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 February 7th, Director Roxanne Benjamin will be discussing what it takes to direct a feature film!
About Roxanne Benjamin:
Roxanne Benjamin is an LA-based filmmaker known for writing, directing, and producing genre films. She is currently finishing a feature directorial effort to be released in 2019 by Magnolia Pictures. On the writing side, she is penning the remake of Night of the Comet for Orion Pictures and MGM.
She served as the Head of Acquisitions and Development for Snoot Entertainment (YOU’RE NEXT, THE GUEST, ANOMALISA), co-producing FAULTS (2014) and Sean Byrne’s THE DEVIL’S CANDY (2015) before making her directorial debut SOUTHBOUND, which she also co-wrote and produced. The film premiered at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival. She followed that up with directorial and producing duties on the anthology XX for Magnolia, which premiered in 2017 at the Sundance Film Festival. Prior to that, she ran the Bloody Disgusting Selects label, where she oversaw the acquisition and distribution of 12 titles per year through Vivendi Universal. She also developed and produced the anthologies V/H/S and V/H/S/2, both of which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2012 and 2013, respectively. Both films were acquired and released by Magnolia Pictures.
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.