Massy Tadjedin '99 (Writer & Director, LAST NIGHT)

By Cristina Slattery '97

"I've always wanted to make movies," Massy Tadjedin '99, the screenwriter and director of LAST NIGHT, a movie about relationships starring Keira Knightley, Sam Worthington and Eva Mendes, says brightly -- the rhythm and cadence of her speech sounding very all-American "Valley Girl." And, as she did grow up in Southern California, this isn't surprising. "Directing is what I have always wanted to do," she states authoratatively, like the daughter of a Hollywood mogul. Yet, although she grew up near Hollywood (in Yorba Linda, Orange County), Tadjedin, is the daughter of Iranian immigrants who brought her to America after the revolution in her country of origin. She thinks that this "outsider" status that she experienced growing up gave her the perspective of an observer early in life. This distinct perspective, along with the hours she spent watching the films of John Wayne, John Ford, Don Siegel, Coppola, Scorcese and John Huston with her dad, helped her to fall in love with film as a medium for storytelling.

Franklin Leonard '00 (Founder of The Black List)

By Cristina Slattery '97

What is a self-described "wild card with dreadlocks" who wrote his Social Studies thesis on slam poetry and its relation to liberal democratic theory doing in Hollywood? The answer is that Franklin Leonard '00 is on a quest to find and produce great scripts. Leonard is known primarily for "The Black List," which was first officially released in 2005 (http://blcklst.com), but which began as an email that he sent to his friends and fellow young executives in Hollywood in 2004 when he was searching for unproduced gems. The name of this list, which evokes images of "blackness" (Franklin is African-American) and, of course, the Black List of the McCarthy era, has branded Leonard "as an executive who cares about great writing," he explains.

Andrew Bujalski '99 (Writer & Director, FUNNY HA HA, MUTUAL APPRECIATION, BEESWAX)

By Cristina Slattery '97

Filmmaker Andrew Bujalski '99 states that the "desire for a controlled existence” is a theme that runs through his work. This writer/director of independent films, FUNNY HA HA, MUTUAL APPRECIATION, and BEESWAX, currently lives in Austin, Texas, with his wife, novelist Karen Olsen, and their five-month old son. The journey that has taken him from Harvard to Austin is one that started in a supportive family in Boston. Unlike many artists who use their anger against family members to propel their creativity, Andrew states that this is a "well from which he has never been able to draw.” He adds that his "family has been supportive…without fail” and says that he is sure that this is the basis for any confidence he has, clarifying that he will take full credit for any and all of his insecurities.

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.

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.

Danny O. Snow '78 (Publisher)

By Cristina Slattery '97

Danny O. Snow ’78 is a man who looks to the future as much as the past. He is passionate about giving previously unpublished books a chance as well as resurrecting those out-of-print books that are no longer commercially viable but that have immeasurable value to those seeking them. His revolutionary spirit has cooled since the 1990s when he set out to transform the publishing industry by eradicating the overprinting of books and other wasteful practices through the implementation of “Print on Demand” method of publishing.