Johnny Lee '01 (Violinist, Los Angeles Philharmonic)

by D. Dona Le

At the age of 5, Cleveland native Johnny Lee AB ’01 jumped at the chance to begin playing the violin so he could emulate his older twin brothers (photo to the right by Craig Mathew/Mathew Imaging, courtesy of the LA Philharmonic). 

“I wanted to play violin from the onset. My brothers didn’t. They do other things now,” Lee laughs, “and I stuck with it—but it was kind of a convoluted journey to it.”

That journey included the Cleveland Institute of Music (the pre-college and graduate-level programs), Harvard College in between, several orchestras and numerous music festivals, and then—since 2005—a coveted job with the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

Megan Amram AB ‘10 
(Author & Comedy Writer, Silicon Valley, Parks & Rec, Science… For Her!)

By D. Dona Le

Most classical musicians start taking lessons in early childhood. Olympic-level athletes often begin training as soon as they’ve learned to walk.

But contrary to what her meteoric career as a comedy writer would suggest, Megan Amram ‘10 didn’t sprout from her mother’s forehead, fully formed and armed with the mighty pen. In fact, Amram wasn’t even funny as a child, describing herself instead as a math and science nerd.

Her first foray into comedy writing happened shortly before college, when she took a comedy class offered at her high school. With the encouragement of her teacher, Amram considered a career in comedy writing as “something that maybe I could do” for the first time.  

Maybe was quite the understatement. Five years after high school—about five months after Amram arrived in Los Angeles after graduating from Harvard—she landed her first writing job… for The Academy Awards.

Emily Halpern '02 & Sarah Haskins '01 (Writers & Producers, TROPHY WIFE, BOOKSMART)

By D. Dona Le '05

“Writing’s fun,” declares Sarah Haskins AB ‘01.

Emily Halpern AB ‘02, sitting across from her in their adjoining offices at The Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, agrees. “The early brainstorming and outlining stages, we do together, just sitting with coffee and talking—kind of like this.”

“Some light complaining, a little brainstorming,” Sarah quips.

This writing duo, co-creators of the ABC show Trophy Wife (2013-2014), met while they were Harvard undergraduates and Emily was dating one of Sarah’s friends. They didn’t know that ten years later, they would be successful writing partners, producers, and showrunners in Hollywood.

Josh Brener '07 (Actor, SILICON VALLEY, MARON, THE INTERNSHIP, WORKAHOLICS)

By D. Dona Le '05

“It’s annoying how supportive my parents are,” actor Josh Brener ‘07 says frankly. “They are effusively, blindly, obnoxiously supportive, and they’ve encouraged me from the very beginning, even when they were sure I’d be poor and begging them for a place to stay.”

But Brener, who plays Nelson “Big Head” Bighetti on HBO’s hit series SILICON VALLEY, is unlikely to return to his hometown of Houston, Texas, looking for a place to stay.

Last year, Brener co-starred in THE INTERNSHIP alongside Vince Vaughan and Owen Wilson, and he’s also appeared in MARON, THE BIG BANG THEORY, WORKAHOLICS, and GLORY DAZE. While this impressive resume might make another young actor feel confident about his future, Brener operates on a baseline state of panic.

Matt Mazzeo '05 (Former Agent at CAA, Partner at Lowercase Capital)

By D. Dona Le '05

Los Angeles native Matt Mazzeo ‘05 says that “Harvard gave me the opportunity to explore all the classes I loved.”

So he took economics classes, psych classes, science classes, and more, receiving a Renaissance-Man education that has enabled Mazzeo to position himself as an expert voice at the intersection of entertainment and technology.

For seven years, Mazzeo was a star agent at Creative Artists Agency (CAA), focusing on digital media under the company’s Business Development group. He left CAA in November 2012 to join Chris Sacca as a partner at Lowercase Capital, a tech-focused venture capital fund.

Damien Chazelle '07 - '08 (Writer & Director, WHIPLASH, GUY & MADELINE ON A PARK BENCH)

By D. Dona Le '05

This month, writer-director Damien Chazelle ‘07/‘08 opens the Sundance Film Festival with his feature film WHIPLASH.

Not to mention that before hitting his ten-year college reunion, Chazelle has already sold three screenplays, and his directorial debut, GUY AND MADELINE ON A PARK BENCH (2009), won multiple film awards and was named one of the best films of the year byThe New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Village Voice, and more.

"Ever since I was a little kid, I knew that I wanted to make movies," says Chazelle. Instead of choosing film school for college, he opted to attend Harvard College, where he expected to concentrate in English or a similar field. Then, he discovered Visual & Environmental Sciences.

Nell Scovell '82 (Writer, Producer, & Director, LEAN IN, SABRINA)

By D. Dona Le '05

Nell Scovell '82 is a true Renaissance woman: comedy writer, magazine writer, blogger, producer, director—and most recently, co-writer of Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In.

When asked how she feels about being known as a feminist comedy writer, Scovell grins. "Well, it’s only recently that I came out as a woman.”

Funnily—and appropriately—enough, Scovell was put in touch with Sandberg through Facebook, which she joined in 2006 at her sister’s request to check out her niece’s activities on the then-new(ish) social networking site.

"I loved Facebook immediately as a way to connect to people, and one of the people I reconnected with was Elliot Schrage, who was a year ahead of me in Eliot House.”

Schrage is Vice President of Communications and Public Policy at Facebook, and he asked Scovell whether she had seen Sandberg’s well-known TED talk.

"Seen it? I’d memorized it! I thought it was incredible, and it was the backbone for Lean In,” says Scovell. Schrage asked her whether she’d be interested in working with Sandberg as her speechwriter.

Alec Nevala-Lee '02 (Novelist, THE ICON THIEF trilogy)

By D. Dona Le '05

Novelist Alec Nevala-Lee '02 knew from a very young age that he wanted to become a writer, and perhaps that influences his first piece of advice to young writers: "Start now.”

"Every life choice I’ve made since I was out of high school has been geared toward [a career in writing], even if it wasn’t obvious at the time,” Nevala-Lee says.

At Harvard, he concentrated in Classics because he believed that knowledge of Latin and Greek would give him a unique toolbox as a writer. "Before the twenty-first century, if you were going to be a writer, an artist, or any other intellectual, you learned these languages,” Nevala-Lee explains, "so I thought, ‘It worked for them, maybe it’ll work for me.’”

Harvardwood Founders' Spotlight: Stacy Cohen '89, Adam Fratto '90, & Mia Riverton '99

By D. Dona Le '05

In terms of academic manpower and resources, Harvard students ordinarily want for nothing. But as recently as 15 years ago, before Harvardwood was founded, many students wondered how to best go about pursuing careers in the arts and the entertainment industry—more specifically, in Hollywood.

One of those students was Stacy Cohen '89, who concentrated in the History of Architecture and finagled the department into letting her write its first film-related thesis. While at Harvard, Cohen had no idea that Adam Fratto '90, just a year behind her, was interested in a similar career path in the moviemaking industry.

And even after Cohen and Fratto connected in Los Angeles in the mid-1990s and began hosting informal mixer events for Harvard alumni, it would be years before they were put in touch with Mia Riverton (AB ’99). Together, the three of them would combine their contacts and form Harvardwood.

Dick Sheffield MPA '81 (Journalist & Author, LASSO THE MOON)

By D. Dona Le '05

"If you’re a glutton for punishment, take up writing,” says Dick Sheffield MPA ‘81.

Sheffield has done just that. Despite working as a full-time journalist covering politics for ABC News (since 1983), he has also nurtured a writing career, dividing his time between New York and his home state of Texas.

Born to two public school teachers in Fort Worth, Sheffield attended the University of Texas at Austin, where he studied Finance and got his first taste of politics during the time of the Vietnam War. Following graduation and living in Dallas, Sheffield frequented a neighborhood bar named the Stoneleigh P, where he regularly read the Sunday editions of the New York Times and Washington Post that arrived every Wednesday.

However, reading about the news was not quite enough and in 1975, Sheffield packed his car and drove to Washington, D.C. Armed with a handful of letters of recommendation, he rented a small apartment behind the Supreme Court and gave himself a thirty-day deadline to find a job.