In this issue:

MESSAGE FROM HARVARDWOOD

NEWS

• Apply Now for the Jeff Sagansky Harvardwood TV Writers Program. Deadline: September 2.
• 2023 Harvardwood Writers Competition - Entry Deadlines
• Harvardwood 101 Information Session - September 22
• Deadline to Apply for the Harvardwood Artist Launch Fellowship - January 9, 2023
  
• Featured Job: Assistant, Media Production (UTA) - CA, NY
  

FEATURES

• Alumni Profile: Andy Borowitz AB ’80 (author & satirist)
  
• Industry News
• New Members' Welcome
• Exclusive Q&A with Georgia Lee AB ’98, MBA '09 (writer, producer, director)
  

CALENDAR & NOTES

• September 6 - A Conversation with Writer/Producer/Director Georgia Lee (AB '98, MBA '09)
  
• September 11 - In-person screening of The Bengali and Q&A with director Kavery Kaul (’73) in New York
• September 16 - Andy Borowitz (AB '80) and Congressman Adam Schiff (JD '85): In-Person Book Event in Santa Monica, CA
• September 20 - Harvardwood DC Co-Presents: A Virtual Interview with Author John Wasowicz (MPA '88)
• September 25 - Harvardwood DC Co-Presents: In-Person Cemetery Tour with Author John Wasowicz (MPA '88) in Washington, D.C.
• September 28 - A Conversation Between Author Jesse Leon (MPP '01) and Ruben Navarrette (AB '90, MPA '00)
  
  

Become a Harvardwood member as we further engage in socially active programming, discourse, and action to help change the entertainment industry.

Want to submit your success(es) to Harvardwood HIGHLIGHTS? Do so by posting here! 

Alumni Profile: Andy Borowitz AB '80 (author & satirist)

Industry News

Warner Bros. Discovery has brought aboard Alan Horn (AB ‘71) as a consultant during its transition period! Among other duties, he’ll assist Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy, who have been tapped by Warner Bros. Discovery chief David Zaslav to run the movie studio. (The Hollywood Reporter).

Hulu and Onyx Collective are moving forward with their adaptation of Zakiya Dalila Harris’ novel The Other Black Girl, which will be co-produced by Marty Bowen (AB ‘91). (The Hollywood Reporter)

Watch an interview with Steve Zahn (AB ’90) about portraying his Emmy-nominated Mark as ‘a totally vulnerable, accessible human being that wore everything on his sleeve’ on The White Lotus. (GoldDerby)

Watch the new trailer for Andor, the upcoming Star Wars Disney+ series that will premiere on September 21! The series stars Diego Luna, Stellan Skarsgård, and Forest Whitaker and is composed by the Emmy-winning Nicholas Britell (AB ‘03). (IndieWire)

Watch an interview with Carlton Cuse (AB ‘81) about his new Apple TV+ limited series Five Days At Memorial, which focuses on a hospital in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. Included in the discussion: how they got a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter on set. (CheatSheet)

Listen to The Deadline Podcast’s interview with B.J. Novak (AB ‘01), which includes discussions on what it will take to revive The Office and making sure Novak’s new movie Vengeance went theatrical. (Deadline)

Kathryn Busby (AB ‘84), President of Original Programming at Starz, is thrilled that the company has taken over development for Book of Marlon! Diallo Riddle (AB ‘97) and Bashir Salahuddin (AB ‘98) will serve as showrunners and executive producers. (Deadline)

Susie Searches, the first feature film from Sophie Kargman (AB '08), will have its World Premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (@tiff_net)! This was a true labor of love for everyone involved and Sophie can’t wait to finally share it with the world. (TIFF)

Matthew Aucoin (AB ‘12) will be making his conducting debut with the Houston Grand Opera this season with Verdi's La Traviata, in a co-production with Lyric Opera of Chicago and Canadian Opera Company. (BroadwayWorld)

Jon Hamm is joining season three of Apple TV+’s The Morning Show! The show is executive produced by Erica Lipez (AB ‘05) and also stars Nestor Carbonell (AB ‘91). (Deadline)

Search to Involve Pilipino Americans (SIPA), one of the longest-running nonprofits serving the Filipino American community, accepted a gift of $75,000 from comedian Jo Koy, filmmaker Dan Lin (AB ‘99), and Universal Pictures, the team behind Easter Sunday! (PR Newswire)

Peacock has ordered a coming-of-age thriller, Hysteria!, that claims to explore America’s dark history of mass hysteria through the shocking story of the teenage Satanic Panic. Jonathan Goldstein (AB ‘95) will executive produce the show. (TBI Vision)

The NY Times calls Complicit, the second novel by Winnie M. Li (AB ‘00), “a harrowing thriller” that provides “painful reminders that it takes a village to prop up a person who abuses power. Fair warning: Li doesn’t sugarcoat her subject, nor should she.” (NY Times) Winnie recently appeared on the PBS talk show ‘Story in the Public Square’ and spoke at the Edinburgh International Book Festival.  Also available to watch is her UK book launch from June, featuring Time’s Up activist Marai Larasi and Rowena Chiu, whose own story involving Harvey Weinstein was uncovered in the New York Times investigation. Complicit can be purchased from any major bookseller.

Kenya Barris will write and direct a remake of The Wizard of Oz for Warner Bros. The film will be a reimagining of the 1939 film and specifically Frank L. Baum’s original book, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Marty Bowen (AB ‘91) will produce. (Yahoo)

The cast of the classic 1997 rendition of Cinderella will reunite to celebrate its 25th anniversary during an ABC special. It will feature interviews with filmmaker Debra Martin Chase (AB ‘81) as well as the cast and crew. (Screenrant)

New Members' Welcome

Harvardwood warmly welcomes all members who joined the organization last month:

• J Cleve Livingston, College, SF/Bay Area
• Lauren Xu, College, BOS/Campus
• Hope Latta, Ext., Toronto
• Alon C Ferency, College, LA
• Andrea Woloski, College, LA
• Emmanouela Mousama, Ext., Greece
• Kendra Hefner, Ext., Winfield, IA
• Julia Dan, College, Canada
• Chrysta Castaneda, College, Dallas, TX
• Ethan Chaves, College, BOS/Campus
• Mikaela Gilbert-Lurie, HLS, LA
• Jolie Huang, FOH, NY
• Susan Walter, College, LA
• Judy Melinek, College, New Zealand
• T.J. Mitchell, College, New Zealand
• Andrew Spielmann, College, BOS/Campus

Exclusive Q&A with Georgia Lee AB ’98, MBA '09 (writer, producer, director)

Georgia Lee is an award-winning writer and filmmaker. She recently created and is showrunning Netflix’s brand new series Partner Track. Georgia is also adapting Ken Liu’s short story The Regular for Justin Lin’s Perfect Storm. Previously Georgia wrote on Amazon’s The Expanse as well as the CW’s The 100.

With fellow creator/showrunners Joe Henderson (Lucifer) and Matt Owens (One Piece), Georgia founded Magic Quill Productions, a writer-forward production company which has a first look deal with Netflix.

Prior to writing and directing, Georgia worked for management consultancy McKinsey & Company. Georgia’s first short film caught the attention of Martin Scorsese, and she became his on-set apprentice on Gangs of New York. Georgia then wrote and directed her first feature Red Doors which won numerous awards on the festival circuit including the Tribeca Film Festival. Red Doors is also currently in re-release on Amazon Channels, Roku, Tubi, and Shout! Factory TV.

Georgia holds a BA in Biochemistry from Harvard University as well as an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Q: Earlier in your career, you primarily directed short films. Your shift to feature length film was a tremendous success with the award-winning Red Doors, produced by Jane Chen ’96 and Mia Riverton ’99, who also costars. It was recently re-released on Amazon Channels, Roku Premium Subscription, Tubi and Shout! Factory. What initially drove you to jump from shorts to features? Which do you prefer, and which do you see yourself doing more of in the future, if either (considering you’ve also directed for TV)?

I’m so excited about Red Doors being re-released on all these amazing platforms and that people get to see our indie passion project again! I love short films, I love features, and I love television. For me, it’s really about the storytelling – each story suggests its own shape and structure. Something like my very first short film The Big Dish was more abstract and functioned more as an allegory and thus only required three minutes to communicate the message. On the other hand, my first feature Red Doors is about a family struggling to communicate and connect and thus was better told in a longer format. I’ve actually never directed TV but would potentially be open to directing on my own show. 

Q: Red Doors won multiple festival awards and critical praise in its original theatrical release and is considered a classic of AAPI cinema. What do you feel is the timeliness of Red Doors being re-released in 2022, 16 years from its original release?  

It’s definitely synchronicity that Red Doors is being re-released at the same time that my first TV show, Partner Track, is premiering since Partner Track feels very much like a spiritual successor to Red Doors. Both stories are intensely personal and deal with very similar themes of family, career, definitions of success, identity, and ultimately what it means to be true to yourself.

Q: In recent years, there has been a rise in AAPI representation in Hollywood, both onscreen and off. How has this affected your own work or your artistic mission, if it has?

It has truly been amazing and galvanizing to witness the rise of AAPI representation in Hollywood. It just makes me feel so happy and excited to see so many AAPI faces in writers rooms, on sets for both cast and crew, and also, very importantly but often overlooked, at studios, networks, agencies, pod cos, and just in the whole infrastructure that works behind the scenes and makes our industry tick. My passion has always been to tell stories that are personal, that help others understand our experience and help us understand ourselves a little better. It’s truly wonderful that it’s a little less challenging to do that now than before.   

Q: The project on which you transitioned from film (as a writer-director) to TV (as a writer/producer/now showrunner) was The Expanse, an epic sci-fi series, and you stayed with that show for several seasons. You’ve also spent a season working on The 100 and have sold several sci-fi projects. Can you talk about your interest in and experience working in the sci-fi genre, particularly as a woman of color in a genre and a canon so dominated by white male creators?

I love science fiction. I think it may be my favorite thing. I just naturally gravitate towards it in all mediums. Perhaps it’s because I love space, star-gazing, astrophysics, etc. Perhaps it’s because science fiction, at its best, is such a powerful vehicle to examine the deepest of questions about the origin of the universe, the nature of time and space, what is consciousness, meaning or lack thereof of in the human condition and other fun thought experiments. And to do so with spaceships, cyborgs, and aliens just makes my little nerd heart so happy. 

The Expanse and The 100 were amazing experiences, not only because I could play in science fiction worlds and with all the fun toys of each show, but also because the writers room of both were incredibly diverse and progressive. Both shows were deeply aware of the inequities of our current world and of the industry. So I got very lucky working with writers on both shows who were excited about making science fiction much more diverse and inclusive. 

Q: What media are you currently consuming? What are your recs for groundbreaking, powerful, or just straight-up delightful films/shows/podcasts/etc.? 

Ah. So many! In science fiction, I devoured the entire Three Body Problem trilogy (much of which was translated by my dear friend and fellow Harvard alum Ken Liu ’98). I also loved Project Hail Mary. I always recommend the brilliant Ted Chiang to everyone. In film, I am rewatching all of Hayao Miyazaki because I recently went to the exhibit at the Academy Museum and was completely enchanted and remembered how much I deeply love all of his work. I LOVED EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE! Michelle Yeoh is a goddess. That film made me fall in love with filmmaking again and the power of what the medium can do when wielded with courage and irreverence. The storytelling kung fu on that film is so strong. For pure delight, I would recommend Yuri on Ice. I am also obsessed with the author Madeline Miller who wrote Circe and The Song of Achilles. I’ve only recently gotten into podcasts and listen to Pod Save America and Asian Boss Girl.  

Q: Your new show, Partner Track, a 10-episode series based on the novel Partner Track by Helen Wan, was released on Netflix on August 26th. What was the process like for creating this show, and what inspired you to develop it?

Partner Track has been such a whirlwind. Netflix had optioned Helen’s book and was looking for a creator/showrunner. When I read the book, I realized how much it reminded me of my own life in New York working for McKinsey & Company just out of college. And at a deeper level, the book captures the context of family, gender, class, and race that subconsciously contribute to why the heroine is so fiercely ambitious to succeed. Deep down, she wants to feel safe in a white, male-dominated world. She thinks that making partner, winning all the shiny signifiers of success in that world will somehow protect her from the ugliness of sexism, racism, etc. Her journey was my journey – she must learn that ultimately, real power comes from being true to yourself. 

Q: Can you talk about your journey from working at McKinsey and Co. to being the renowned director, producer, and showrunner that you are today? What pulled you towards a career in entertainment? How did your time at McKinsey impact your career path? 

My heart has always leaned towards the creative and especially towards visual storytelling. But I am very grateful that I went through McKinsey first. Because I learned so many business and life skills that have been not only useful, but truly critical to creating and running shows. Being a showrunner is like being the CEO of a company with a $50-100 million annual budget. They don’t teach you how to do the business side of showrunning in Hollywood. You learn the storytelling part by coming up through the ranks of a writers room, but I leaned very heavily on my experience at McKinsey and HBS when it came to organization, communication, operations, etc. of running a room, pre-production, production, and post. I taught my assistant how to do Gantt charts so we could properly prioritize, create workplans, etc. At the start of the writers room, we mapped out the entire schedule for breaking episodes, writing outlines, first drafts, second drafts, etc., and we more or less hit all our deadlines. That was all learned from my time at McKinsey. 

Q: How do you feel that your time at Harvard prepared you for what you do now?

Harvard has been so foundational in so many ways. It was the first time I was truly able to explore what my heart was drawn to. Even though I was biochem, I would camp out at the Film Archives and at what was the original Fine Arts Library. And thank god for Core classes, otherwise I would never have been exposed to such life-changing, mind-blowing courses like Michael Sandel’s "Justice" (I still quote from Rawls’ Theory of Justice every other week). And one of my favorite courses with the best title of all time: "Lives Ruined By Literature." I took a course on Chinese cinema that also completely blew my mind. Perhaps most importantly, I met some of my nearest and dearest friends there like Mia Riverton and Jane Chen.  And I suppose this goes without saying, but there is something about learning from and studying next to the best and brightest in the world that does instill some measure of confidence in you. 

Q: You shot your first two films (The Big Dish and Bloom) on 16mm film, one of which was in black and white. Your next short, Educated, was shot on 35mm film. Are there pros and cons to using each of these film gauges? Do you have an artistic preference for shooting with a certain gauge? 

I feel the same way about film gauges the way I do about film lengths. It depends on the story you want to tell. And it of course also depends on practical matters like budget and time constraints. But I guess if and when I film my sci-fi space opera, I would love to shoot anamorphic! 😉 

Q: What do you like to do in your free time?

I am obsessed with ice skating. It feels like flying and dancing all at once. I often wonder if my love of skating is somewhat related to my love of filmmaking. Both are highly technical and require incredible attention to structure. But they are both, at heart, also deeply artistic and about feeling an emotion and telling a story. When I skate, I feel the most free and happy. So in whatever little free time I have, you’ll find me on the ice. 😊

-----

Georgia Lee is the creator and showrunner of Netflix’s brand new series Partner Track, and her feature film Red Doors has been re-released and can now be viewed on Amazon Channels, Roku Premium Subscription, Tubi and Shout! Factory. Harvardwood and Harvard Asian American Alumni Alliance (H4A) are co-presenting a virtual conversation with Georgia on September 6. Click here for more information about this event.

Harvardwood and Harvard Asian American Alumni Alliance (H4A) Co-Present A Conversation with Writer/Producer/Director Georgia Lee (AB '98, MBA '09)
September 6, 5:30-6:30pm PT - virtual - click here

Online event! Georgia Lee is an award-winning writer and filmmaker. She recently created and is showrunning Netflix’s new series Partner Track. Georgia is also adapting Ken Liu’s short story The Regular for Justin Lin’s Perfect Storm. Previously Georgia wrote on Amazon’s The Expanse as well as the CW’s The 100. With fellow creator/showrunners Joe Henderson (Lucifer) and Matt Owens (One Piece), Georgia founded Magic Quill Productions, a writer-forward production company which has a first look deal with Netflix.

Georgia’s first short film caught the attention of Martin Scorsese, and she became his on-set apprentice on Gangs of New York. Georgia then wrote and directed her first feature Red Doors which won numerous awards on the festival circuit including the Tribeca Film Festival. Red Doors is also currently in re-release on Amazon Channels, Roku, Tubi, and Shout! Factory TV.

Harvardwood, Harvard Asian American Alumni Alliance (H4A), HBAS and HSAA Head To:
The Bengali Screening and Q&A with director Kavery Kaul ’73
September 11, 5:10pm in New York City - click here for more info

In-Person event! Join Harvardwood, Harvard Asian American Alumni Alliance (H4A), Harvard Black Alumni Society, and Harvard South Asian Alumni Alliance in New York City on Sunday, September 11, at 5:10pm for an in-person screening of The Bengali, a new film by Kavery Kaul, AB '73.

Following the screening, there will be a Q&A with director Kavery Kaul. We also have a limited number of Harvardwood-sponsored tickets available, based on financial need. Reach out to [email protected] for more information. 

Click here to learn more about the film. 

Harvardwood Heads To:
Andy Borowitz (AB '80) and Congressman Adam Schiff (JD '85): In-Person Book Event and Meet-and-Greet
September 16 at 7:30pm PT in Santa Monica, CA - click here

In-Person event! Join us for a Harvardwood-sponsored outing to Andy Borowitz's book signing event! We have collaborated with our friends at Writers Bloc to secure Harvardwood attendees reserved priority seats and a meet-and-greet with Andy after the show.

In his new book, Profiles in Ignorance: How America’s Politicians Got Dumb and Dumber, Borowitz cites a brain drain throughout Washington and state capitals, with some notable exceptions to be sure. Between social media, the 24-hour news cycle, and our insatiable appetite for entertainment, Borowitz argues that knowledge and intellect have taken a back seat to performance. His exposure of pure idiocy and commentary on such personalities as Dan Quayle, Sarah Palin, Ted Cruz, and legions of others, can sound like Borowitz Report satire– but it’s not. Corruption, crime, greed, and sheer stupidity: the toll on American leadership over the past 50 years has been profound. But consider that the author is Andy Borowitz: this is serious stuff, but only he can deliver it in such a wonderful way.

LOCATION: John Adams Middle School Performing Arts Center, 1630 Pearl Street, Santa Monica, CA 90405

TICKETS:
$25 - Ticket Only (No Book)
$49 - Ticket With One Signed Book

You must purchase your tickets on the Writers Bloc website and also RSVP through Harvardwood.

Harvardwood D.C. Co-Presents:
Murder and Mayhem in Old Town Alexandria:
An Interview with Author John Wasowicz (MPA '88)
Sept 20, 6–7pm ET / 3-4pm PT - virtual - click here

Cemetery Tour in Washington, D.C.
Sept 25, 10-11am ET - In-Person

Online event! On Tuesday, September 20, John Wasowicz will be interviewed by Dayna Wilkinson, Harvardwood’s Washington, DC chapter head. Gadsby’s Corner, which was published in July, is John's fifth Old Town mystery novel.

In-Person event! On Sunday, September 25, John resumes the conversation at Congressional Cemetery with a walking tour of the cemetery grounds. The tour includes a visit to the crypt of John Gadsby, the original owner of Gadsby's Tavern, which is featured in the novel.

Both events are free to members of Harvardwood.

Registration deadline for John Wasowicz interview: September 10

A Conversation Between Author Jesse Leon (MPP '01) and
Ruben Navarrette (AB '90, MPA '00) about Jesse Leon's memoir I'm Not Broken
Sept 28, 5:30-6:30pm PT - virtual - click here

Online event! In this unflinching and inspiring memoir, Jesse Leon tells an extraordinary story of resilience and survival, shining a light on a childhood spent devastated by sex trafficking, street life, and substance abuse.

Born to indigenous working-class Mexican immigrants in San Diego in the 1970s, Jesse Leon’s childhood was violently ruptured. A dangerous and harrowing encounter at a local gift shop when he was eleven years old left Jesse with a deadly secret. Hurt, alone, and scared for his life, Jesse numbed his pain by losing himself in the hyper-masculine culture of the streets and wherever else he could find it — in alcohol, drugs, and prostitution. I’m Not Broken is the heartbreaking and remarkable story of the journey Jesse takes to win back his life, leading him to the steps of Harvard University.

Jesse Leon is a social impact consultant to foundations and investors on ways to address issues of substance abuse/addiction, affordable housing, and mental health. He is a native English and Spanish speaker and fluent in Portuguese. He is an alum of UC Berkeley and Harvard and based in San Diego.

Ruben Navarrette is a syndicated columnist with The Washington Post Writers Group, a contributor to The Daily Beast, a feature writer for Latino Magazine, a weekly contributor of short-form video to Straight Arrow News, a member of USA Today’s Board of Contributors, host of the podcast Ruben In The Center, author of A Darker Shade of Crimson: Odyssey of a Harvard Chicano (Bantam), and founder/CEO of Navarrette Sonic Podcast Network (NSPN).

Jesse and Ruben have known each other for 23 years.