In this issue:
MESSAGE FROM HARVARDWOOD
NEWS
Announcing 2025 Harvardwood Emerging Visual Artist Fellow Carlos Agredano AB '20
2025-2026 Harvardwood Artist Launch Fellowship APPLICATIONS OPEN
2025 Boston Harvardwood Writers Program Application
Harvardwood Merch!
Featured Job: Television Business Affairs Assistant
FEATURES
Alumni Profile: Nicholas Weinstock AB '91 (producer, executive)
Industry News
Welcome New Members
Exclusive Q&A with Kelley Purcell AB '02 (musician, executive)
CALENDAR & NOTES
Last Month at Harvardwood
Want to submit your success(es) to Harvardwood HIGHLIGHTS? Do so by posting here!
Shiver into the New Year with Harvardwood and keep the creative fires burning bright this January!
First up, a massive congratulations to our 2025 Harvardwood Emerging Visual Artist Fellow, Carlos Agredano AB '20! We can’t wait to see how he shines this year. Wanna be like Carlos? Applications are now OPEN for the 2025-2026 Harvardwood Artist Launch Fellowship!
Calling all Beantown-based scribes: The 2025 Boston Harvardwood Writers Program application is LIVE. Time to dust off those screenplays, pilots, and prose pieces and show us what you got. And finally, here by popular demand: Harvardwood Merch! Everybody loves stuff, and this is some great stuff!
We also have an upcoming Harvardwood Lowdown on January 16th—come get the scoop! You know you want to.
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
Harvardwood Emerging Visual Artist Fellow 2024-2025
Congratulations to Carlos Agredano AB '20, our 2025 Harvardwood Emerging Visual Artist Fellow!
Carlos Agredano (b. 1998, Los Angeles, CA) utilizes readymade and process-based sculptures to materialize issues of race and inequity, particularly within the context of American urban planning systems. Employing toxic, ephemeral, and site- specific material, Agredano’s work exposes how the design and organization of city space perpetuate disparity across Los Angeles. Agredano’s most recent exhibitions include: Por El Rio organized by Clockshop at the Los Angeles State Historic Park; Scupper and Strong Winds Ahead at François Ghebaly Gallery in Los Angeles; Smog Check at Human Resources Gallery in Los Angeles; CO, SO2, NO2, O3, PM2.5 and PM10 at the New Wight Gallery at UCLA; and In Practice: You may go, but this will bring you back at SculptureCenter in New York City. He received his A.B. in History and Literature from Harvard University and his M.F.A. in Sculpture from the UCLA School of Art.
Harvardwood Founder Mia Riverton Alpert (AB '99) said, "Harvardwood has long aspired to better serve the passionate and talented Harvard visual arts community. We are grateful to our generous donor who has enabled us to take a groundbreaking step in that direction with the creation of the Harvardwood Emerging Visual Artist Fellowship, dedicated to supporting artists working in visual, studio, and fine art mediums. We are delighted to welcome Carlos Agredano as our inaugural Harvardwood Emerging Visual Artist Fellow and are excited to introduce his authentic and powerful work to the Harvardwood community."
2025-2026 Harvardwood Artist Launch Fellowship - APPLICATIONS OPEN!
Harvardwood is pleased to announce the 2025-2026 Harvardwood Artist Launch Fellowship (HALF) for graduating seniors or recent Harvard alumni working or seeking to work in the arts, media, and entertainment fields. The multiyear gift, generously underwritten by Mia Riverton Alpert '99, David Alpert '97, Lisa Henson '82 and Jonathan Sethna HGSE '03, includes a $24,000 per-artist grant, awarded annually, to support two recent graduates from the College for one year as they pursue their artistic projects. Each HALF recipient will also be connected to one or more advisors in their field of interest to help guide their creative endeavors.
The Harvardwood Artist Launch Fellowship is awarded annually to different artists. Grant funds can be used at the grantee’s discretion. The purpose of the funds is to provide the opportunity for an individual to choose the pursuit of artistic endeavors without consideration of financial need for the duration of the grant period. There is no restriction on the artistic field; musicians, dancers, visual artists, actors, writers, filmmakers, and artists/creators in all disciplines are encouraged to apply.
Application deadline: Monday, January 27th.
2025 Boston Harvardwood Writers Program Application
Strengthen your TV pilot and feature film writing skills in the Boston Harvardwood Writers Program! Applications are now open for the Spring semester group that will meet Tuesdays 7:30 – 9:00 pm, twice per month (January 28 to May 6, 2025) on Zoom to workshop scripts by participants. We welcome Harvard College undergraduates in this group of mixed ages and writing experience.
Application deadline: Monday, January 6, 2025. APPLY HERE
Featured Job: Television Business Affairs - Assistant
Job Description:
Creative Artists Agency is currently seeking an Assistant to support an Executive in the Television Business Affairs department. The position offers an opportunity to learn about business affairs, work with industry executives and lawyers, as well as gain exposure to entertainment law. The ideal candidate is a self-starter, possessing a desire to gain exposure to the business and legal aspects of the entertainment industry (this role is not for candidates seeking the Agent career path).
Alumni Profile: Nicholas Weinstock AB '91 (producer, executive)
by Laura Frustaci AB '21
Nicholas Weinstock AB '91 is the founder and president of Invention Studios, an independent production company developing a wide range of features and television shows. Weinstock began his career in New York City as an editor at Random House and Riverhead Books, and then as the author of a nonfiction book and two novels, before moving to Los Angeles to work at 20th Century Fox Television. Upon leaving Fox, he ran Apatow Productions with writer/director Judd Apatow, where they produced movies including FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL, STEP BROTHERS, PINEAPPLE EXPRESS, GET HIM TO THE GREEK and BRIDESMAIDS. He went on to help launch the production company Chernin Entertainment alongside Peter Chernin, and for the past six years to partner with actor/director Ben Stiller and serve as the creative head of their company Red Hour Films. In 2022 he shifted full-time to running his own company, Invention Studios. More here.
Nicholas Weinstock AB '91 would describe his journey into entertainment as nothing short of “wildly staggered.” After graduating from Harvard with a degree in anthropology, Nicholas attended graduate school for literature at the University of Botswana. “You know, that old Harvard-U.B. feeder,” Nicholas smiles, “[then I] did further graduate studies in creative writing at the University of Cape Town, lived in South Africa during the country’s first national elections when Nelson Mandela became president, and finally came back to my hometown of New York City to work in book publishing at Random House and then Riverhead Books.”
After deciding to veer off the editorial path and become a full-time writer himself, Nicholas wrote articles and essays for notable publications including the New York Times Magazine, Vogue, and National Public Radio. He soon found himself author of three published books and husband to fellow writer Amanda. Suddenly in need of health insurance and steadier income than novels and playwriting could provide, Nicholas sought a day job as a communications executive (or in his words, “a boring business writer”) at a media company called News Corporation (the then-parent company of Fox Entertainment Group, among other subsidiaries). But, he recalls, “My bosses soon saw through my Banana Republic pinstripe suit and asked me to move to Los Angeles and work on the more creative side of the company.” And we’re all thankful that they did!
Nicholas soon moved out to L.A. and worked at 20th Century Fox Television, developing comedy series including HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER and MY NAME IS EARL. He then left Fox after a few years to partner with Judd Apatow and run Apatow Productions, overseeing the development of hugely fun movies: FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL, STEP BROTHERS, PINEAPPLE EXPRESS, GET HIM TO THE GREEK, and BRIDESMAIDS.
After the wild and somewhat unexpected success of BRIDESMAIDS, Nicholas departed from Apatow Productions to help friend (and former News Corp President / COO) Peter Chernin start his production company, Chernin Entertainment. Following that, Nicholas moved along to partner with Ben Stiller and run Red Hour Films together. In his six years there, Nicholas produced movies including ALEX STRANGELOVE, THE PACKAGE, PLUS ONE, and shows including IN THE DARK, ESCAPE AT DANNEMORA, and SEVERANCE.
“At which point,” Nicholas says with a smile, “I finally stopped partnering with other people, and finally re-embraced my love of travel and international cultures and languages, and started my own company, Invention Studios, three years ago. Invention has a simple but stunningly rare mandate to be a genuinely global creative company, one based in Los Angeles and working at the top levels of Hollywood but with executives, partners, and projects all over the world.” While he continues as an executive producer of SEVERANCE, Nicholas and Invention Studios are responsible for producing films and series by local creators in Italy, France, Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, Egypt, Australia, New Zealand, India, Lebanon, Iceland and beyond—in addition to American movies like recent film THELMA and upcoming movies IN MEMORIAM and THE SAVIORS. Nicholas adds, “And having a blast!”
THELMA is Nicholas’s 2024 critical hit starring June Squibb as a witty and whip-smart 93-year-old grandmother who loses $10,000 to a con artist over the phone. So, she embarks on a journey to recover what was taken from her. “This was pure fun, pure joy,” Nicholas explains of the film, “and a movie that’s willing to talk in loving and honest ways about aging and family and life and challenge in ways that, in messy 2024, I think we were all craving. And it’s not part of a multibillion-dollar franchise owned by a major entertainment corporation. It’s just a movie. And a lovely one. It was so heartening that something so small and mighty could become a hit.” This was June’s first-ever leading role after over seventy years in the business, and she even did all her own stunts!
When developing this film and other projects he works on, Nicholas doesn’t look for any kind of commercial viability; in fact, he feels that’s an overused metric. “It encourages financiers and studios to desperately seek a pre-proven financial model, and total fiscal assurance in advance, when in fact the greatest hits in the entertainment business have never come with either of those things,” Nicholas explains. Instead of looking for a script that reads like a success, he looks for two things in the writers, directors, and talent he works with: “One, an obsession with quality, as I’m a perfectionist nerd and only want to help craft the best and coolest possible stuff; and two, the bravery to be original.” He continues, “You can find one or the other a lot of the time–either quality or originality–which is always exciting, but often doesn’t lead to total winners. When you’re lucky enough to find both in the same person, you’ve got someone–and something –potentially explosive.”
Nicholas has found incredible partnership opportunities through his work abroad. “There is so much skilled and vibrant and courageous talent in places like Kenya, where we’re running a talent incubator program that’s birthing phenomenal projects as we speak,” Nicholas states, “and Nigeria and Ghana and Rwanda. And if you just treat those projects like you’d treat any high-end Hollywood movie or show in development—i.e., not as “charity” but as an urgent financial opportunity, and with genuine respect for the creator and a dogged determination to help them make their product brilliant and high-profile and successful—you’re going to make things that can actually change the world.”
A compelling story that can change the world is about one thing, in producer Nicholas’s eyes: “Crafting a story that is so distinctive, so sharply specific and bravely powerful, that it cuts through the haze and clutter of our lives and hits people in the gut.” In order to find even more of those types of powerful stories, Nicholas launched an organization called Craft Services during the heart of the pandemic. “I realized that no one could travel, and therefore emerging writers and writers [who are also] directors were a bit screwed,” Nicholas says, “without the ability to do in-person internships, shadow directors, be in real writers’ rooms, or any of the other things that generally launch Hollywood careers. So, I started a Saturday Zoom for new screenwriters who don’t live in Los Angeles, just to help people with their scripts and talk about their projects and careers and advise them however I could.”
Those Zooms quickly became immensely popular, so Nicholas expanded them. He brought on special guest advisors like studio and streaming executives, producers, directors, actors, and agents—and that made the meet-ups even more popular! “And then I had the idea,” Nicholas declares. “If I’m going to help writers who don’t live in Los Angeles, maybe I could help people as far from Los Angeles as possible. So, I started calling film schools in other countries and asking if they had any recent graduates who are trying to be screenwriters and could use some support and more of a community. And, basically, they all said yes.”
Four years later, Craft Services has grown to over 900 members across the U.S. and in Mexico, Europe, the U.K., across Africa, India, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Iceland, and more. They have two Zooms every weekend. Nicholas hired a screenwriting instructor to run three writing workshops a week so that members can improve their scripts and receive help and feedback from worldwide peers, with a website and Discord page. “And my company, Invention, is now producing around a dozen films and shows by Craft Services writers,” Nicholas exclaims. “[It’s] the ultimate worldwide hack, and a fast-track for these writers to viable Hollywood projects and careers, as well as a fabulous creative source for us. Hugely fun.”
For those aspiring writers and producers out there, first of all, consider joining Craft Services and taking advantage of the opportunity for global collaboration. Second, Nicholas offers the following words of wisdom: “Be bold, be welcoming of weirdos, plan to do about three times as many projects as anyone advises you to do, and for God’s sake, don’t take yourself too seriously. Producing, especially in rough-and-tumble 2025, entails falling on your face several times a week. Get used to it. In fact, even better. Enjoy it. Most jobs are a lot more boring.”
Industry News
The full cast of Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ upcoming production, PURPOSE, has been revealed. The play is directed by Phylicia Rashad and produced by Debra Martin Chase JD '81, LaChanze, Rashad Chambers, David Stone, Marc Platt, and Aaron Glick. (Blavity)
Sarah Bremner, Noah Oppenheim AB '00, Lloyd Braun launch Film and TV production banner. Jeff Zucker AB '86 and RedBird Capital Partners are providing the financial backing to kickstart a slate of projects for the newly named Prologue Entertainment. (Hollywood Reporter)
Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, and Shawn Levy will reunite for BOY BAND, a long-gestating movie about the aftermath of young stardom which would see Reynolds and Jackman play a pair of former boy band members who reunite in their middle age. The first draft was incredible and written by Jesse Andrews AB '04. (Empire Online)
CAMP DAVID by Megan Amram AB '10 and Joseph Carnegie has been featured on The 2024 Black List. The screenplay is described to be a story of a young George W. Bush MBA '75 and his siblings as they are hunted by a masked killer while partying at Camp David in 1981. (Deadline)
A MAN ON THE INSIDE has been renewed for a second season at Netflix. The comedy starring Ted Danson is set to return in 2025. The series, created by Mike Schur AB '97 and produced by Universal Television, was also named one of the American Film Institute’s TV programs of the year. (Hollywood Reporter)
Hulu has shared the first look at the upcoming second season of the GLAAD Media Award-winning 2D animated series THE BRAVEST KNIGHT. All six episodes stream on December 13. The guest cast includes Wallace Shawn AB '65 as Rumplestiltskin. (AWN)
Peacock has won a bidding war for the reboot of FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS. It was inspired by a 1990 nonfiction book by H.G. “Buzz” Bissinger NIE '86 about the football team at Permian High School in Odessa, Texas. (Hollywood Reporter)
New MEET THE PARENTS film is in the works at Universal with Robert De Niro, Ben Stiller returning. John Hamburg is writing the script for the comedy franchise that launched with director Jay Roach’s 2000 original. Producers include De Niro and Jane Rosenthal for Tribeca Productions, Jay Roach for Delirious Media and Stiller and John Lesher AB '88 for Red Hour Films. (Hollywood Reporter)
John Mulaney and Simon Rich AB '06, former S.N.L. writing partners, have reunited for Rich’s “superficially wacky” Broadway show, ALL IN: COMEDY ABOUT LOVE, a collection of Rich’s prose pieces lightly adapted for Broadway that opens at the Hudson Theatre on December 22nd. (New York Times)
BEL-AIR, the modern-day drama reimagining of the popular '90s sitcom THE FRESH PRINCE OF BEL-AIR, has been picked up for a fourth season, which will be its last. Terence Carter AB '01 executive produces alongside others. (Deadline)
The celebration of Lincoln Center 2024-25 Visionary Artist Rubén Blades LLM '85 continues with the U.S. premiere of the large-scale musical work MAESTRA VIDA, and more to be presented at Lincoln Center. (Broadway World)
Watch SOCIAL STUDIES, an eye-opening 5-part docuseries on FX following a group of teenagers who gave director Lauren Greenfield AB '87 GSA '88 an inside look into their online lives. She also discusses in an interview how social media has shaped the adults that these teens are becoming. (USA Today)
“Transitioning from Digital back to Film” Watch this interview with Ed Lachman AB '65 on the movie MARIA, a film based on the life of Maria Callas. (Filmmaker Magazine)
Liberty Media appoints Chase Carey MBA '80 to board of directors effective January 1, 2025. He will serve on the Executive Committee of the Liberty Media Board. (Liberty Media)
Filmmaker RJ Cutler AB '83 opens up about working with Martha Stewart on her Netflix documentary and his MLB World Series documentary coming to Apple. Read this interview. (Collider)
CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM’S Jeff Schaffer AB '91 is set to direct a new comedy film titled BLOW UP THE CHAT, which is in development at Warner Bros. (GeekTyrant)
Read this interview with director Joshua Oppenheimer AB '96, best known for his stunning documentary THE ACT OF KILLING. He talks about THE END, a musical with songs sung by six survivors living in a luxurious bunker. (The Verge)
Welcome New Members
Harvardwood warmly welcomes all members who joined the organization last month (or those who migrated their membership over):
Ina Bhoopalam
George Scholomite
Lana Schwartz
Ian Chan
Elizabeth Filippouli
Maya Post
Roland Abuntori
Niska Baddoo-Encalade
Dean Kim
Natalie Bernstein
Randy Bruno-Piverger
Max Surprenant
Laura Lanteri
Exclusive Q&A with Kelley Purcell AB '02 (musician, executive)
Kelley Purcell AB '02 serves as Vice President of Membership & Industry Relations for the Recording Academy®, overseeing all aspects of membership outreach, peer review, member account services, and the Academy's Chapter systems, including regional and local teams, Chapter events and programming, and all aspects of Chapter service. More here!
Q: Congratulations on the release of your newest album! What inspired you to write it?
Thanks so much! Truthfully, my husband (C-Aye Purcell) and I are always writing music, we can’t help ourselves! We get to a certain point where we are eager to solidify the music in a format that can be easily shared with our community, and that is when we discipline ourselves to get in the studio and record. With this particular album, YV Ministry Vol. 2, it is our hope that it inspires anyone who listens to draw closer to God in a personal relationship. The mission of YV (which stands for Yielded Vessels) is to use music to help people connect spiritually and build community.
Q: Can you talk about how the collaboration worked between you and your writing/performance partner, who also happens to be your husband? How do you work together?
I feel so incredibly blessed that C-Aye and I are a wonderful complement to each other. The initial writing of a new song may come about in different ways—he and I write together sometimes, but we also write on our own or with other creative partners (shout-out to one of my best friends and writing partners, the supremely talented Jamie Beutel!). But when it comes to getting our songs produced and engineered, C-Aye’s talents definitely take over. He is a whiz in the studio and is so passionate and meticulous with the cultivation of recorded sound. I’m more of the performer. I come alive on stage and am the one always on a search for our next gig!
Q: What was the biggest challenge you faced as you were writing and recording?
Time is typically the biggest challenge. As an artist, it is easy to spend hours, days, weeks, and more on your work. But of course, there are always other activities to balance in life. It’s also challenging to assess an actual end point to finish and release the work.
Q: You’re also the Vice President of the Recording Academy. Are you gearing up for the Grammys next month?
Yes! I’m grateful the GRAMMYs come so soon after the holidays because I’m prone to the post-Christmas blues. But getting ready for the GRAMMYs perks me right up again!
Q: What are the difficulties of coordinating such an intensive and well-watched live awards ceremony like that? And what is your favorite part of the evening?
The GRAMMYs are associated with a level of excellence that my colleagues and I take very seriously. And that encompasses everything from the submission and voting processes all the way through the execution of the show. If you can believe it, the GRAMMY process re-starts each Spring when members can submit proposals for category changes. It then flows into the Summer with our Online Entry Process, then onto our voting rounds in the Fall, and then culminates with the show everyone watches in February. It’s a year-round and thorough endeavor! And that’s not even including all the other work we do in support of the music community throughout the year. It is always busy for us, but very rewarding.
My favorite part is actually earlier, when GRAMMY day kicks off with the Premiere Ceremony. Most GRAMMYs are given out before the televised show, and I get to celebrate so many of our members across a multitude of genres and crafts who may not be celebrities but who are wildly talented.
Q: You’ve mentioned previously that your background in arts administration prepared you well for this role with the Recording Academy, and before that you studied Economics at Harvard. How did your time at Harvard shape your career trajectory?
While I was in school, I didn’t realize what a powerful role my extracurricular activities would play in shaping my career. I’m grateful that the balance of those activities with my academic pursuits uniquely prepared me for the path ahead. I chose Economics because I wanted to study business, but what I didn’t know was what exactly I wanted to “sell.” The more involved I was in music and the arts on campus, the more I understood that I wanted the arts to play a prominent role in the rest of my life in some way, shape, or form. To be a successful arts administrator you must have a deep empathy for artists and the artistic process, but then intertwine that with the discipline, drive, and thick skin it takes to package, market, and sell the final product.
Q: I know you’ve just completed a huge and exciting project— is there anything you’re already looking ahead to in 2025? Whether with the Recording Academy or as an independent artist?
With respect to YV Ministry, we’re looking forward to creating more opportunities for adults and children to experience the joy of creating and sharing music, and how that can bring you in closer relationship to God. The underlying mission of YV is to use music to help people connect spiritually to God and to build community with each other. That’s what music has done for me and C-Aye, and it is our goal to pay it forward.
And on the Recording Academy front, I’m eager to work with my colleagues to steward some exciting changes in the Membership Department that we believe will unlock a greater sense of belonging and community for our members. For me, it all comes down to community. When the lights and the cameras turn off what we all truly have that is real is each other.
Q: What qualities do you think are essential for effective leadership in the music industry today? And what advice would you give to young women aspiring to leadership roles in the music industry?
I think two essential qualities for leadership in any industry would be empathy and deep listening. Most of us fall victim to a sense of scarcity, as if there is not enough time or space for all of us to be heard or share our ideas. But even though it may sound like a paradox, the more we slow down and take time to listen to each other, I find that more time and space open up for everyone. Women tend to have the higher levels of emotional intelligence that allow us to exercise those skills naturally, so what I would say to young women aspiring to leadership roles is to trust yourselves. You don’t have to turn into something you’re not to be successful.
Q: How do you see the Recording Academy evolving to better support artists and music professionals across diverse genres and regions?
The Recording Academy is in an exciting era of transformation as we work to build a stronger sense of community for all members and expand our mission worldwide. As the “borders” of music rapidly come down, it’s important to us at the Academy that our work reflects that, and that we warmly embrace the global music community.
Q: What does being named to the 2024 Billboard Women in Music list mean to you, and how does it reflect your journey in the music industry?
It was an incredible honor to be recognized by Billboard this past year. It meant so much because it felt like an acknowledgement that I’m on the right track with the work I’ve been doing. In my role you become accustomed to celebrating the achievements of others, so I often had to take a moment during that ceremony to remember that I was, in fact, being celebrated! This past year has been incredible overall as we surpassed our goal of adding 2500 new voting women to our ranks by 2025 early, and also diversified our membership along many other fronts. I’m inspired to continue our transformational work!
Q: Where can we listen to your new album?
You can find “YV Ministry, Vol 2” on all streaming platforms and either visit yvministry.com or follow us @yvministry on IG, Facebook, and TikTok for news on upcoming shows and all YV updates!
Last Month at Harvardwood
Last Month at Harvardwood, we ringle rangled in the new year bicoastally with the NYC Holiday Party and LA Holiday Party, talked Animation with Danielle Feinberg, and more!
Want to submit your success(es) to Harvardwood HIGHLIGHTS? Do so by posting here!
Become a Harvardwood member! We work hard to create programming that you, the membership, would like to be engaged with. Please consider joining Harvardwood and becoming an active member of our arts, media, and entertainment community!
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