Writers' Biographies
ANDREW BIENEN is the co-writer of the Academy Award winning movie, BOYS DON’T CRY. He teaches screenwriting at the Columbia University Graduate Film Division and he has also taught at La Femis (Paris), the New School, and the University of Virginia. He has an M.F.A. in Screenwriting from Columbia where his thesis screenplay "Wankers" won the award for Best Student Screenplay in 1996. He has written screenplays for New Line Cinema and Dreamworks, and has served as a story consultant at Miramax Films. He is currently at work on a fictional screenplay set on the night of John Lennon's death. He lives in New York City.
PAULA BRANCATO is an award-winning filmmaker, published poet and produced playwright, Brancato executive produced the feature film SOMEWHERE IN THE CITY, starring Sandra Bernhard and Bai Ling which won the Karlovy Vary Film Festival. Brancato has also written 11 screenplays, including 5 works for hire and or option. Her film based on HER FATHER’S DAUGHTER won the Houston International Remi Award and Women of Color Film Festivals. The feature film script won the People’s Pilot TV award and was a finalist at SUNDANCE. She has most recently published excerpts from her first novel, NEVER IRON NAKED, her second book of poems, THE WORLD OF THE MARRIED WOMAN. Brancato earned her M.B.A. at Harvard Business School, where she was a Godfrey-Cabot fellow. A graduate of Hunter College and the Los Angeles Film School, she serves as full-time faculty for screenwriting, poetry and The Business of the Business at the University of Southern California.
JONATHAN BRANDEIS has, to date, been a creator, executive producer, consultant, producer, writer, director, editor and on-camera personality for syndicated, basic cable, network and premium cable television series, documentaries, specials, short features and marketing campaigns. His perspective ranges from the comic-satiric to the objective and covers an eclectic range of subjects, such as the struggle to be an artist in the Middle East, the nature of fame, the culture wars of the late 70’s, the joy and horror of romance and a look inside the IRA, to name a few.
KENNETH FRIEDMAN, born in New York, is a graduate of the NYU School of Film. As a student he wrote and directed SHOWDOWN, winner of the National Student Film Festival. Professor Friedman has written numerous feature films, including WHITE LINE FEVER (Jan Michael Vincent, Kay Lenz), HEART LIKE A WHEEL (Bonnie Bedelia, Beau Bridges), JOHNNY HANDSOME (Mickey Rourke, Ellen Barkin, Forrest Whitaker and Morgan Freeman) and CADILLAC MAN (Robin Williams, Tim Robbins). Professor Friedman often works as a rewriter, including the films THE FUGITIVE, UNLAWFUL ENTRY, BAD GIRLS, THE GETAWAY and most recently THE BANK JOB with Roger Donaldson. In television, he wrote and was Co-executive Producer of the six hour limited series, THE GRID (Julianna Margulies, Dylan McDermott). Professor Friedman also directed and wrote the feature MADE IN USA (Chris Penn, Lori Singer, Adrian Pasdar), which premiered at the Director’s Fortnight at Cannes and was featured at many film festivals including Sundance and Munich. He is currently a Professor of Screenwriting at the Tisch School of the Arts, Graduate Film at NYU.
BETTE GORDON is a director and independent filmmaker whose film, LUMINOUS MOTION opened to rave reviews in 2000. Her film, VARIETY was invited to the Cannes Film Festival’s prestigious Director’s Fortnight as well as to festivals all over the world. She has worked as a director in Television for such networks as Oxygen, Showtime, HBO and NBC. Presently Gordon is a Professor of Film at Columbia University’s graduate film division in New York City and has been Acting Chair of the Film program. Currently Gordon is set to direct her new feature, HANDSOME HARRY with a cast including Alfred Molina, Campbell Scott, Jamey Sheridan, Timothy Hutton and Titus Welliver.
MICHAEL HAUGE is one of Hollywood’s most respected script and story consultants, and is the best selling author of Writing Screenplays That Sell and Selling Your Story in 60 Seconds: The Guaranteed Way to Get Your Screenplay or Novel Read. He has coached writers, producers, stars and directors on projects for Will Smith, Julia Roberts, Jennifer Lopez, Kirsten Dunst, Charlize Theron and Morgan Freeman, as well as for every major studio and network. He can be reached through his website at www.ScreenplayMastery.com.
KARL IGLESIAS is a screenwriter and sought-after script doctor and consultant, specializing in the reader’s emotional response to the written page. He is the best-selling author of Writing For Emotional Impact and The 101 Habits of Highly Successful Screenwriters. He teaches at UCLA Extension’s Writer’s Program, online at Writers University, and has presented acclaimed workshops at the Screenwriting Expo, The Great American Pitchfest, Sherwood Oaks College, and various conferences around the world. Karl is also a regular columnist on the craft for Creative Screenwriting Magazine. He can be reached through his website at www.karliglesias.com.
CHRISTINA LAZARIDI was nominated for an Academy Award® for her screenplay of ONE DAY CROSSING. The film premiered at the Museum of Modern Art as part of the New Directors, New Films series. Christina currently teaches screenwriting at Columbia University’s Graduate Film Division and works as a screenwriter and consultant. Recent projects include the screenplays for WHEN THE BOUGH BREAKS with Lisa Albright, two adaptations for Argonauts Productions and producer Panos Papahatzis, slated for production in 2008, and the adaptation of Elias Kulukundis’ memoir “My Taste of Illusion” (represented by Harbottle and Lewis Ltd, London).
KENNETH LONERGAN has been represented in New York by LOBBY HERO (Playwrights Horizons, John Houseman Theatre, Drama Desk Best Play Nominee, Outer Critics Circle Best Play and John Gassner Playwrighting Nominee, included in the 2000-2001 Best Plays Annual), THE WAVERLY GALLERY (Williamstown Theatre Festival, Promenade; 2001 Pulitzer Prize Runner-UP), and THIS IS OUR YOUTH (Drama Desk Best Play Nominee). LOBBY HERO (Olivier Award Nominee for Best Play) and THIS IS OUT YOUTH have also received productions on London’s West End. He co-wrote the film GANGS OF NEW YORK which garnered a WGA and Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay. His film YOU CAN COUNT ON ME, which he wrote and directed, was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Screenplay, won the Sundance 2000 Grand Jury Prize and The Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award, the NY Film Critics Circle, LA Films Critics Circle, Writers Guild of America and National Board of Review Awards for Best Screenplay of 2001, the AFI Awards for Best Film and Best New Writer, as well as the Sutherland Trophy at the London Film Festival. He is currently in post-production on his film MARGARET, which he wrote and directed. He is a member of Naked Angels. He is married to actress J. Smith-Cameron.
STEPHEN MOLTON is an artist with thirty years experience as an author, screenwriter, painter, professor and film executive. Harper/Collins published his first novel, Brave Talk in 1987. Since then, he has written screenplays and mini-series for Paramount Television, Showtime Networks, Inc., and New Line Cinema; co-directed and produced a documentary, L.A. HOMEFRONT: The Fires Within for Showtime and the Sundance Channel; supervised the creative development and production of some twenty television movies and mini-series for cable television; and created a documentary co-production enterprise between New York Times Television and Viacom Productions. He is the co-author, with Gus Russo, of the forthcoming book, BROTHERS IN ARMS: The Kennedys, the Castros, and the Politics of Murder for Bloomsbury USA, to be published in November 2008. Since 2007, Molton has served as an adjunct professor of screenwriting at Columbia University.
FRANK PUGLIESE teaches playwriting and screenwriting at Columbia University and at the New School. He is on the nominating committee for the Cherry Lane Mentor Project. He was the former Artistic Director and is a current member of Naked Angels. He is also a member of The Drama Dept., and The Writer’s Group. Partial list of credits: For the stage: Off-B’way: AVEN’U BOYS (The Houseman, Obie Award); HOPE IS THE THING WITH FEATHERS (The Drama Dept); THE KING OF CONNECTICUT, THE TALK, THE ALARM, THE DEMOCRACY PROJECT (all with Naked Angels); KAOS (New York Stage and Film.) Regional: THE CRAZY GIRL (NY Stage and Film, Gloucester Stage). Film: BORN TO RUN (Fox); UNDEFEATED (Hart-Sharp, HBO); SHOT IN THE HEART (directed by Agineszka Holland, produced by Barry Levinson and Tom Fontana). Television: Night of the Living Dead, “Homicide” (WGA Award); Love and Blood, “Fallen Angels” (Cable Ace Nomination), “Street-time,” “The Beat,” and “Law and Order.”
MALIA SCOTCH MARMO's credited screenplays are ONCE AROUND (directed by Lasse Hallstrom), HOOK(directed by Steven Speilberg) and MADELINE. Scotch Marmo has written on many other projects including Jurassic Park, Gilbert Grape, Only You, Other Sister, Polar Express and Enchanted. Once a year she teaches a screenwriting course at Columbia University's Film School and is often an advisor at the Sundance Screenwriter's Lab in Utah.
LINDA SEGER created and defined the job of script consultant when she began her business in 1981. Since then she has consulted on over 2000 scripts, including over 40 produced feature films and about 35 produced television projects. Dr. Seger is an internationally known speaker in the area of screenwriting, having taught and lectured in over 30 countries on 6 continents. She presented the first professional screenwriting seminar in both Moscow and Bulgaria. As the author of ten books, Seger has appeared in more than 60 radio and television shows. www.LindaSeger.com
RENEE SHAFRANSKY is a psychotherapist, writer and award-winning independent film producer with more than 20 years experience in the film and television industries. She has written screenplays for Columbia, Tri-Star, Universal, and Disney as well as teleplays for HBO and PBS.