 Bob Shaye BOB SHAYE (B.A. ’60) When it comes to balancing art and commerce in the motion picture industry, nobody has done it with more success than Bob Shaye. As the Founder, Co-Chairman and Co-CEO of New Line Cinema and a filmmaker himself, Shaye spent more than 40 years developing and distributing films that reflect a wide array of cultural movements, creating new paradigms for the motion picture business, and most importantly, entertaining millions of moviegoers. In June 2008, Shaye and his longtime partner at New Line, Michael Lynne, formed a new independent film company called Unique Features, which aims to produce two to three movies a year. The company has a three-year first-look agreement with Warner Bros. and will develop and produce projects across a wide range of genres and budgets. Shaye’s love of motion pictures and his success at making them began at an early age. When he was just 15 years-old, he made his debut production – a training film for employees of his father’s supermarket. It wasn’t long after that when he took First Prize at the prestigious Society of Cinematologists’ Rosenthal Competition, where he and Martin Scorsese shared the Best Motion Picture by an American Director Under the Age of 25 honor. It was while working at the Museum of Modern Art that Shaye first began to explore the world of distribution. In 1967, he formed New Line Cinema in his Greenwich Village apartment. Building on early re-releases such as Reefer Madness and first-run domestic distribution of foreign films, New Line broke out commercially with the release of such popular franchises as the Street Fighter series, The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and A Nightmare on Elm Street. Those successful franchises set the stage for such later New Line hits as Rush Hour, Austin Powers, Dumb & Dumber, The Wedding Singer, Seven, Boogie Nights, and Blade. With Shaye at the helm, New Line developed a reputation for working miracles in “niche” markets and became a trailblazer in the industry thanks to its unconventional business strategies, many of which have since become industry norms. The studio’s maverick style was never more evident than in 1998, when writer/director Peter Jackson brought his 25-minute pitch reel for a big screen epic of J.R.R. Tolkien’s classic The Lord of the Rings to New Line, hoping to turn the three volumes into two films. A long-time fan of the book, Shaye suggested Jackson make three films and greenlit an unprecedented simultaneous production for all three installments. The results of the gamble were staggering. Combined, The Lord of the Rings trilogy was nominated for 30 Oscars, winning 17, including a clean sweep of 11 awards for The Return of the King, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay. At the box office, all three films are among the top 10 grossing films of all time, earning a combined total of nearly $3 billion worldwide. Other breakout films included Elf, Freddy vs. Jason, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Wedding Crashers, Monster-in-Law, The Notebook, and Hairspray (which set a box-office record for the highest opening for a musical in film history), plus provocative fare such as the Oscar-nominated A History of Violence and Little Children, for which Kate Winslet received her fifth Oscar nomination. New Line also maintained a commitment to art films through the years – first with its Fine Line Features division, which formed in 1990 and released such critically acclaimed pictures as American Splendor, Shine, The Sweet Hereafter and Dancer in the Dark. In 2005, New Line teamed up with HBO Films to form Picturehouse, which released such films as Pan’s Labyrinth and A Prairie Home Companion. In 2007, Shaye returned to the director’s chair for the sci-fi adventure film The Last Mimzy, based on Lewis Padgett’s acclaimed short story “Mimzy Were the Borogroves.” A University of Michigan graduate with a degree in business administration and a J.D. degree from Columbia University Law School, Shaye is also a Fulbright Scholar, member of the New York State Bar, and has served on the Board of Trustees of the Motion Picture Pioneers, and the American Film Institute. |
 Jon Glickman JON GLICKMAN (B.A. ‘91) Jonathan Glickman is President of Spyglass Entertainment films, where he is directly responsible for development and production. In 2008, Glickman produced the sleeper romantic-comedy hit 27 Dresses and the holiday comedy Four Christmases. While at Spyglass, Glickman has also produced such international hits as Shanghai Noon, Count of Monte Cristo, The Pacifier, and The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy. In 1993, Glickman joined Caravan Pictures as an intern and by 1997 he had worked his way up to President of the company. During this time he worked on projects such as the smash hit Rush Hour franchise, While You Were Sleeping, Grosse Pointe Blank and Inspector Gadget. Glickman, who is married to television writer Christy Callahan, graduated with honors in English from the University of Michigan and attended the University of Southern California’s Peter Stark program. He currently serves on the Southern California Board of Rock the Vote, as well as The University of Southern California Peter Stark Program’s Board of Mentors. |
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 Richard Olshansky RICHARD N. OLSHANSKY (B.A. ’79, J.D. ’83) Richard Olshansky currently serves as the Executive Vice President of NBC Universal Television Business Affairs. In that capacity he oversees the negotiation and execution of development deals with writers, actors, producers, directors; rights acquisitions, music licensing and clearance deals and other ancillary agreements for all television programming developed or produced by NBC Universal Television. Such programs currently include scripted shows such as Heroes, Law & Order, Law & Order SVU, The Office, Worst Week, 30 Rock, House, Saturday Night Live, Late Night with Conan O’Brien, the Tonight Show, Life, Kath and Kim, Knight Rider, and Lipstick Jungle, among others. Olshansky also oversees all negotiation and licensing arrangements in connection with unscripted television programming for the NBC network such as Biggest Loser, Deal or No Deal, Americas Got Talent, and American Gladiators, among many others. As head of business affairs at a major media company, Mr. Olshansky has a front seat and has lent a shaping hand to cutting edge television legal and business matters including digital distribution, new media development, Screen Actors Guild and Writers Guild of America negotiations, and profit definition. As a member of the leadership group charged with running all facets of the NBC broadcast network and studio he also has direct experience in all facets of the television business including legal, scheduling, promotion, publicity, distribution, physical production, finance, research and program development. Olshansky received a B.A. from the University of Michigan in English in 1979 and a J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School in 1983, where he graduated cum laude. He is currently a member of the State Bar of California. |
 Scott Aversano SCOTT AVERSANO (M.A. ‘96) Scott Aversano is an independent producer who is currently working on Five Killers at Lionsgate, and The Last Airbender with M. Night Shyamalan at Paramount Pictures. He recently served as executive producer on Angus, Thongs, and Perfect Snogging for Paramount Pictures International and Nickelodeon Movies. Formerly President of MTV Films and Nickelodeon Movies, Aversano was responsible the label’s annual slate of films, including the acquisition of literary properties, development, and production of motion pictures. Before that, he spent seven years working with producer Scott Rudin, where he produced a variety of films including Failure to Launch, Team America, Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, The Manchurian Candidate, School of Rock, Changing Lanes and Orange County. Aversano was Director of Development at Paramount Pictures from 1997 through 1999, where he served as an executive on such films as Wonder Boys, South Park: Bigger, Longer, Uncut, Bringing Out the Dead, and Runaway Bride. Aversano started his career in the entertainment industry at Sid Ganis’ Out of the Blue Entertainment in 1996. Aversano graduated from Brown University and has a M.A. in English Literature from University of Michigan. |
 David Paymer DAVID PAYMER (B.A. ’75) David Paymer is an Academy Award-nominated American character actor, seen in such films as Quiz Show, Searching for Bobby Fischer, City Slickers, Crazy People, State and Main, Payback, Get Shorty, Carpool, The American President and Ocean’s Thirteen. Paymer was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1992 for Mr. Saturday Night, written and directed by Billy Crystal. Paymer graduated from the University of Michigan with a BA in theater and psychology. Paymer’s acting career began in 1979 with the film The In-Laws. In total, Paymer has appeared in over 90 films in his career, as well as many popular television shows, including Taxi, Happy Days, L.A. Law, Ghost Whisperer and Entourage. You may also recognize him from recurring roles on Cheers, Murphy Brown, and The Larry Sanders Show. |
 Adam Herz ADAM HERZ Screenwriter, owner of the extremely popular “American Pie” franchise, and founder of production company Terra Firma Films. |
 Dan Abrams DAN ABRAMS (B.A. ’95) Dan Abrams is on the Producers Guild of America’s AP Council Board of Delegates. He was the Executive Producer of The Smart Show for Endemol Digital Studios, as well as a webisode series for BodogTV/Riptown Media which was named an Official Honoree in the 2008 Webby Awards. In addition to producing reality television, documentaries, game shows & talk shows, Abrams has written and directed pilot-presentations & plays at the HBO/WB Television workspace, The Powerhouse Theater and The Stella Adler Theater. Abrams co-founded UMEC and co-edited the UMEC Handbook. |