Join us for five Wednesday evenings from 6-7:30 pm this Winter Quarter as we’re joined by established Hollywood industry professionals who will take students through five major stages of a film’s lifecycle: from writing the script, to producing and packaging it, directing, acquisitions, and marketing. Hosted by Entertainment Executive and FMS alum Paul Davidson, and FMS professor Fatimah Tobing Rony, this series of seminars will give students the opportunity to learn how a Hollywood film is made and the jobs required to do so.
On March 6th, Adam Waldman, co-owner of the advertising agency The Refinery, will lead the conversation on how to market a feature film.
About Adam Waldman:
Adam Waldman, based in Studio City, CA, is the co-founder & Creative Director at The Refinery. The boutique creative advertising agency creates key art, trailers, on-air promotional materials, and social & digital campaigns for the entertainment industry. The Refinery’s clients include Hulu, Amazon, Netflix, Disney, Paramount, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros., and almost every other major entertainment network, studio or streamer. The agency is one of the top global forces in entertainment creative, with offices in Los Angeles and the EU.
About our Co-Host:
An alum of UCI’s Film Studies, Paul Davidson is an Entertainment executive who has over twenty years working in Film and TV development, production, acquisition, distribution and marketing. Most recently, Davidson led IDW Entertainment’s TV & Film division, producing series like Netflix’s Locke & Key, Apple TV+’s Surfside Girls and CBC’s Essex County. Prior to that, Davidson ran The Orchard’s film and TV division, growing the company into a robust independent film distribution studio. Under his leadership, The Orchard netted multiple Oscar nominations (Life, Animated, and Cartel Land) and released well-known favorites like What We Do in the Shadows, Hunt for the Wilderpeople, American Animals, The Overnight, and more. Prior to The Orchard, Paul ran Microsoft’s global digital entertainment service — Xbox Video. Paul is also the author of four books, including Company of Foos (2023), The Small Stuff (2022), Consumer Joe, and The Lost Blogs.
Open to Film and Media Studies students, alums, professors and staff.