In this Issue:
+ Director's Notes
+ Message from Allison
NEWS
+ Featured Member Posting: Assistant to Head of Development at Cineflix
+ Become a Corporate Partner of Harvardwood
+ 2014 Harvardwood Summer Internship Program (HSIP) listings are now available!
+ Seeking summer housing for student interns in NY and LA
+ Harvardwood joins Harvard's Global Month of Service
+ Heading to HotDocs, Canada's International Documentary Festival? Let us know!
FEATURES
+ Industry Successes
+ New Members' Welcome
+ Member Profile: Diane Nabatoff '78, HBS '82 - Producer of DANCING IN JAFFA
CALENDAR & NOTES
+ Calendar
+ Inviting all Harvardwood members and friends to LIKE our new Facebook page!
Director's Notes
Happy Spring, Harvardwood! Spring time means summer internship time so students, be sure to brush up your resumes and cover letters and get them out to the companies on our HSIP list ASAP. And Harvardwood members in Los Angeles, New York, & Boston can support our summer interns by providing critical summer housing for students securing unpaid opportunities in those cities. Please email [email protected] with the subject line "Summer Housing" if you have a spare room, futon, or sleeping bag to offer a student for an extended period of time this summer (either free or discounted).
There are several great events to catch this April including a screening of DANCING IN JAFFA, produced by Harvard alum, Diane Nabatoff. See the film and meet with Pierre Dulaine, director Hilla Medalia, Diane, and the inspiring children from the film! Read below to learn more about Diane and then check out the film in New York and LA this month.
-- Kelley
Message from Allison
April is Harvard's Global Month of Service, please check out these great opportunities to volunteer. Harvardwood is also seeking sponsors for our Harvardwood Heroes program. The program was a tremendous success last year and we're excited to continue it this year. Please check out details about how you or your company can become a sponsor or make a tax-deductible contribution.
Also, attention all voice-over artists - SAG Foundation has a FREE open-to-the-public voice over lab for anyone to record a project or material for a reel. I've learned they're opening the same kind of lab in New York this month as well. Details will be posted on their website shortly.
Looking forward to seeing you all at an event this month!
-- Allison
Featured Member Posting - Assistant to Head of Development at Cineflix
Cineflix, a leading Los Angeles-based reality TV production company, is seeking an assistant to the Head of Development. One year of assistant desk experience is strongly preferred, especially at an agency, but will consider an experienced assistant with the right attitude and work ethic. The candidate needs to be hard-working, detail-oriented, creative, resourceful, extremely organized, and interested in learning while doing work - this is a busy desk. The job consists of the normal assistant duties (phones, scheduling, organizing, researching), but also provides time for participating in the development of projects in a creative and supportive environment. A desire to be in the reality TV game and awareness of current shows and trends in the industry is a plus… To view full posting, please visit: http://www.harvardwood.org/networking/apply_now.aspx?view=2&id=192175
Become a Corporate Partner of Harvardwood
Is your company interested in: - associating with the #1 brand name in education? - marketing products and services to Harvardwood's brand-conscious, taste-maker community? - recruiting Harvard alums, from recent graduates to top executives? - supporting Harvardwood's nonprofit and community outreach programs? Learn about the many ways your company can partner with Harvardwood! We offer a number of customizable partnership options, as well as special programs such as the VIP Pass and the Harvardwood Heroes sponsorship… To view full posting, please visit: http://www.harvardwood.org/?page=Corporate
2014 Harvardwood Summer Internship Program (HSIP) listings are now available!
We are happy to announce that the 2014 Harvardwood Summer Internship Program (HSIP) list of opportunities is now available! Please find more information about HSIP and access the listings here. Only current Harvard undergraduates may apply to HSIP opportunities, in addition to being an Affiliate or Full Member of Harvardwood, so be sure you are logged on!... To view full posting, please visit: http://www.harvardwood.org/news/119656/2014-Harvardwood-Summer-Internship-Listings-Now-Available.htm
Seeking summer housing for student interns in New York and Los Angeles
Harvardwood seeks accommodations hosts for the 2014 HSIP. The HSIP provides a list of summer internship opportunities in the arts, media, and entertainment to interested Harvard students. Because some of these internships are unpaid, many HSIP participants are in need of free or discounted accommodations to help defray the costs of accepting these opportunities. If you have a spare couch, futon, sleeping bag, or room(s) you can provide to a student or students (either free or discounted) for an extended period of time this summer (most internships run from mid-June to early August), please let us know... To view full posting, please visit: http://www.harvardwood.org/news/119687/Seeking-summer-housing-for-students-in-LA-and-NY.htm
Harvardwood joins Harvard's Global Month of Service
Harvardwood is pitching in for Harvard's Global Month of Service THIS month! Last year, over 100 alumni in Los Angeles participated, and this year we hope to double that number. The Harvard Club of Southern California has organized a list of volunteer opportunities for the month of April and beyond. Whatever your skill, and wherever your neighborhood, we've got a volunteer activity for you. Don't miss this chance to give back to your local community, while working alongside fellow alumni... To view full posting, please visit: http://www.harvardwood.org/news/166996/Join-Harvards-Global-Month-of-Service-for-April-2014.htm
Heading to HotDocs, Canada's International Documentary Festival? Let us know!
Calling all Harvard-affiliated films and filmmakers heading to HotDocs this month! Will your documentary be featured in this Canadian international documentary festival? If so, let us know, so that Harvardwood's Toronto chapter and the Harvardwood community at large can support you and your work! Please email Mark Solovey with information about your documentary.
Industry Successes...
Mandel Ilagan '99 has joined NICKELODEON as a development executive in their live action department. He will be working with the network to expand their slate of reality and game show programming. He brings years of experience from his past work with children's programming at Hasbro Studio and the unscripted world at FremantleMedia and Fox Reality Channel.
Jeremy Rabb A.R.T. '98 shot a fun role on HBO's SILICON VALLEY, Mike Judge's new show—the episode will air in mid-May. He's also performing again at A Noise Within as the Porter in Macbeth, which runs until May 11, 2014.
New Members' Welcome
Harvardwood warmly welcomes all members that joined the organization over the past month, including:
+ Samuel Barrington, College, On-Campus
+ Kaolin Bass, A.R.T., LA
+ Meghan Bauer, College, On-Campus
+ Katherine Beer, College, LA
+ Timon Birkhofer, FOH, LA
+ Wendy P. Campbell, HLS, LA
+ Joanna Horton, GSE, Other U.S. city
+ Isabel E. Kaplan, College, LA
+ Ronald D. Kurtz, College, LA
+ Sean O'Keefe, College, LA
+ Sam Pottash, College, NY
+ Myhra Sadiq, College, NY
+ Homa Taj, Ext, LA
+ Alison Weller, College, NY
*FOH = Friend of Harvardwood
If you have any questions about your Harvardwood membership, please contact Lano Williams ([email protected]), our Director of Membership Experience. Lano puts together fun and informative New Members' Orientation events in LA and NY!
Member Profile: Diane Nabatoff '78, HBS '82 - Producer of DANCING IN JAFFA
by Dayna Wilkinson
Diane Nabatoff grew up wanting to be a singer. Seeing there were no female singing groups on campus, she co-founded the Radcliffe Pitches. “I assumed I’d be an actress and singer after Harvard,” she says.
Hasty Pudding Theatricals altered her career plans.
“Over the years, Hasty Pudding became like a second family. Freshman year I handled props for the show, sophomore year I was the tour manager, junior year I was the publicity manager—I worked my way up.”
Senior year she got the top job and produced the show.
“There was a tremendous amount of press because I was Hasty Pudding’s first female producer. When I started looking for a job after graduation, I got a letter from Joe Papp at New York’s Public Theater suggesting I come work for him to learn more about being a producer. I decided to give it a shot; it was clearly a once in a lifetime opportunity. I did everything from play and audience development to whatever anyone needed done.
“While I was there, Meryl Streep came in and did a showcase for a handful of us. It was mesmerizing, but it was a one time only evening so no one else could share what we had experienced. That was the first time I thought about going into film where the work can be seen by many more people.”
She left the Public Theater and got a job on No Nukes, a documentary and concert film. “I had now worked at two non-profit organizations where money was always an issue and realized I needed to learn the financial side of the business.”
While in Manhattan, Diane also had a cabaret act and had been a theater understudy. She put all that aside and entered Harvard Business School.
“I had an amazing two years there,” she says. “I was with investment bankers and engineers and at first I didn’t have a clue what anyone was talking about. They were discussing the pros and cons of financial tools that I had never heard of. I had an extremely steep learning curve from theater and singing into the world of business.”
After graduating and briefly working in New York at HBO, Diane moved to Los Angeles to work with a producer filming Off Broadway musicals for cable. “It was the perfect blend of my past and present and the exact job I wanted,” she says.
“Then suddenly after three months, the company lost its funding and I was unemployed in a city where I didn’t know anyone and I had just learned to drive.” What followed was a series of fascinating and sometimes confounding job experiences. “At one point I was a segment producer for The World’s Funniest Commercial Goofs, and I thought ‘This just cannot be happening to me--this project is the antithesis of my sensibility’ but I needed a job,” Diane recalls. “Fortunately after that assignment I was moved into the TV movie and mini-series division at Alan Landsburg Productions and it was great. I could work on true stories that had an impact.”
She went on to become a producer and executive at several production companies, including Vestron, Feldman-Meeker and Henry Winkler’s Fair Dinkum Productions.
Her time at Interscope Pictures was a highlight. “It was the most unique and extraordinary job I ever had. We had a wonderful team—you got up in the morning and couldn’t wait to get to work.”
She produced Operation Dumbo Drop, a comedy based on true events during the Viet Nam War. “We went on location to Thailand--I was there about six months. Then we had a little problem and had to leave earlier than expected because foreigners were getting kidnapped. We decided to shoot the final scenes of the film in Florida, but due to time constraints had to FedEx our elephant there from L.A.”
Funding is a producer’s constant concern. “On Very Bad Things (Christian Slater, Jon Favreau, Jeremy Piven, Cameron Diaz), our financing fell through at the last minute and I had 48 hours to find another source of financing before we lost our stars. By some miracle we pulled together the money and were able to make the movie.”
In 2000 she founded Tiara Blu Films. Narc was the company’s first feature film, starring Ray Liotta and Jason Patric and directed by Joe Carnahan.
“Two weeks into filming, I was told to shut down because our funder didn’t have the rest of his money yet. I knew if we shut down even for one day, we would never finish the film. Ray, Jason, Joe and I all agreed to defer our salaries, so I told the financier to just make payroll for the crew. I had no idea each week if the money was coming or if we really would have to shut down, but thankfully the crew hung in there with us until the end. Every day I’d say to Joe ‘we have this many feet of film,’ and he would figure out exactly what he was going to shoot. The stress of standing in a filthy Toronto chop shop where it’s sixteen degrees below zero is nothing compared to the anxiety of wondering if you’ll get the money to pay your crew.
“For a producer, every project is a new product, a new company. As ‘CEO’ of that company, I have to make sure the product is made efficiently and marketed effectively. Once I’m in production, I describe myself as a shock absorber. My job is to take care of everyone on and off the set and help solve their problems. You have to love the stories you’re working on because you’re pushing a boulder up a hill every single day.”
As an independent producer, Diane loves stories of ordinary people doing heroic things.
The idea for Take the Lead (2006) came when Diane saw a segment on the CBS Morning News about Pierre Dulaine, a world champion ballroom dancer who taught dancing to inner city children. His goal: to build social awareness, confidence, and self-esteem in children through the practice of social dance.
“Pierre started his Dancing Classrooms program in 1994, when there was no Dancing With The Stars and ballroom dancing was not cool—people thought he was insane. It took Pierre four years before he was allowed to volunteer in the first school. He started with 30 children and has now taught over 400,000. I knew immediately that I had to tell his story.”
Diane developed and produced a fictionalized version of that story for New Line Cinema. Take the Lead is set in a high school among skeptical urban teens and fuses a dramatic story with ballroom and hip hop dance. Antonio Banderas stars as Pierre.
“Pierre can walk into a room, command your attention and convince you to do the impossible,” Diane says. “He has presence and charisma, which is why Antonio was so perfect.”
Coming full circle back to her theater days, a stage musical version of Take the Lead is in the works for 2015. “It’s a mash-up of ballroom and hip hop in a story with lots of heart. As Pierre and the kids start to come together and respect each other, their dance and music styles also come together. It’s contemporary and relatable.”
In addition to having feature and TV projects in development, Diane is promoting the April premiere of the documentary she produced about Pierre, Dancing in Jaffa. “I’ve had the extraordinary opportunity to use Pierre’s story in three different vehicles, each appealing to a different audience.
“Pierre phoned and said he was about to fulfill his lifelong dream - to return to Jaffa where he was born, to teach Israeli and Palestinian children to dance together,” Diane recalls. “I said ‘I’m coming with you.’”
Director Hilla Medalia says, “Jaffa is one of only six mixed communities of Palestinians and Jews. The film isn’t about 5th graders learning to dance, it’s about the power of art in a community with deep-seated issues of segregation, resentment and prejudice.”
Diane agrees. “Pierre always says, ‘if you change the children, you change the future.’ At the start of the program, the children hated each other--they would spit on each other and pull down their sleeves so their skin wouldn’t touch.
“Ballroom dance forces two people to move as one; in the process, they learn to respect each other. By the end of the 10 week program, the Jewish and Arab children had come together which in turn brought their families together--Pierre had a huge impact on Jaffa.
“It’s very rare to be able to make a film that shifts the paradigm,” Diane notes. “Raising money for this documentary was incredibly difficult, but it was a labor of love for a really important story. If enough people see Dancing in Jaffa, it could change how we all relate to each other.”
Dancing in Jaffa opens in ten U.S. cities this month. The trailer is at http://vimeo.com/28705424.
For additional screenings or more information, visit www.dancinginjaffa.com/take-action/screenings or contact Diane at [email protected].
Dayna Wilkinson is a proud New Yorker currently living, working, and writing in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area.
Calendar
***NYC - Harvardwood Presents Standup Comedy: LAUGHTER TIMES THREE, Thurs., Apr. 24***
Spring into Spring on a laughing note with a scrumptious dinner with wine, and THREE of the smartest, funniest comics anywhere: Robin Fox, Bob Greenberg, and Jane Stroll. Reception with wine and hors d'oeuvres at 6pm, followed by dinner with wine, the comics performance, and dessert at the Down Town Association. Advance registration is required... To view full posting, please visit: http://www.harvardwood.org/events/event_details.asp?id=384213&group=
NYC - Our Sexy Spectacular Spring Harvardwood Party with Live Music by ELIZABETH!, Fri., Apr. 4
Winter was way too rough this year! But FINALLY the Vernal Equinox is here—and when those noxes get equi in the vern, that means it's time for a party! And this will be a wonderful opportunity for you to meet more of our incredibly smart, sexy, scintillating, and, most of all, vernal Harvardwood members!… To view full posting, please visit: http://www.harvardwood.org/events/event_details.asp?id=414224&group=
NYC - Harvardwood Presents SOMAN CHAINANI - Creating a World, Tues., Apr. 8
When Soman Chainani's THE SCHOOL FOR GOOD & EVIL, the first novel in a trilogy, came out, it spent 5 weeks on the New York Times Bestseller List and 13 weeks on the Indie Best Sellers List, and sold for seven figures to Universal in its first week of release. Chainani is also a filmmaker whose work has been seen at more than 150 film festivals, winning more than 30 awards. Chainani will talk about how one starts with the germ of an idea, how one then goes about elaborating it into a creative world that is strong enough to translate to several mediums, and how one can effectively market the creative idea in a way that reaches the largest possible audience… To view full posting, please visit: http://www.harvardwood.org/events/event_details.asp?id=416012&group=
NYC - Harvard Law School Association of NYC invites Harvardwood to HEATHERS, Thurs., Apr. 10
Our friends at the Harvard Law School Association have invited Harvardwood members and their guests to join them at this special performance, with reduced-price tickets and post-performance discussion, of the new off-Broadway musical HEATHERS. The special price for HLS alumni applies to Harvardwood members as well!... To view full posting, please visit: http://www.harvardwood.org/events/event_details.asp?id=424402&group=
NYC - Harvardwood Heads To ... DANCING IN JAFFA Screening & Filmmaker Q&A, Sat., Apr. 12
DANCING IN JAFFA celebrates the power of art in a community with deep-seated issues of segregation, resentment, and prejudice. See the film and meet Pierre Dulaine, children from the film, director Hilla Medalia, and producer/Harvard alum Diane Nabatoff (see this month's Member Profile above!)… To view full posting, please visit: http://www.harvardwood.org/events/event_details.asp?id=420307&group=
BOS - Harvardwood & the OCS present: I WAS A SHOWBIZ INTERN (an ARTS FIRST event), Wed., Apr. 30th
Come hear your fellow peers talk about what it's really like to work in the entertainment business. Get tips on how to find your first opportunity, what different jobs are like, and how to make a great first impression. This panel is geared toward undergraduates interested in obtaining summer internships in entertainment, media, or the arts, but all Harvard students are welcome... To view full posting, please visit: http://www.harvardwood.org/events/event_details.asp?id=415927&group=
LA - C.L.A. invites Harvardwood to Music Contracts: Negotiating & Drafting '360' Deals, Thurs., Apr. 10
Join CLA and presenters Jesse Morris and Andrew Spitser for an advanced-level seminar on drafting and negotiating recording contracts in the age of the 360 deal. The seminar will begin with a brief summary of intellectual property law as it applies to musical compositions and sound recordings, and will proceed to cover the history of recording contracts and their evolution towards the now-common 360 framework... To view full posting, please visit: http://www.harvardwood.org/events/event_details.asp?id=418782&group=
LA - Harvardwood Heads To ... HOW I LEARNED TO DRIVE by Paula Vogel, Fri., Apr. 11
Anna Walters '06 performs in Paula Vogel's Pulitzer Prize-winning play, HOW I LEARNED TO DRIVE, on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday evenings at 8pm through April 13th. How I Learned to Drive is a provocative narrative that Vogel describes as being about "the gifts we receive from the people who hurt us" and has been hailed by STAGE RAW as "one of LA's premier interpreters of contemporary classics"… To view full posting, please visit: http://www.harvardwood.org/events/event_details.asp?id=425232&group=
LA - Harvardwood Heads To ... DANCING IN JAFFA Screening & Filmmaker Q&A, Sat., Apr. 19
DANCING IN JAFFA celebrates the power of art in a community with deep-seated issues of segregation, resentment, and prejudice. See the film and meet Pierre Dulaine, children from the film, director Hilla Medalia, and producer/Harvard alum Diane Nabatoff (see this month's Member Profile above!)… To view full posting, please visit: http://www.harvardwood.org/events/event_details.asp?id=421938&group=
LA - Harvardwood Heads To ... The Gershwins' PORGY & BESS + Talk-back with Diane Paulus, Tues., Apr. 22
You're invited to join Tony Award winner and A.R.T. Artistic Director Diane Paulus AB '88 for a special Harvard night at The Gershwins' Porgy & Bess on April 22nd. Paulus will lead an exclusive post-performance discussion on the production's journey from Harvard's A.R.T. to Broadway -- and now to Los Angeles. This evening is a wonderful opportunity to connect with friends and classmates and hear more about this incredible show… To view full posting, please visit: http://www.harvardwood.org/events/event_details.asp?id=418781&group=
LA - C.L.A. invites Harvardwood to Intellectual Property Law Overview for Visual Artists, Wed., Apr. 23
Join CLA and attorney Sarah Conley Odenkirk for a presentation about intellectual property law in the visual arts. Topics will include a general overview of copyright, trademark, and patent law and a more specific explanation of the role of copyright law in visual arts contracts… To view full posting, please visit: http://www.harvardwood.org/events/event_details.asp?id=425268&group=
OAK - C.L.A. invites Harvardwood to Trademark Fundamentals in the Music Industry, Thurs., Apr. 17
What is a trademark? How do I select one for my brand? How do I protect my trademark? Join Daniel Schacht and Andrew MacKay of Donahue Gallagher Woods for a discussion about trademark law in the music business. Topics will include: what is a trademark, requirements for obtaining a trademark, federal trademark registration, policing a trademark, trademarks on the internet, trademark transfers and licenses, and more… To view full posting, please visit: http://www.harvardwood.org/events/event_details.asp?id=425269&group=
Inviting all Harvardwood members and friends to LIKE our new Facebook page
Facebook celebrated its 10th anniversary just a couple of months ago, and Harvardwood has updated our Facebook presence with a brand-new page. Members and friends are invited to LIKE our Facebook organization page to keep up with the latest news, events, deadlines, and programs.
DISCLAIMER
Harvardwood does not represent or endorse the accuracy or reliability of any of the information, content or advertisements (collectively "Materials") contained on, distributed through, or linked, downloaded or accessed from any of the services contained in this e-mail. You hereby acknowledge that any reliance upon any Materials shall be at your sole risk. The materials are provided by Harvardwood on an "AS IS" basis, and Harvardwood expressly disclaims any and all warranties, express or implied.