FACULTY D - F
Scott Derrickson is a screenwriter, producer and director who got his first big break in the entertainment industry co-writing and directing Hellraiser: Inferno. Since that time he has co-written Urban Legends: Final Cut and The Land of Plenty (with Wim Wenders), and penned screenplays for Disney, Dimension Films, Jerry Bruckheimer, and Martin Scorcese. However he is most well- known for co-writing and directing the box office smash The Exorcism of Emily Rose. Currently he is directing an adaptation of Paradise Lost for Legendary Pictures, and working on an adaptation of The Devils’ Knot by Mara Leveritt for Dimension. Scott is a Graduate of Biola University and the USC Film School.
Craig Detweiler is a filmmaker, author and cultural commentator. Craig directs the new Center for Entertainment, Media andCulture at Pepperdine University. His comedic documentary, Purple State of Mind, won Best Spiritual Film at the 2008 Breckenridge Festival of Film and the Audience Award at the 2009 Tallahassee Film Festival. His latest book, Into the Dark, searches for the sacred amidst the top-ranked films on the Internet Movie Database. Craig has appeared on ABC’s Nightline, CNN, Fox News, NPR, and in The New York Times. He blogs at www.purplestateofmind.com.
Jocelyn Diaz is the Vice President for ABC Television in their Drama Development department. During her seven years at the network, she has contributed to the development of several critically acclaimed hit shows, including Ugly Betty, Pushing Daisies, Lost, Desperate Housewives, Grey’s Anatomy, Invasion, and What About Brian. She takes daily pitches from writers and purchases more than sixty scripts for development in a typical pitch season. She has also served as a mentor for the Disney Writing Fellowship. Jocelyn hails from Washington, D.C. and began her Hollywood career as an assistant at ICM.
Leilani Downer has written for several network television sitcoms including A Different World for NBC and Good News for UPN. She was executive story editor for ABC’s Growing Pains, and was a producer on Hangin’ With Mr. Cooper on ABC, Fresh Prince of Bel Air on NBC, Sister, Sister on the WB and Rewind for FOX. In
addition, Leilani has written pilots for FOX, ABC and NBC.