Going to Film School at New Line University

Nearly everyone works long hours in the movie business, but the lights really burn late at night at New Line Cinema, which has quietly become Hollywood’s in-house film school. It’s almost impossible to walk through the studio’s Robertson Boulevard offices without bumping into someone who has sold a movie while moonlighting from his or her day job.

When a USC screenwriting student recently asked Toby Emmerich the best film school to go to if someone wanted to break into Hollywood, New Line’s president of music replied: “There are lots of great things about USC, NYU and AFI, but if I were you, I’d get a job at New Line.�

Emmerich speaks from experience. He wrote “Frequency,� a surprise hit that’s made $35 million after four weeks in the theaters. And he’s far from alone.

At a time when increasingly few studio executives have any hands-on filmmaking experience, New Line has encouraged its staffers to try their hand at writing or directing movies.

* Jeffrey Reddick co-wrote “Final Destination,� a $20-million teen horror film released in March that is the studio’s most profitable movie of the year. Day job: assistant to Bob Friedman, New Line’s co-chairman of worldwide marketing.

* Mark Kaufman wrote “Toothless,� a film for ABC’s “Wonderful World of Disney.� He has other scripts under option at New Line TV. Day job: vice president of music affairs.

* John Touhey wrote the English translation for “Pokemon: The First Movie,� as well as numerous episodes for the “Pokemon� TV series. Day job: executive director of accounting.

* Josh Ravetch sold his script, “Mainland,� to Universal Pictures and is writing an adaptation of his play, “Girders,� with director Jonathan Lynne. Day job: vice president of production resources.

* Mike Skelton sold his script, “Expiration Date,� to Imagine Entertainment. It’s being rewritten as a possible vehicle for Martin Lawrence. Day job: coordinator for home video.

In addition, Valerie McCaffrey, New Line’s head of casting, recently left the studio after directing the film “Wish You Were Dead,� a black comedy starring Gene Simmons, Mary Steenburgen and Cary Elwes. New Line marketing president Joe Nimziki is writing several scripts and has a clause in his contract allowing him to take time off to direct a film.

The mind-set starts at the top. In 1990, New Line Chairman Bob Shaye took time off from running the company to direct the film “Book of Love.� New Line production chief Mike De Luca, who’s been at the studio since he was a 19-year-old intern, wrote “Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare,� the sixth installment of the studio’s “Nightmare on Elm Street� series as well as “In the Mouth of Madness,� a John Carpenter film New Line released in 1995.

“I’ve always wanted to have a company full of people who have creative ambitions because it helps give the company a creative atmosphere,� says Shaye, who plans to direct a film for TNT later this year. “People used to go to Schwab’s Pharmacy to discover actresses. And I like to think that our company is just as open for discoveries.�

It’s not uncommon for industry insiders to sell movies: Michael Alaimo, an assistant to producer Lloyd Levin, just sold a spec script to Joe Roth’s new company. Writer-director George Huang’s boss-from-hell movie satire, “Swimming With Sharks,� was based in part on his days as a Scott Rudin assistant. But script sales rarely come from staffers working in corporate studio environments. New Line is the exception.

“I predict that within five years someone here will make a movie on 3/4-inch tape and instead of going to Sundance, they’ll just hand it to Bob or Mike and New Line will put it out,� says Emmerich, who has several more scripts in development at New Line. “When you work here, you say to yourself, ‘I’m not just an assistant or a music executive, I can get a movie made too.’ �

Obviously working at a movie studio gives writers great access. Emmerich says that before he began the “Frequency� script he pitched his idea for the film to De Luca, who pointed out some flaws in the story that Emmerich fixed before he began writing. After the script was finished, Emmerich elicited an unbiased response by submitting it to New Line’s story department using a pseudonym and a fake cover letter from a lawyer friend.

Finally Emmerich came in one morning and gave the script to Shaye, De Luca and New Line Vice President Richard Saperstein. They read the script, went to lunch at the Ivy and by the time they came back, they’d agreed to option it. At first, Emmerich let his agent do the deal, but when negotiations bogged down, he went into Shaye’s office and hammered out an agreement.

“I said, ‘Here’s what I want and why I think it’s fair,’ � Emmerich says. “And Bob said ‘OK’ and stuck out his hand for a handshake. I said, ‘Thanks, but this is too emotional. I need a hug.’ �

Emmerich visited the set daily during filming and lobbied director Gregory Hoblit to cast his brother, Noah Emmerich (“The Truman Show�), who ended up in the film. “I had to do a lot of rewrites and lost a lot of arguments, but it definitely made a difference making a film for my own company,� Emmerich says.

Being on the inside of a studio also gives writers a bracing glimpse of the realpolitik of moviemaking. Reddick says he learned “invaluable lessons� watching Friedman design the marketing materials for “Final Destination.� Emmerich says one reason that “Frequency� has a story line about a son communicating with his father across a 30-year time span is that New Line home video chief Steve Einhorn told him that time-travel movies had the best sales performance of any genre.

“It really helps to be exposed to the fiscal and production demands of filmmaking,� Ravetch says. “It doesn’t limit your imagination, but it makes you more pragmatic as a writer. You’re always aware that you could be writing a $70-million movie, so it makes you think, how can I write this in a way that might be a little more cost-effective?�

New Line staffers say they always offer New Line first crack at their material, but insist they receive no special treatment. Kaufman says the studio has passed on five of his scripts. Even though New Line made Reddick’s script, it was completely rewritten before it was shot. On the other hand, when Kaufman’s Disney film came out, Shaye was the first person to send along laudatory reviews with a congratulatory note.

One of the few people who had a rocky experience was De Luca, who has given up moonlighting after “In the Mouth of Madness� bombed at the box office. “I would never do it again,� he says. “It was terrible to carry the financial burden of being the head of production and sitting in on all meetings hearing just how much money the movie that I wrote was going to lose for our company.�

Still, De Luca remains an invaluable sounding board for less experienced New Line staffers. Skelton quit his job as an Indiana policeman and moved to Los Angeles after reading a magazine profile about De Luca. Skelton says that De Luca helped him with his first script when he was a New Line mail-room employee.

Making a living as a screenwriter remains a precarious existence, so having a day job provides most New Liners with a greater sense of security. “I have a wife and kid and a new house so I’m not going to run off and totally follow my dreams,� Touhey says. “I’ve seen how tough the film business can be, so when you have bosses who say, ‘Stay, you can do both things here,’ you feel that you’re part of a really supportive environment.�

Ravetch says that having a full-time job has also helped him be a more productive writer. “I think it would be really tough getting up and facing the computer each morning. Too many of my screenwriter friends are isolated, depressed and on Prozac. It’s better to have a stimulating day job where you’ve involved with people.�

And in fact most staffers have no plans to quit their day jobs. “You not only get great access to the industry, but the people here have been really unselfish with their time,� Skelton says. “I started in the mail room. Now the young guys who work in the mail room are coming to me, asking me to read their scripts.�