Orem, UT — Five Utah Valley University (UVU) film students are participating in the university’s inaugural “UVU-FanX Studios Writer’s Room,” a groundbreaking program that offers aspiring film students the opportunity to gain real-world experience writing screenplays.
The students are being mentored by renowned Hollywood screenwriter and film producer, Ed Neumeier, best known for his work on iconic films such as Robocop and Starship Troopers. The students are being paid for their screenplays, which will be directly considered for production by FanX Studios.
The UVU-FanX Studios Writer’s Room is based on the old writer’s room concept from Hollywood studios and aims to provide film students with hands-on experience in screenwriting under the guidance of industry professionals. This unique initiative is a collaboration between UVU’s Innovation Academy, FanX Studios, and Ed Neumeier with current members of his writer’s team who have ties to Utah.
“UVU’s Innovation Academy launched the UVU-FanX Studios Writer’s Room as one of many initiatives that we are developing with Brent Baum and Jonathon Schwartz of FanX Studios to provide elite professional experiences that impact our students and their futures,” said Tammy Clark, associate provost for Academic Innovation at UVU.
Each of the five selected students — Sawyer Burton, a junior from Highland, Utah; Anika Halverson, a junior from Thousand Oaks, California; John Hintz, a senior from Provo, Utah; Spencer Schwindeman, a junior from Salt Lake City; and Jessa Wright, a junior from Sparks, Nevada — are working closely with Neumeier and the team at FanX Studios to write and develop their own manuscripts based on individual prompts provided by FanX Studios executives last spring and this summer.
The students were chosen from a cohort of 27 enrolled in “DGM 250R — Special Topics in Digital Cinema — Hollywood Pitch Course” last spring. This unique course was specifically developed for this initiative and taught by Assistant Professor Jerell Rosales, Brent Baum, CEO, and Jonathan Schwartz, Chief Creative Officer at FanX Studios.
Highlights of the course included students outlining their movie ideas into a pitch for film producers and learning to consider potential production constraints related to their ideas. In addition to their pitch work, students were selected based on their writing skills, professionalism, reliability, and ability to collaborate.
The UVU-FanX Studios Writer’s Room is one-way UVU is working to provide students with an unparalleled professional experience and expert mentorship to develop their talents and build their resumes.
About Utah Valley University
At Utah Valley University, we believe everyone deserves the transforming benefits of high-quality education — and it needs to be affordable, accessible, and flexible. With opportunities to earn everything from certificates to master’s degrees, our students succeed by gaining real-world experience and developing career-ready skills. We continue to invite people to come as they are — and leave ready and prepared to make a difference in the world.
For more information, visit UVU’s Newsroom website for fact sheets, maps, leadership bios, history, photos, b-roll, filming policies, and a list of interview-ready faculty experts at https://www.uvu.edu/newsroom/# or scan this QR code.
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