone Thyne, and Maiya Williams Verrone AB '84.

Kari Kim serves as Vice President, Animation Development for Nickelodeon, based in Nickelodeon’s Burbank, Calif. headquarters. Kim is responsible for all aspects of original series and shorts development from concept to pilot, including all creative and production.
Prior to Nickelodeon, Kim was a development executive at King Features Syndicate, Inc., where she developed and produced content for many of the company’s properties, including CUPHEAD, POPEYE AND FLASH GORDON. Kim also worked as a development executive at pocket.watch, Vice President of Program Development at HLN, and was a founding member of the venture capital-funded production company, Worldwide Biggies. She has also held roles and produced content at Nickelodeon, Spike TV and SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE.
Kim resides in Los Angeles with her family, but in her heart she’ll always be a Midwest kid from the suburbs of Detroit.
Sean Presant is an Emmy nominated and NAACP Image Award winning writer, producer, director, and showrunner whose work has taken him repeatedly around the globe, writing about everything from European Nazi occupations to penguin inventory in Antarctica. His first film, SUBURBAN MONOGAMY, won the Art Institute of Chicago's award for Best Independent Film Comedy, played Cannes, South by Southwest, and Deauville, and sold to Canal Plus. Writing and producing credits since include ALMOST PARADISE, INSTANT MOM (TVLand), WIPEOUT (ABC), HAPPILY DIVORCED (TVLand), THE WAYNE BRADY SHOW (ABC), PLANET SHEEN (Nickelodeon), TAB TIME (YouTube Kids) and the Dean Devlin sci-fi film THE DEAL.
A firm believer that stories can change the world, Sean runs the Save Santa’s Home movement, which introduces kids to the issues of climate change and environmental activism.Loni Steele Sosthand is currently a Co-Producer going into her third season on THE SIMPSONS. Prior to that, she was partnered with Jim Hope as Consulting Producers on Nickelodeon's COUSINS FOR LIFE. Loni has written for various multi-cam family comedies including LAB RATS, DOG WITH A BLOG and BEST FRIENDS WHENEVER. Loni also co-created, co-wrote, and co-produced KATRINA, a half-hour dramedy pilot for The-N (Teen Nick), executive produced by Warrington Hudlin. Loni is a graduate of Harvard University where she wrote a novel for her honors thesis. In addition to her writing life, Loni lives in Santa Clarita with her husband, a Stunt Coordinator/Stuntman, her ten-year-old triplets, two dogs, and one very abused minivan.


Register for this event at the link below. Harvardwood members, friends, and non-members are ALL welcome, but every attendee must register for themselves individually. So if you're inviting others to join you for this panel, please forward them the link to this page so they can sign themselves up. Thank you!
Members, Register Here
Purchase ticket $5.50 Members
If you can't access the RSVP button for dues-paying Harvardwood members, make
sure you're logged in. If you still have issues accessing the page, your membership
has lapsed, so renew your dues as a Full Member or Friend of Harvardwood.
Upcoming Events
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See all eventsVolunteer with Harvardwood to Help LA’s Homeless!
Harvardwood will be partnering with an LA homeless organization to organize a donation drive in the New Year to help LA's homeless population.
People experiencing homelessness are being hit hard by COVID and winter weather, so we're looking for volunteers who'd like to give back to the community.
We will be holding intro meetings on both Wednesday, January 13 at 7pm PST and Sunday, January 17 at 3pm PST —you only need to attend one. More details to come shortly.
Please email Ryan at [email protected] if you're interested in volunteering, or if you have any questions in the meantime!
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