Is There a Script Doctor in the House?
After interning for Helpern/Metzler Productions (“Dead Heat”) for six months last year, UCLA film student Allen Nutkiewicz decided he was ready for screenwriting. His first script landed him an agent. His third, “Buried Dreams” (it’s a drama about a man who has a one-night stand and learns five years later that he’s a father), has just been optioned by the Geffen Co.
The guy knows how to operate!
He should: Nutkiewicz doubles as an assistant prof at UCLA in neurosurgery, with a full patient load.
“I decided life was not just about opening brains,” said Nutkiewicz, 38, who applied to the UCLA film program three years ago after finding himself with a private practice in Texas, but frustrated. “I like the balance I’ve struck between medicine and film. Basically, I’m able to find time for both, but my preference is to move into the artistic side completely.”
He’ll next direct “Good News, Bad News,” a sitcom pilot about a college newspaper that UCLA is financing for cable.
Nutkiewicz is hoping for--dare we say it?--final cut.
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