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 January 10th, screenwriters Grant Nieporte and Fabian Marquez will discuss their craft and the process of writing a feature film!
About Grant Nieporte:
Grant received his Bachelor’s degree from Social Science at UC Irvine with a Minor in Film Studies. Grant is best known for writing Seven Pounds, starring Will Smith, Rosario Dawson, and Woody Harrelson. His original script for Seven Pounds was a top ten finalist on The Blacklist, the annual ranking of the “most liked” scripts in Hollywood. Grant went on to work on over 150 episodes of network shows like Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Jack & Jill, and 8 Simple Rules, but his first love has always been feature films. Grant wrote the screenplay for Breakthrough for producer DeVon Franklin (Flamin’ Hot), NBA star Steph Curry, and 20th Century Fox. Breakthrough grossed 50 million at the box office and won Inspirational Film of the Year at the 2019 Dove Awards. Recently, Grant co-wrote the true-life legal drama Cobalt, adapted the book Liz Here Now, and just finished writing the Nick Vujicic biopic for Reserve Entertainment (Blue Miracle).
About Fabian Marquez:
After receiving a Bachelor’s degree from the Film Studies program at UC Irvine, Fabian went to work in the post-production department of New Line Cinema and Fine Line Features. Learning the intricacies of the post-production process, Fabian ascended to Post Production Supervisor. Fabian left New Line in 2001 to work full-time on the feature film he wrote with director Justin Lin, Better Luck Tomorrow. The film was accepted into the 2002 Sundance Film Festival (Dramatic Competition), becoming one of the most controversial films that year. It was purchased by MTV Films and Paramount Pictures and released theatrically in the spring of 2003. Better Luck Tomorrow went on to make $4 million at the domestic box office and was nominated for an IFP Spirit Award in 2004 (John Cassavetes Award).
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.