Becoming... Executive Vice President at Maven Screen Media Jenny Halper ("The Kindergarten Teacher," "A Mouthful of Air")

Jenny Halper is EVP of Film at Maven Screen Media, where her credits include THE KINDERGARTEN TEACHER, DRIVEWAYS, AMERICAN HONEY, SKIN, and A MOUTHFUL OF AIR. As a screenwriter her scripts have placed three times on the Black List, on the Athena List, received grants from Film Independent and the Tribeca Film Institute, and been selected for New York Stage and Film’s Workshop (in association with Powerhouse Theater). She is currently developing an anthology series with Freida Pinto and Emily Verellen Strom's Freebird Films and Forest Whitaker and Nina Yang Bongiovi's Significant Productions, a limited series with Michael Dinner's Rooney McP Productions, and adapting a non-fiction book for Social Construct Films (THE MAURITANIAN). In this episode, we talk about: • Her first “real” job at Plum Pictures led her directly to where she is now developing at Mandalay Vision • How working at a small indie production company allowed for her a lot of responsibilities very quickly• Why We Are the best thing she’s ever worked on and how she didn’t hold back at all • Why she only looked at companies that made movies that she loved • Working on The Kindergarden Teacher with Maggie Gyllenhaal • How often do you need the actors attached • Why you can’t have everything in one basket in development because some things never cross the finish line • Maven finds financing for some projects and for some, they provide financing • What advice she would give people to who are attached to making only projects • Taking on A Mouthful of Air with Amanda Seyfried, Paul Giamatti, and Finn Wittrock. Written and directed by Mentor Amy Koppelman and produced by Michael Harrop (Showtime’s Billions) • Would you rather have a big director or big actor attached? • Which cds she loves working with • Some things she looks for in deciding to develop projects Guest: IMDb Linkedin Instagram Maven Screen Media Host: Instagram: @MentorsontheMic @MichelleSimoneMiller Twitter: @MentorsontheMic @MichelleSimoneM Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/mentorsonthemic Website: www.michellesimonemiller.com Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/24mmichelle Favorite Quotes from the Episode: “To get a movie made, there’s a lot of different stumbling blocks along the way. And a lot of it is who you know and who you can get into the hands of that is going to help you reach the next hurdle.” “That’s the thing that I think is great about creating is… you can do it and no one has to give you permission.” Resources: To sign up for classes with Jenny, visit ( www.stowestorylabs.org ) or ( www.stowestorylabs.org/writers-room )