In this issue:
MESSAGE FROM HARVARDWOOD
NEWS
Jeff Sagansky Harvardwood TV Writers Intensive Spring 2025 Application DUE MARCH 3RD
Harvardwood Summer Internship Program (HSIP) 2025
NYC Internship Funding
Featured Job: Acquisitions, Development and Production Assistant
FEATURES
Harvardwood Profile: Haden Guest (Director of Harvard Film Archive)
Industry News
Welcome New Members
Exclusive Q&A with Hillary Nussbaum AB '09 & Heather Taylor (writers, directors)
CALENDAR & NOTES
Inter-Ivy Recent Alumni Mixer
Oscars Watch Party NYC
Oscars Watch Party LA
The Art of Producing, Directing & Writing for Broadway
Last Month at Harvardwood
Want to submit your success(es) to Harvardwood HIGHLIGHTS? Do so by posting here!
The quickest month in the West has come to an end, and we have some news!
It is time yet again for the Jeff Sagansky Harvardwood TV Writers Intensive Spring 2025 Application to be due March 3rd. I swear it's like these things happen twice a year. Also, we're launching the Harvardwood Summer Internship Program (HSIP) 2025! Applications are taken on a rolling basis, so toss those babies in!
This month, come live, laugh, love at the Oscar Watch Parties in NYC or LA tomorrow. Then come hear about The Art of Producing, Directing & Writing for Broadway from your own office, couch, or toilet!
As always, if you have an idea for an event or programming, please tell us about it here. If you have an announcement about your work or someone else's, please share it here (members) and it will appear in our Weekly and/or next HIGHLIGHTS issue.
Best wishes,
Grace Shi
Operations and Communications
Jeff Sagansky Harvardwood TV Writers Intensive Spring 2025 Application DUE MARCH 3RD
The Jeff Sagansky Harvardwood TV Writers Program uses peer review, guest speakers, and weekly workshops to foster a motivating and supportive environment for each participant's writing. Participants will be placed in a genre-specific module (half-hour, hourlong, rewrite etc.) where writers read and provide personalized feedback for each other, supervised by experienced Module Leaders. Throughout the semester, guest speakers, panels, and social events supplement the workshop experience and help build a collaborative and meaningful community out here in Hollyweird and beyond. In other words, "Come for the deadlines, stay for the friends."
The 10-week program culminates in a "pitch panel" event where participants have the opportunity to pitch their HWP project to industry veterans, receive feedback on their concept, and practice the art of pitching.
Harvardwood Summer Internship Program (HSIP) 2025
We are pleased to launch the Harvardwood Summer Internship Program (HSIP) for 2025! Now in its 22nd year, HSIP provides a list of summer internship opportunities in the arts, media, and entertainment to interested Harvard students. In addition, HSIP facilitates career-related activities throughout the summer for participating students and companies virtually and/or in-person in LA, NY, and other cities with multiple students. Past program events have included film screenings, industry panels, and networking pool parties.
Internship opportunities are released and applications are accepted on a rolling basis. Positions may be filled on a first come, first served basis, so we encourage students and companies to submit their materials as early as possible.
The priority submission date for students is March 14, 2025. Preference will be given to students who apply before then.
NYC Internship Funding
Apply now for Independent Internships in New York City, a pilot program offered through the Harvard Club of New York Foundation, Mignone Center for Career Success and Office for the Arts. Undergraduate students can apply for funding in Summer 2025 to pursue independent, self-arranged internships or research assistantships at organizations based within New York City.
Deadline: Thursday, April 3, 11:59pm ET
Featured Job: Acquisitions, Development and Production Assistant
Job Description:
As the Assistant to the ADP team, you'll be a vital component in driving the daily operations surrounding acquisitions, production, and development. To thrive in this position, you'll need excellent organizational skills, a keen eye for detail, and the ability to work collaboratively across teams to ensure a smooth workflow and successful execution of departmental projects.
Alumni Profile: Haden Guest (Director of Harvard Film Archive)
by Laura Frustaci AB '21
Haden Guest is Director of the Harvard Film Archive where he curates the HFA cinematheque and its motion picture, manuscript and photographic collections. He has curated film programs for the Viennale, the Oberhausen Film Festival and the Gulbenkian Foundation and Museum in Lisbon where he organized the twelve part Cinema Dialogues: Harvard at the Gulbenkian (2013-15). Guest also oversees the Harvard Film Archive’s preservation program which focuses on independent and avant-garde cinema, but also recently preserved the previously lost Robert Flaherty film A NIGHT OF STORYTELLING, rediscovered in 2013 in Harvard’s Houghton Library. As Senior Lecturer in Harvard’s Department of Art, Film, and Visual Studies, Guest teaches courses on film history and archival practice. He holds a PhD in Film History from the University of California, Los Angeles. He is currently writing a critical history of Portuguese cinema after the 1974 Carnation Revolution. In 2015 Guest was awarded a Medal of Cultural Merit by the Secretary of Culture of Portugal, in recognition for his work curating and researching Portuguese cinema. He was a producer of Soon-Mi Yoo’s SONGS FROM THE NORTH, winner of major prizes including a Golden Leopard at the 2014 Locarno Film Festival, the DocLisboa Prize for Best First Feature and the Jury Prize at the Buenos Aires International Film Festival.
Haden Guest, Director of the Harvard Film Archive and Senior Lecturer in Art, Film and Visual Studies, developed his passion for film history and archival work while studying 19th century photography early in his career at the George Eastman Museum in Rochester, New York, where he found himself being increasingly drawn to that institution's renowned motion picture collection and the work of film preservation and curation. “I would religiously attend screenings at their beautiful theater,” Haden recalls. “At the time, film archiving had not yet been professionalized and there were no degree programs for that career.” But luckily, Haden had the opportunity to take one of the earliest film preservation classes for an experimental version of what would later become the Selznick School of Film Preservation.
This led Haden to Mexico City, where he completed internships at the two main archives there: the Filmoteca de la UNAM and the Cineteca Nacional. Upon his return, Haden completed his PhD from UCLA and then became the acting Director of the Warner Bros Archives, which houses the largest collection of papers from a single motion picture production company, covering everything from the company’s beginnings to 1967. While at USC, he was invited to apply for the position at Harvard Film Archive, and it was ultimately the perfect fit.
Since he first began as an archivist, Haden has observed that the career is becoming more professionalised, with schools of study on the subject. However, those who study the work don’t always have the context for the work. “We have professional archivists,” Haden notes, “but they may not actually have the scope of knowledge or have spent considerable time studying the actual thing they’re archiving. So, it’s a very different relationship to the materials. In other countries, like in Japan, where they don’t have a film archive program, at the National Film Archive of Japan, the majority of people working there are actually critics, scholars, and historians.” Because of this, Haden’s background as both an archivist and a historian is more unique in the United States, and that allows him to succeed as the Harvard Film Archive’s Director—because like Haden, the collection is also unique.
“It’s a fully curated collection,” Haden explains. “So, it’s a collection where, unlike some others, every film has been chosen with intention… Different archives have different missions. For example, a national film archive’s mission is typically to preserve national film heritage. So, if it’s the Portuguese Cinematheque, their focus is on Portuguese films. The same is true for Japan, Spain, Sweden, and other countries.” Or, for example, other archives in the U.S. that accept more broad categories of work. “Some archives, like UCLA, have received large donations of films from studios,” Haden says. “For example, MGM donated prints they were planning to discard, and UCLA rescued them. That’s incredibly important work, but it’s not how we operate.”
Harvard’s archive doesn’t follow any sort of mandates and requirements to accept films. “Of course, if there’s a film that’s particularly relevant to Harvard, that’s on our radar.” Haden elaborates. “But we don’t exclusively collect films made at Harvard or by alumni. Our mission is to build a teaching collection designed to support teaching, learning, and research at Harvard…. Every film in the archive was chosen for a reason. There’s been a decision-making process for each one. We have a fantastic film vault, but it’s limited in size. So, we have to be selective about what we accept.”
The Harvard Film Archive’s collection encompasses a remarkably broad range of historic cinema. It includes films dating from the earliest years of cinema in the 1890s up to the present day, and what truly sets it apart is that it’s a collection of actual film prints. “It’s a film archive in the truest sense,” Haden smiles, “with 35mm and 16mm films remaining our main focus.” And viewers are able to benefit from these films, because the HFA has a cinematheque program where they screen films almost daily year-round, usually with visiting filmmakers presenting their work that is then included in the collection.
Despite such successful program curation and restoration work, there are still challenges facing both the HFA and the larger film community. “We really are dedicated to the film,” Haden states, “[but] it's becoming increasingly difficult to do that work.” Across the globe, there are fewer photochemical labs that can process films needing to be restored. Technology is changing and evolving. Archiving is a specialized knowledge that isn’t being passed down. Students are more interested in working with digital collections, because there are more opportunities to work in that medium.
And at Harvard specifically, the HFA team is very limited by the number of hours in the day. “Our collection is larger than the Museum of Modern Art,” Haden says, “but our staff is less than half the size of them. So, we aren't able to do as much preservation work as we'd like to… There are not enough hours in the day to do the work that we have to do, and some of it is quite urgent in terms of the care of collections.”
However, despite challenges both within Harvard and worldwide, Haden notes there is a great wave of revivalism going through the film industry at the moment. “We're seeing across the country more venues that are screening film… We're in an interesting moment right now where I'm feeling personally more optimistic than I have in a long time in terms of the longevity of analog film,” Haden says. “And why is that important? It's important not for nostalgia's sake. It's important because it's a specific medium with specific qualities, qualities of light, of image, that just can't be replicated. Such extraordinary works of art have been made on film. We could even say made by film. It's a dialogue between the artist and the medium itself. If we were to lose that, we would lose something.”
This is where Haden’s passion and dedication to the craft spring from. “I'm going to be as active as possible in seeking to preserve as much as we can, to screen as much as we can,” He explains. “You can learn from film like you can from no other medium… I personally have learned so much about human experience, about the world, about culture, about language… Film can inspire, especially young minds, like nothing else. I love teaching film. I love that experience of students saying, ‘I've never seen anything like that in my life.’ Those are the words I love hearing.”
A love of film begets great filmmaking, according to Haden. He names recent Harvard filmmakers who embody this ideal. Damien Chazelle AB '07/'08, for example, “says openly that [the Harvard Film Archive’s work] was a formative experience for him,” Haden smiles. “Daniel Goldhaber AB '13 is another younger filmmaker who was a student of mine and would come almost obsessively to the HFA.”
Haden continues, “I really think that the great filmmakers are great film lovers. Truly, I think that's what distinguishes them. I've never met a great filmmaker who doesn't have opinions and thoughts about film, someone who doesn't go regularly to watch film. I really haven't. Filmmakers who are learning realize that the idea is not to invent a language, you don't invent every word, but you invent a way of speaking, of articulating, of shaping, of structuring a sentence. It's the same thing with film. You need to learn that language first… And you do that, I think, by watching films.”
When asked what his favorite film was, Haden laughed. “It changes,” He says. But currently, the film that holds the top spot is Nicholas Ray's THE LUSTY MEN (1952), a beautifully acted and directed drama blending fiction and documentary elements to explore the tensions between an aging rodeo cowboy, his protégé, and the protégé's wife. In a similar vein, a film that Haden believes everyone interested in the industry should see (besides THE LUSTY MEN), of course, is Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (1968). The HFA screened it recently, and Haden describes, “the film is prophetic in how it speaks about artificial intelligence… I was really dumbfounded by that film. I feel like it's a cautionary tale. It would be great for that to be re-released in theaters…It's stunning. So arresting visually, emotionally, the use of the music. The range of emotions the film contains, I found, you reach this sublimity, and then at the same time despair. It's fear, loneliness, and the question about, ‘What is our relationship to the universe?’”
Other recent projects, besides the thought-provoking re-screening of 2001, that Haden is most excited about include the restoration of I HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE (1980), a collaboration between James Baldwin and British documentarian Dick Fontaine. The work chronicles Baldwin's return to the American South to reflect on the civil rights movement. Haden is also leading a major collaboration with Japan's Shochiku Studios to create 35mm prints of 50 classic films, including works by Yasujirō Ozu to establish Harvard as a premier center for Japanese cinema outside Japan.
In 2025, Haden is looking forward to an excess of exciting and groundbreaking programming at the archive. As part of the Shochiku collaboration, the HFA will be hosting a complete retrospective of the films of Mikio Naruse. Catalan filmmaker Albert Serra will be visiting the HFA and classes on campus in April. Haden will also travel to Taipei to receive the papers of the great Taiwanese filmmaker, Edward Yang, among many other upcoming initiatives and screenings planned for this year.
Haden’s advice for those interested in the crucial work of film preservation is to have a passion for film, and truly be dedicated to the art, because it’s a vocation. But it’s also important to be “something of a generalist,” Haden notes. “You need to be curious and open minded…you're constantly going to encounter things that you know absolutely nothing about. That's humbling. It's also really exciting, because you learn new things, but then you have to be willing to recognize that you can't know everything.”
Industry News
This summer’s Tanglewood lineup includes a mix of beloved classics and pieces that some may feel should take a long rest. A notable highlight is MUSIC FOR NEW BODIES, a new theater-cantata-symphonic work by Matthew Aucoin AB ’12, exploring the theme of a “drastic medical procedure.” The piece will be performed on August 7. (Classical Scene)
Sky has acquired the remastered version of HOMICIDE: LIFE ON THE STREET, the acclaimed crime drama originally developed by Paul Attanasio AB ’81 JD ’84. (Deadline)
Jimmy Fallon is set to star in the upcoming Broadway comedy ALL IN: COMEDY ABOUT LOVE, written by Simon Rich AB ’07. The play, which explores humorous aspects of love and relationships, is scheduled to open at the Hudson Theatre on December 11, 2024. The production will feature a rotating cast, with Fallon performing during select weeks. (Deadline)
Scott Snyder is set to direct the upcoming horror film LATE NIGHT WITH THE DEVIL, which explores a live television broadcast that takes a terrifying turn. The film is produced by Steven Schneider MA, known for his work on PARANORMAL ACTIVITY and INSIDIOUS. (The Hollywood Reporter)
Netflix has released the first clip of THE ELECTRIC STATE, a sci-fi adventure film directed by the Russo brothers and starring Millie Bobby Brown. Nick van Dyk MBA ’95 serves as an executive producer on the film, which is set to premiere on March 14, 2025. (Deadline)
Director Noah Baumbach's upcoming Netflix film, JAY KELLY, boasts an ensemble cast including George Clooney, Adam Sandler, Laura Dern, Billy Crudup, and Riley Keough. The film is co-written by Baumbach and Emily Mortimer and is described as a "coming-of-age story about adults." Producers for the project include Baumbach himself, Amy Pascal, and David Heyman AB ’83. (Deadline)
Director Darren Aronofsky AB ’91 is set to helm the crime thriller CAUGHT STEALING, featuring a notable ensemble cast including Austin Butler, Zoë Kravitz, Regina King, Matt Smith, and Bad Bunny. The film, based on Charlie Huston's novel, follows former baseball player Hank Thompson as he becomes entangled in New York City's criminal underworld during the 1990s. (Deadline)
Hulu’s new comedy DELI BOYS follows two Pakistani-American brothers who uncover their late father’s secret criminal empire. Executive producer Vali Chandrasekaran AB ’03 is involved in the project. (Collider)
Adult Swim’s new animated series COMMON SIDE EFFECTS explores the unintended consequences of pharmaceutical trials with dark humor. Greg Daniels AB ’85, known for THE OFFICE and PARKS AND RECREATION, is co-executive producing this project. (The Hollywood Reporter)
Bashir Salahuddin AB ’98 reprises his role as Detective Summerville in the upcoming sequel ANOTHER SIMPLE FAVOR. The film, directed by Paul Feig, is set to premiere at the South by Southwest festival on March 7, 2025 and will be available on Amazon Prime Video starting May 1, 2025. (Variety)
Paramount Pictures is developing a film adaptation of Thomas Ray's novella SILENCER, with Ben Jacoby set to pen the screenplay. The project is being produced by Lorenzo di Bonaventura AB ’79, known for his work on the TRANSFORMERS and G.I. JOE franchises. (Deadline)
Ben Stiller is set to direct and executive produce the upcoming HBO dramedy series THE BAND which delves into the complexities of a fictional rock band's reunion after a decade-long hiatus. The series aims to explore themes of friendship, creativity, and the challenges of recapturing past glory. John Lesher AB ’88 will serve as an executive producer on the project. (The Hollywood Reporter)
Adam Scott will lead HOKUM, a psychological horror film directed by Damian McCarthy. Producer Steven Schneider MA is producing the project. (Variety)
Natalie Portman AB ’03 is set to lead the upcoming romantic comedy GOOD SEX, directed by Lena Dunham. The film explores the complexities of modern relationships and is slated to begin production in late 2025. (Deadline)
Acclaimed conductor and violinist Alan Gilbert ’89 reflects on his career, his time at Harvard, and his continued influence in the classical music world. (The Harvard Crimson)
In an interview with TIME, Al Franken AB ’73 reflects on the evolution of political humor on SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE (SNL) as the show approaches its 50th anniversary. Franken, a former SNL writer and cast member, discusses the challenges and significance of satirizing political figures and events, emphasizing the show's impact on American political discourse. (Time)
Jeremy Dawson AB ’88, a longtime Wes Anderson collaborator, is producing THE PHOENICIAN SCHEME, set for release in June 2025. (Deadline)
Six-time Emmy winner John Lithgow AB ’67 is in final negotiations to portray Professor Albus Dumbledore in HBO’s HARRY POTTER series. (Deadline)
Lea Salonga will star in THE VALE: ORIGINS, a short film prequel to Abigail Hing Wen AB ’99’s upcoming novel THE VALE. Wen wrote and directed the film, which explores themes of AI and virtual reality. (Deadline)
Pianist and Harvardwood Board Member Gerry Bryant AB ’76 is set to release THE COMPOSERS VOL. 2 this week under Navona Records. This album continues his mission to highlight historically underrecognized Black classical composers. For more information about Gerry and his music catalog, visit gerrybryant.com.
Welcome New Members
Harvardwood warmly welcomes all members who joined the organization last month (or those who migrated their membership over):
MJ Polelle
Nike Okafor
Joshua Myrvaagnes
Hannah Chun
Claire Orrange
Lindsey Ulin
Gibson Bartlett
Mary McDermott
Katrina Mortenson
Lucy Glenn
Galila Gray
Skyy Milan
Exclusive Q&A with Hillary Nussbaum AB '09 & Heather Taylor (writers, directors)
Hillary Nussbaum AB '09 is a writer, producer, marketer, and co-founder of the creative studio, Cereal Made. Hillary co-created the narrative sci-fi podcast, ANOMALY, which premiered as an Official Selection at the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival and was selected for IFP Week's inaugural Audio Lab in 2020. She previously worked at the Emmy-winning production company, Lion Television, developing unscripted series for national cable networks like TLC, AMC, and A&E. She has also produced branded videos for clients including 1000heads, MME, Arm Technology, UN Environment, and Palmer’s, and served as Producer, Director, and Assistant Director on a variety of short films.
Heather Taylor is a writer/director from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, and a Canadian/UK/US citizen who splits her time between the US and Canada. She creates TV, film, and audio projects about messy, complicated family relationships, often told through a genre lens, aiming to destigmatize mental illness, disabilities, and poverty. Heather recently staffed on Syfy/Peacock’s REVIVAL, wrote for season two of THE HARDY BOYS (Disney+/Hulu), and her feature LETHAL LOVE is streaming on Netflix. A 2022 RespectAbility Lab Fellow, Heather also co-hosts the podcast BRAAAINS, exploring mental health and disability representation in media.
Q: Valentine’s Day is coming up and romance is in the air… and congratulations on your audiobook KNOW YOUR NEWLYWED being named one of Audible’s best romance audio books of the year for 2024! What inspired you both to collaborate on this project? Was there a particular spark behind the concept of the dating game show and the fake marriage trope?
Hillary: Thank you! We were thrilled about the news, and we’re really excited about this project – it was a really fun one to work on, with a great team and an awesome cast. The idea of a rom-com set against the backdrop of a dating gameshow held a particular appeal for me, because I used to work for a production company known for gameshows and formats. I spent a lot of time in my early career developing gameshows with both entertainment value and emotional resonance, just like the show in KNOW YOUR NEWLYWED, and it was fun to revisit that.
Heather: As fake dating is a common trope in a lot of romance novels and movies, we thought we could give a new spin to a tried and true story – instead of fake dating to win a promotion or to win a bet, what about a fake marriage between two people for the love of their favorite childhood show? Once we invented KNOW YOUR NEWLYWED as a gameshow, we needed to find the perfect couple to compete. Of course, we had to have the whole thing spin out of control, but at the story's core are two people who pretend to be in love to do the one thing they love the most – and then fall in love in the process!
Q: How did your experience working together on previous narrative audio projects, like ANOMALY, influence the storytelling and structure of this audiobook?
Hillary: We’ve had a lot of experience developing and creating for audio, and we were able to bring that to this project. As a screenwriter, you’re so trained to think about things visually — how can I convey this complex idea with an image? — and in audio, you have to upend that instinct, thinking instead about how you can use sound to do that work of establishing mood, creating a sense of place, and orienting your listeners.
Heather: While developing KNOW YOUR NEWLYWED, we discovered that its structure had to be different from some of our other audio projects. Our editor shared her insight on audiobook listeners’ expectations – such as staying longer in each character’s POV instead of intercutting between characters like you would in a narrative podcast or in film and TV. This allows the listener to sink deeper into the world of each of the protagonists before switching perspectives, which aligns with what you’d experience if reading a book with dual narration. It was an educational experience to take the lessons we learned working in other audio formats and adapt them to this specific audio medium. It was also fun to have longer scenes so we could not only add banter and sizzle, but spend more time with our wonderful cast of characters.
Q: Cleo and Javi's relationship unfolds in a high-stakes reality TV setting. How did you balance humor and emotional depth while developing their dynamic?
Hillary and Heather: In every story, the characters come first. So our focus was always on Cleo and Javi and their emotional reality, and then we would build off that, figuring out how to layer in humor or amp up tension with a gameshow challenge.
Q: The audiobook features a full cast with Tyler Posey and Mary Mouser. What was it like working with such a talented ensemble? Did their performances shape the final version of the story in any unexpected ways?
Hillary: We were so lucky to have the opportunity to work with such a talented cast. Any time actors join a project, they find ways to add new nuance to a character, and this one was no exception — from the romantic leads to the supporting characters, everyone brought something extra. And Tyler and Mary’s chemistry is off the charts. We were surprised and delighted every time we listened to a cut.
Heather: Yes! And there were a few times when we were giving notes that I just got caught up in listening to Javi and Cleo – at one point I even squealed, wanting them to kiss! We’re the ones who wrote it, so of course I knew it was coming, but I got swept away. That’s just how good Tyler and Mary were together!
Q: You both have backgrounds in different aspects and mediums of storytelling. How did your distinct creative voices influence this collaboration?
Hillary and Heather: We both bring different perspectives and strengths to each project. We grew up in very different communities with different family dynamics, and write a range of characters with different perspectives on the world. That gives us a strong foundation. Then, before we write a word of dialogue, we spend a lot of time working out not only what will happen in the story, but how each character would react to it. Heather comes from the TV drama and feature space, so she’s good at seeing the larger structural story at play, and Hillary always pushes us to not only think through a character lens, but to examine what we’re saying as writers — and what we want our listeners to take away from the story. Hillary then punches up the jokes and Heather puts on her music/ poetry hat and listens to the scripts like music, changing up dialogue to create a cadence that projects the right mood for each scene.
Q: The story touches on personal ambition, vulnerability, and public personas. Were there any challenges in keeping the characters relatable while navigating these themes?
Hillary: If anything, they’re some of the most relatable themes. We may not all be “America’s Sweethearts,” but to some degree, we’re all balancing our public and private personas on a day-to-day basis, trying to figure out what we do and don’t put online about ourselves, and how that impacts everything from our romantic or personal relationships to our professional personas. So even though Cleo and Javi’s circumstances are unique, we’re asking ourselves similar questions every day, navigating the line between truth and fiction in what information we put online.
Heather: At the heart of any story are the choices the characters make. And it’s through those choices that we recognize the greater game at play – the ambition, the interplay between public and private personas, and what it takes to be vulnerable. I think the challenge always comes in developing the initial building blocks of the story – creating a world only our characters can live in and who, through their interactions, clash and come together in the right way to navigate these themes. Once you get that right, you can take your characters and the story anywhere!
Q: Heather, your work often explores complex family dynamics and mental health themes. Did those interests/experiences inform any aspects of Cleo and Javi’s personal growth throughout the story?
Heather: Definitely. In order to understand a character’s choices, you have to understand what they went through to get to where they are today. A lot of that is influenced by family and it can impact your mental health in a variety of ways. For instance, Cleo grew up with a single mom who had to worry a lot about money – in fact, money was the thing that broke up her parents’ marriage. That not only makes her want to rely more on herself and her work than on a relationship, but it complicates her feelings about potentially winning KNOW YOUR NEWLYWED and taking the prize money from someone who needs it more. Javi, on the other hand, never thought his own dreams were good enough – his parents always wanted him to have different ambitions and a major relationship in Javi’s life ended when his girlfriend didn’t think he was “enough.” By putting Cleo and Javi together in this story, it allows them to work through the impact their past has had on them. By working through this together, they can move forward, knowing more about themselves and maybe even healing a little.
Q: Hillary, having a background in unscripted TV development, did your experience with reality formats inspire how the game show scenes were written and structured?
Hillary: It did! It was really important to us to make the gameshow elements believable, and for KNOW YOUR NEWLYWED to feel like a show that you could actually watch. I was excited to dig in and dust off that development side of my brain, but the gameplay for KNOW YOUR NEWLYWED was surprisingly difficult to get right. We had to design a show that felt big enough for television, with flashy sets and visually compelling challenges, while bearing in mind that our audience would never actually be able to see any of it, and everything had to play just as clearly and dramatically on audio.
Q: What do you hope listeners take away from KNOW YOUR NEWLYWED—whether about relationships, self-discovery, or the reality TV experience itself?
Hillary: Mainly, we hope listeners are entertained! But we also hope people listen to Cleo and Javi’s story and remember that a little generosity goes a long way. I love the way Javi’s friends fully embrace Cleo and participate in her final gesture and the way Cleo’s mom jumps right in to support her daughter. I hope listeners are inspired to find ways to support the people they love. And of course, there’s also the gentle reminder that nothing on TV or social media ever really captures the full story.
Heather: Entertainment is always key! But I also hope that listeners realize that they need to surround themselves with people who support their ambitions and love them for who they are. Also, that communication is key in relationships and that you never know the full story until you ask.
Q: Are there any exciting projects or collaborations you’re working on next that you can share with us?
Hillary: We’ve got some new audio projects in the early stages — pitching and development. Nothing we can share just yet, but we’re excited about them!
Heather: I also had the opportunity to write on a new TV show called REVIVAL for SYFY network which will be out in 2025. It's based on the Image Comics series by Tim Seeley and Mike Norton about the sudden resurrection of the recently deceased in a small Wisconsin town. While the town's residents grapple with the miraculous event, local police officer Dana Cypress investigates a murder mystery where everyone, both living and undead, are suspects.
Oscars Watch Party (NYC, NY)
Sunday 03/02
Join us for an in-person Oscars Watch Party
How accurate are your picks for Best Actress and Best Actor? Who will take home the Oscar for Best Picture this year? Watch the fashion, excitement, and drama of the 96th Academy Awards with other members of Harvardwood, LIVE AND IN-PERSON!
Community members in NYC, RSVP below! There will be food and non-alcoholic beverages!
RSVP HERE
Oscars Watch Party (Los Angeles, CA)
Sunday 03/02
Join us for an in-person Oscars Watch Party
How accurate are your picks for Best Actress and Best Actor? Who will take home the Oscar for Best Picture this year? Watch the fashion, excitement, and drama of the 96th Academy Awards with other members of Harvardwood, LIVE AND IN-PERSON!
St. Felix is an award-winning restaurant/lounge with locations in Hollywood and West Hollywood. This event will be at the Hollywood location. At our viewing party, you can order from their delicious menu of signature cocktails and dishes, shared plates, desserts and more!
The Art of Producing, Directing & Writing for Broadway
Wednesday 03/12
Join us for a dynamic discussion with some of Broadway’s most innovative creative minds as they share insights into the ever-evolving world of theater. From directing and producing to groundbreaking storytelling, our speakers will explore the process of bringing new works to life, reimagining classics, and pushing the boundaries of live performance.
Last Month at Harvardwood
Last Month at Harvardwood, we had a Harvardwood Writers Program meet up in LA, attended the Office for the Arts 50th anniversary performance in Cambridge, and more!
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