Script to Screen

- Season 7

(2018)

Lisa Bruce has made feature films both domestic and internationally, both independently and with major studios. She was a producer on "Darkest Hour," a film starring Gary Oldman as Winston Churchill that follows his early days as Prime Minister while Hitler closes in on Britain during World War II. She is joined in conversation with Matt Ryan at the Pollock Theater at UC Santa Barbara.

Screenwriter Vanessa Taylor joins UCSB's Matt Ryan for a Script-to-Screen discussion of "The Shape of Water" (2017) which Taylor co-wrote with Guillermo Del Toro. Taylor recounts her experience sharing the screenwriting duties with the director and developing characters to round out the initial vision of the film. They discuss at length the challenges of writing the unusual two main characters, their human/non-human romance, and the desire to craft a relationship that felt transgressive enough while still seeming authentic and translating well to the screen.

The real-life married couple Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon (they co-wrote the script, and Nanjiani stars as a character with his own first name) discuss their acclaimed film "The Big Sick," loosely based on their own relationship's rocky start.

Writer/director/producer Jordan Peele joins UCSB's Matt Ryan for a Script-to-Screen discussion of Get Out (2017), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. Peele explains how the tone of the film was influenced by his background in comedy, the work of Ira Levin (The Stepford Wives, Rosemary's Baby), and the desire to subvert the tropes of African American characters in the horror genre, as well how he created "the sunken place" through conceptualizing racism in a new way for the screen, and bringing it to life through stand-out performances from...

Karen McCullah and Kirsten "Kiwi" Smith are one of the most prolific and successful female writing teams in Hollywood. Among their many credits is She's the Man (2006) that resets William Shakespeare's cross-dressing comedy Twelfth Night in a contemporary boarding school.

When Saturday Night Live debuted in 1975, it gave the sketch/variety show format a twist, offering high-concept comedy sketches and political satire that attracted a younger audience than its competitors on late night television. It also featured pioneering work by female comedians. Laraine Newman, a member of the show's legendary original cast, talks about the show and the work of women comedians on television.

I, Tonya (2017) is a darkly comedic tale of American figure skater Tonya Harding and her role in one of the most sensational scandals in sports history. Screenwriter/producer Steven Rogers discussed the film with Matt Ryan before a live audience at UCSB.

Gwyneth Paltrow, Oscar-, Golden Globe-, and Emmy-winning actress, appeared in Wes Anderson's The Royal Tenenbaums in 2001. After a recent screening at UC Santa Barbara, she discussed the film and more. Script to Screen is hosted by the Pollock Theater Director, Matt Ryan, and co-produced by the Pollock Theater student staff.

UCSB Pollock Theater Director Matt Ryan and crew meet Comic-Con 2018 participants in San Diego. Script to Screen is hosted by the Pollock Theater Director, Matt Ryan, and co-produced by the Pollock Theater student staff. The series is sponsored by the Carsey-Wolf Center, the department of Film and Media Studies and The Scott Frank Fund for Screenwriting.