Josh Schwartz

Film school at USC

In 1995, Schwartz realized his boyhood dream of attending film school to study screen and television writing at the University of Southern California. He became a member of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity, as well as president of the chapter, and got to see what it's like "behind the gated communities and big mansions" of Southern California which would later provide fodder for his pilot "The O.C."cite web |title=Schwartz struts his stuff on 'O.C.' |author=Kim Holmes |date=2004-04-22 |publisher=Daily Trojan |url=http://www.dailytrojan.com/media/storage/paper679/news/2004/04/22/Lifestyle/Schwartz.Struts.His.Stuff.On.o.c-667916.shtml?norewrite200701071734&sourcedomain=www.dailytrojan.com |accessdate=2007-01-07] [cite web|title=Exclusive Interview: Josh Schwartz, Creator/Executive Producer of The OC| url=http://www.buddytv.com/articles/the-oc/exclusive-interview-josh-scwar-2651.aspx |publisher=BuddyTV |date=2006-12-14 |accessdate=2007-01-04] He was an outsider, and met many kids from Newport Beach. [cite web |title=The OC revealed |author=Libby Slate |year=2005 |publisher=Academy of Television Arts and Sciences |url=http://www.emmys.org/events/2005/theoc.php |accessdate=2007-01-16] While at USC, Schwartz tried out stand-up comedy at a talent show in front of five hundred people but was "disabused of [the] notion very quickly."cite video | people = Charlie Rose (interviewer) | date = November 22, 2004 | title = The Charlie Rose Show: A Conversation with Josh Schwartz | url = http://www.charlierose.com/shows/2004/11/22/2/a-conversation-with-the-o-c-creator-josh-schwartz | format = Flash | medium = Television production | accessdate = 2007-08-15]

In his sophomore year he wrote an autobiographical screenplay about his senior year in high school called "Providence" as a homework assignment for school. He entered his screenplay into a contest for the prestigious Nicholson Award in Screenwriting, the highest honor awarded to undergraduates, and won. Unfortunately, the prize was quickly revoked; to be eligible he had to be in his junior year at the time. Schwartz says "I dropped it in a box – I was a sophomore. And I got a call over the summer saying I’d won, and I’d won five thousand dollars. I was like, "This is awesome!" Then they called back, like, the next day and said you had to be a junior to enter and not a sophomore, so they were rescinding it. I was pretty pissed."cite web|title=Schwartz uses youth to his advantage…A look behind The O.C.| author=Molly Shalgos |year=2004|month=May |publisher=Lumino Magazine |url=http://www.luminomagazine.com/2004.05/spotlight/ocpf.html |accessdate=2007-01-04] Nevertheless, with help from connections through his fraternity, he generated interest in Hollywood to buy his screenplay. In 1997, Sony's TriStar Pictures bought his first screenplay in a bidding war for a deal guaranteeing $550,000 and worth up to $1 million while he was still a junior in college. It was never made. [cite web|title=Big Journey at WB; Foster exits 'Double' |author=Michael Fleming |date=1997-12-15 |publisher=Variety |url=http://www.variety.com/article/VR111776851.html?categoryid=3&cs=1 |accessdate=2007-01-07]

Schwartz got an agent and subsequently wrote a TV pilot called "Brookfield" for ABC/Disney while he was still studying at USC. It was a boarding school drama about wealthy kids in New England and was his first TV pilot script; it sold only a few months after he had sold his first feature film script. "Brookfield" was produced starring Amy Smart and Eric Balfour but never aired. Schwartz then dropped out of USC to work full-timecite news |title=The man behind the OC |author=Hadley Freeman |date=2005-01-22 |publisher=Guardian Unlimited |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/weekend/story/0,,1394603,00.html |accessdate=2007-01-16] cite web |title=Young Hollywood guns flex primetime muscle |author=Cynthia Littleton |date=2003-08-04 |publisher=Hollywood Reporter |url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/search/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1947702 |accessdate=2007-01-07] and wrote another pilot called "Wall to Wall Records", a drama about working in a music store for Warner Bros. TV that was also produced but never aired. [cite web|title=The O.C. |url=http://fox61tv.com/first/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=129&Itemid=48 |publisher=Fox61tv.com |accessdate=2007-01-04]

"The O.C."

In 2003 Schwartz wrote a pilot called "The O.C." for Warner Bros. TV and Wonderland Sound and Vision which was produced with him as creator and executive producer. At 26 he was the youngest ever creator of a TV show, which didn't sit well with Fox executives who sent a series of seasoned pros armed with conventional ideas about how to steer the show and a bitterness about sharing control with someone so young. That changed when Bob DeLaurentis signed on, a TV veteran who proved to be a nurturing presence on the show. Schwartz and Bob DeLaurentis collaborate on supervising and approving the editors' work on each episode in post-production. [ [http://www.theocshow.com/news/news_82.htm The OC Show - OC News Articles ] ]

"The O.C." became an instant teen favorite when it debuted on the FOX Network in August 2003. The show popularized its setting, Orange County, and led to copycats like MTV's reality show "" and the Bravo documentary series "The Real Housewives of Orange County".cite web|title=Once hot, 'O.C.' now struggles |author=Suzanne C. Ryan |url=http://www.boston.com/news/globe/living/articles/2006/10/29/occupational_hazard/ |date=2006-10-29 |publisher=The Boston Globe |accessdate=2007-01-04] The show became well known for its music, chosen by Schwartz according to his own musical tastes and designed to reflect who the characters were, bringing an awareness to indie rock bands like Death Cab for Cutie and Rooney. He has said that he partially based "The O.C." character Seth Cohen on his own Jewish upbringing. [cite web| title=Schwartz still likes hanging in ‘The O.C.’ |url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12070285/ |publisher=MSNBC.com |date=2006-03-29 |accessdate=2007-01-04] Schwartz was nominated for a Writers Guild of America Award for the pilot [cite web |title=56th Annual Writers Guild Awards -- Television and Radio Nominees Announced |year=2004 |url=http://www.wgaeast.org/awards/2004/01/20/tvnom/ |accessdate=2007-01-07] as well as a People's Choice Award. "The O.C." was named "Guilty Pleasure of the Year" by VH1. In 2007, after 4 seasons "The O.C." was canceled due to a significant ratings drop. [cite web|title=Fox bids farewell to 'The OC' |author=Michael Schneider |date=2007-01-03 |publisher=Variety |url=http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117956637.html?categoryid=14&cs=1 |accessdate=2007-01-04]

Schwartz has stayed in touch with his alma maters: The Wheeler School and USC. In 2005 he endowed USC with its first television writing scholarship: The Josh Schwartz Scholarship. The scholarship is intended to be awarded annually to a student or students concentrating on writing for television and in need of financial assistance, who have completed a TV pilot script and first season synopsis. [cite web |title="The OC” Creator Josh Schwartz Endows Inaugural Scholarship for Television Writing Students at USC School of Cinema-Television |url=http://cinema.usc.edu/summer/resources/newsDetail.cfm?news_id=197 |publisher=USC School of Cinematic Arts|accessdate=2007-01-04] Although Schwartz never graduated from USC he has since worked with many USC alumni. In 2005 he gave a commencement speech to The Wheeler School.

Schwartz has worked on his share of stalled projects. In 2004 he worked as a script doctor on the J. J. Abrams "Superman" screenplay that Warner Bros. eventually tossed.cite web |title=Supe's on with 'X' man: Singer flies with pic |author=Cathy Dunkley, Michael Fleming |date=2004-07-18 |publisher=Variety |url=http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117907948.html?categoryid=1236&cs=1 |accessdate=2007-01-08] [cite web |title='Superman' back in orbit: Moritz, Adler in negotiations to produce |author=Michael Fleming, Cathy Dunkley |date=2004-06-16 |publisher=Variety |url=http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117906596.html?categoryid=13&cs=1 |accessdate=2007-01-08] He sold a pilot to Fox called "Alphabet City", a drama about a New York tabloid but it was never produced.Horn, John (March 21, 2004). "He's 'O.C.'s' fresh breeze: Infusing it with sly wit and detail, creator Josh Schwartz has raised the Fox drama above its prime-time soap trappings". "Los Angeles Times" through " [http://www.lexisnexis.com/universe LexisNexis® Academic] ". Retrieved on August 15, 2007.] He also worked on a drama for Fox called "Athens" described as an "OC" companion but it was never produced. According to the futon critic "Athens" will explore the intertwined lives and loves of the fictional New England community of Athens, home to a prestigious university that acts as a dividing line between the rich outsiders who study and teach there, and the local townies who serve that population. Viewers will enter this world through the friendship of JED HALL, a young English professor, and ETHAN FROST, an 18-year-old freshman whose arrival changes the dynamics for everyone in Athens. Like Ryan and Seth on "The O.C.," Jed and Ethan will become unlikely partners in an alliance that will forever change them and the people of this town. [cite web |title=Fox turning a triple play: Hit trio fields new timeslots |author=Josef Adalian, Michael Schneider |date=2004-05-18 |publisher=Variety |url=http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117905236.html?categoryid=14&cs=1 |accessdate=2007-01-08] cite web |title=Josh Schwartz of The O.C. Interview |author=Daniel Robert Epstein |publisher=UnderGroundOnline |url=http://www.ugo.com/channels/filmtv/features/theoc/default.asp |accessdate=2007-01-08]

Recent film and television projects

In 2005 Paramount signed Schwartz to adapt and direct John Green's young adult novel "Looking for Alaska" with producer Mark Waters. [cite web|title= Par, Schwartz bake 'Alaska':'OC' creator 'Looking' for Paramount project |author=Dave McNary |date=2005-07-18 |publisher=Variety |url=http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117926060.html?cs=1&s=h&p=0 |accessdate=2007-01-04]

It was revealed in late August, 2006 that Schwartz would develop and executive produce a drama pilot for The CW Television Network, based on the popular book series "Gossip Girl" by Cecily von Ziegesar. [cite web |title=CW gives Schwartz some good news: 2nd pilot picked up for show creator| author=Michael Schneider |coauthors=Josef Adalian |date=2007-01-03 |url=http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117956643.html?categoryid=14&cs=1 |publisher=Variety |accessdate=2007-01-04] Like "The O.C.", "Gossip Girl" is a satirical approach of teenagers in a wealthy upbringing.

In 2007 Schwartz signed a three-year, seven-figure overall deal with Warner Bros. TV to write and exec produce with Chris Fedak an hourlong high-concept action comedy called "Chuck" for NBC about twenty-something spies and was described in press releases as "in the vein of "Grosse Pointe Blank". The plot revolves around a normal guy who downloads the entire CIA and NSA database into his head. [cite web|title= Networks return to pilot parade: ABC aligned with Mimoun; NBC nabs Schwartz project |author= Josef Adalian |url=http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117950140.html?categoryid=14&cs=1 |publisher=Variety|date=2006-09-14|accessdate=2007-01-04]

In May 2008 Schwartz joined Zak Penn's "" project. [cite news | title = Young X-Men Get Gossip Girl Scribe? | work = Superhero Hype! | date = 2008-05-02 | url = http://www.superherohype.com/news/topnews.php?id=7159 | accessdate=2008-05-03]

Personal Life

He married Jill Stonerock on September 20, 2008 in Santa Barbara, CA. Rachel Bilson was the maid of honor at their wedding.

Credits

Television series

*"The O.C." (television series, 2003-2007; creator, writer, executive producer)
*"Chuck" (television series, 2007-; co-creator, writer, executive producer)
*"Gossip Girl" (television series, 2007-; co-creator, writer, executive producer)

Television pilots (unaired)

*"Brookfield" (2000; teleplay; produced by ABC/Disney )
*"Wall to Wall Records" (2001; teleplay; produced by Warner Bros.)

Films

*"Looking for Alaska" (in pre-production; 2008; screenplay)

creenplays (unproduced)

*"Providence" (1997; screenplay)
*J. J. Abrams' "Superman" screenplay (2004; script doctor)

References

Further information

*
*

External links

*
* [http://popgurls.com/article_show.php3?id=670 PopGurls Interview: Josh Schwartz]