ART EISENSON
Art Eisenson’s television writing includes the mini-series Beggarman, Thief, and episodes and staff assignments on What Really Happened to the Class, of ’65, Kojak, Eischied, The Gangster Chronicles, The Mississippi, Lucan, Shannon and High Mountain Rangers. He founded the American Film Institute Alumni Association and Armed and Literate. He chaired the Writers Guild of America, West’s Committee on Freedom of Expression and Censorship and the Ad-hoc Committee on MBA Compliance, and served on WGAw’s Career Longevity, New Media, and Waiver Committees.
He graduated from Columbia College in 1963, holds Masters of Arts degrees from Stanford University, and was a Screenwriting Fellow at the American Film Institute in 1973.
A named plaintiff in the Television Writers Cases and member of its Plaintiff Liaison Committee, he intends to implement FFF’s mandate to support class members, reopen access to employment for television’s older writers, and most importantly address the truncation of television narrative by restoring stories about persons of all ages told by persons of all ages.
RON FRIEDMAN
Ron Friedman has written for television in every decade and genre starting in the 60’s. Bewitched, Gilligan’s Island, Starksy and Hutch, and Fantasy Island are among his credits. In animation he created G.I. JOE, and other series, and wrote THE TRANSFORMERS: THE MOVIE. A graduate of Carnegie Mellon School of Architecture, he co-founded a de facto children’s animation network in China, is Adjunct Professor of Screenwriting at USC and Chapman University, wrote the book for a new musical, UPRISING, a play, TALKING PITTSBURGH, and is now finishing a book, I KILLED OPTIMUS PRIME. A lead named plaintiff in the Television Writers cases, and member of its Plaintiffs Liaison Committee, he believes the FFF will create strategic liaisons between older writers, investors, performers, and directors to provide funding, employment opportunities, product placement, and new business models in this, The Age of Convergence.
ALLAN LEICHT
Allan Leicht began his career as a director, producer and artistic director on the New York City and regional theatrical scene, but has been writing for television for most of his career. He received an Emmy Award and Writers' Guild Award for Ryan's Hope, and was nominated for an Emmy for Adam, the television movie that set in motion the national campaign on behalf of missing and abducted children. He also served as both producer and co-executive producer for television series, was the Program Director of The New Dramatists, and was a speechwriter and communications officer for the City of New York. He has now returned to freelance writing for the stage and television. One of the original named plaintiffs in the Television Writers Cases, and a member of its Plaintiff Liaison Committee, he feels the FFF will greatly benefit older writers: financially through loans and grants, socially by solidifying partnerships with other organizations, and through other innovative ventures. He is married and lives in close proximity to his adult children in New York.
RON LUX
Ron Lux's writing career includes work in both half-hour and hour episodic shows, comedy-variety and animation. In 1992, he won a Scott Newman Award for an episode he co-wrote for Murphy Brown. He has a master's degree from the University of Washington in Public Administration and has worked for the federal government at both the regional and national levels, primarily in civil rights and education. He also worked as a community organizer before it was considered an evil occupation. He is also a member of the Golf Writers Association and, besides writing for periodicals; he is currently co-producing a documentary on middle-aged golfers who aspire to compete on the Champions (senior) PGA Tour, The Oldest Rookies. He is excited about the potential for the FFF to assist older writers in not only promoting their work, but to build and maintain a sense of community. For example, the use of table readings would not only help writers polish their scripts but would also facilitate writers to once again experience a creative, group process.
LARRY MINTZ
Over the course of Larry Mintz’s thirty-six year career in television writing, he has co-written dozens of episodes, many for series which have gone on to be pop-culture touchstones, such as Mork and Mindy, Sanford and Son, and What’s Happening. He’s also had a hand in writing and producing hundreds more, and is co-writer of 4 TV movies, including Angels in the End Zone. He was both a named plaintiff and a lead plaintiff in the Television Writers Cases, and a member of its Plaintiff Liaison Committee. In addition to his ongoing work as a writer, he enjoys working with children and young adults as a substitute teacher in Santa Monica. As an advocate for the rights of older writers since the beginning of this lawsuit, he looks forward to using the FFF as a vehicle to continue the fight. He is confident that the success and profitability of the FFF will improve the economic lives of seasoned television writers as well as reintroduce them to the mainstream market place.
JOHN D. F. BLACK
John D. F. Black went into show business at age three, hired to sing at a Pittsburgh nightclub. The audience threw money. He threw it back, pridefulness that he soon outgrew. Between then and 1960 when he became a full-time writer, he functioned as a writer-director-actor (Youth Review, Carnegie Libraries, performer (Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera, Worcester Drama Festival), acted in New York (a dead body on live television, a Venusian on Space Cadet), then survived a stint in the Army. He broke in at Warner Bros. with Surfside Six, wrote westerns and detective shows, moved on to Universal, then Desilu Paramount as a writer-producer on Star Trek. He also wrote features, notably Shaft. His awards include a WGA, nominations for a second WGA and an Emmy. He has served on the WGA and PGA boards and the TV Academy’s Blue Ribbon Panel. Remembering the older writers who aided him as a younger writer, he will do everything possible to change the horrendous ageism reality.
BRENDAN N. WARD
Brendan N. Ward's career in film and television balances writing and producing with teaching a new generation of artists. A professor of Film at Columbia University for over 20 years, he's also taught at renowned international institutions: including the Film Academy (Vietnam), the Escuela Internacional de Cine (Cuba), the Dramatiska Institute (Sweden), and FAMU (the Film and Television Academy of Czechoslovakia). His television writing includes scripts for Maude, (Emmy nomination) and for Good Times Harry (CBS). He served as Story Editor at Procter and Gamble productions for 10 years. He has a M.F.A. from the University of Iowa Writer's Workshop and is President of One Hand Clapping Pictures. Currently, he is organizing the Higher Institute for Media Pedagogy, an E.U. training program for writer development. He is excited about the potential of the FFF. He believes the skills and experience level of older writers have hardly been tapped and hopes he can help change that through the creation of a Writers Firm to serve as consultants and script development experts to the industry.+