By Ester Khachatryan
Jason Reitman â95 will host a speaker series on Nov. 5 in Ahmanson Auditorium in front of an alumni and student audience.
In the first of three series, Reitman will chat with Academy-Award winning screenwriter Diablo Cody.
âShe was our top choice. Because âJunoâ was such a well written film and reflected a storyline that is of the age of our students and Diablo is a new screenwriter, undiscovered until âJuno,â and she has such an interesting background â we felt she would be not only an extremely fascinating and lively guest but she would be a role model for our students,â said Cheri Gaulke, coordinator and executive director of the series.
Cody is expected to speak about âJenniferâ Body,â her new movie about a teenage cannibal that Reitman co-produced.
The series will include three events a year with guest screenwriters, directors, cinematographers, actors, production designers, and producers. Reitman will lead discussions with professionals in film about their careers and experiences in the industry.
Reitman developed the speaker series because he wanted to âgive back to the video program that gave birth to his career as a director,â Gaulke said.
âI really hope that [students] will see this as the incredible opportunity that it is â to get up close and personal with one of the newest and most exciting faces in the world of movies. If they want to know how to break into the business or just want to understand more about the process of writing and making a movie, then they should come,â Gaulke said.
The series is being co-produced by the Harvard-Westlake Video Art Program, the Harvard-Westlake Entertainment Network, and the Harvard-Westlake Film Festival.