By Sara Lynne Wright

THIS YEAR AT SUNDANCE, The Witch, produced by Jodi Redmond GSE '08, received the Directing Award: U.S. Dramatic and then was acquired by A24 & DirecTV (U.S. distribution rights) and Universal Pictures International Productions (foreign rights).

New England, 1630. William and Katherine lead a devout Christian life, homesteading on the edge of an impassable wilderness, with five children. When their newborn son mysteriously vanishes and their crops fail, the family begins to turn on one another. In his debut feature, writer/director Robert Eggers painstakingly designs an authentic re-creation of New England - generations before the 1692 trials in Salem -- evoking the alluring and terrifying power of the timeless witch myth. Told through the eyes of Thomasin, the teenage daughter (in a star-making performance by Anya Taylor-Joy), and supported by haunting camera work and an ominous score, The Witch is a chilling portrait of a family unraveling within their own fears and anxieties, leaving them prey for an inescapable evil.

Harvardwood Publishing is seeking volunteer readers and judges for our upcoming anthology, which is expected to be published this summer.

The Seven Deadly Sins is an anthology of original fiction (poetry and short stories) for which we are currently seeking submissions (through April 15, 2015) and for which we will also require readers and judges.

Company: Whalerock Industries / howardstern.com
Location: Santa Monica, CA
Start Date:
Type of Position:  Full-Time
Minimum Education Level: Bachelor's
Minimum Years of Experience: 7-10 years (at least 4 years online)

Job Description: Seeking an experienced senior Lead Editor, 7-10 years (at least 4 years online) with a proven background in new media to run day to day operations for howardstern.com. The ideal candidate will work across multiple teams, and should demonstrate the ability to effectively manage a bi-coastal editorial team.  Position will include traditional editorial responsibilities (writing, photo selection, publishing), and requires one to maintain the editorial calendar of the site, inform and support strategic business and social media initiatives, drive PR announcements and escalate outreach campaigns, be the public face of the site, support the management of day to day and long term operational editorial production, and work with ad sales on dynamic product integration. 

Colleen McGuinness '99 (Comedy Writer-Producer, About a Boy, 30 Rock)

By Sara Lynne Wright

“A lot of recent graduates, especially Harvard students, want to do the responsible thing and have a job lined up when they move to Hollywood, but it’s really hard to do that unless you already live here.”

Comedy writer-producer Colleen McGuinness has practiced what she preaches.

As a writer for film and television, including 30 ROCK and ABOUT A BOY, she has no shame admitting that when she first moved out to L.A., she was unemployed.

Half-Korean and half-Irish but raised by her Irish-Norwegian grandparents since she was six months old, Colleen says the feeling of being an outsider is part of what has fueled her to write.

On April 8, 2015, the Harvard Club of Toronto and Harvardwood Toronto are pleased to present:

A Six-String History of America with historian, guitarist and singer/songwriter Jay Pilzer. He describes his most recent book, also titled A Six-String History of America,  as "a series of essays that look at American history through the lens of guitars, the guitar industry, and the music made on them."

Learn more about this FREE event and RSVP!

Toronto members, BOOKMARK this page and/or follow it (by making your own announcement above) to stay updated on the latest events and news from #HarvardwoodCAN!

Harvardwood is putting together an on-campus panel event, "I Was a Showbiz Intern," ahead of ARTS FIRST weekend on April 29, 2015 (Wednesday) from 4-5pm at the OCS.

If you've participated in HSIP or a 101 J-termship in the last couple of years, live in the Cambridge/Boston area, and are willing to participate in this career-oriented panel for students, please email Dona Le at [email protected] with the subject line "Showbiz Panel." Thanks!

Film production company on the Fox Lot is currently seeking highly motivated and reliable development interns.  Primary duties include script coverage, project research, covering magazines and books, and basic office tasks. This is a non-paid, school credit internship only.  We are a small office so the experience will be comprehensive and hands-on. Ideally looking for 2-3 day/week commitment. Please email resumes and cover letters with your availability included to: [email protected]

Harvard College 2008 graduate looking for entry-level position in film/television. I am interested in working in story development but will accept any job that provides industry experience. My long term goal is a career in writing or writer/production for film/television. I graduated Cum Laude with a degree in English; for my High Honors creative thesis, a play entitled American Promise, I received the Lee Patrick Award in Drama for Harvard’s most promising young playwright. During my time on campus, I held significant management positions in the Glee Club, the Winthrop House Committee, and with the Harvard Summer School. I am extremely motivated, organized, and hardworking, and I am willing to do whatever it takes to start out in the industry. If you or anyone you know might be interested, please contact me at[email protected]. I’ve attached my resume to this posting. Thank you most sincerely for your help!

You possess the idea for the next American Idol or Deal or No Deal. You know you have it in you to be (or discover!) the next Rachael Ray. The only thing you're missing now is the chance to sell it.

We've got you covered. Join this one-of-a-kind panel, where development executives, producers, and agents from some production companies, networks, and agencies tell you what they're looking for, and how you can deliver it to them. Then, following the Q&A, our Pitch Slam* allows members of the audience to pitch their ideas to the panel to see what wouldn't fly and what would air.

Panelists include:

Scott Agostoni, TV agent, alternative aned nonscripted dept., William Morris Agency 
Sara Auspitz, Director of Programming, Endemol USA (Big Brother, Deal or No Deal, etc.); formerly Director of Original Series, TBS 
Chad Gervich, freelance Development Executive (Foody Call, Star Search, etc.) 
Dirk Hoogstra, Director of Development, TLC (A Baby Story, Trading Spaces, etc.)

*Pitches are timed and limited to 90 seconds. Pitches will be accepted via sign-up sheet at the event. First come, first served. Preference will be given to those who are pre-registered. 
http://mediabistro.com/courses/cache/crs1870.asp?c=mbencrspersw 

Harvardwood members can register by calling us at 310 659-5668 and saying they're with Harvardwood (for the discount).

This painting the Night of Red Jazz was exhibited at a surrealist art show in Paris.

If you do a bunch of 1099 work and live in the Los Angeles area, these few notes might help you out. If you're not aware, the City of LA has decided that those who work as independent contractors in the Los Angeles area and receive IRS Form 1099 at the end of the year should be paying tax to the City of LA. Their argument (not much of an argument, since you can't really argue back) is that people receiving 1099s are operating businesses, and they are actively checking your federal and local tax statements to see if you are receiving 1099 income. If you do 1099 work and haven't been paying City of LA tax, this means that it's likely that they'll eventually find you. What's making it harder for a lot of people is that the City has not been very diligent about this, so as they find you, they will send you a letter saying that you have to pay all taxes due for the last seven years (the statute of limitations, I would assume). So if you didn't know that you were supposed to pay this tax, they'll hit you for it all at once. Now for corporations and even small businesses, I understand this, but this also affects a lot of actors, singers and artists of all sorts who frankly don't make a lot of money. And you can imagine, getting a bill for taxes for the last 7 years doesn't make things easier. So I'm writing this to help those of you who are affected by this, because the other problem is that they don't really tell you much, and these things below could make a huge difference in how much you pay and how you handle this in the future. Hopefully this will help. You can find my detailed list of pointers here.

Quincy Jones has started a petition to ask President-Elect Obama to appoint a Secretary of the Arts. While many other countries have had Ministers of Art or Culture for centuries, The United States has never created such a position. We in the arts need this and the country needs the arts--now more than ever. If you are interested, please take a moment to sign this important petition and then pass it on to your friends and colleagues. www.petitiononline.com/esnyc/petition.html