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Screenwriting and Film Studies Special Guests
Friday, June 24, 7 pm
Frances Niederer Auditorium, Richard Wetherill Visual Arts Center

Screenwriter Barbara Curry and Producer Jessica Yingling will screen and discuss their hit Hallmark movie Anything for Love.

Barbara Curry holds an M.F.A. in screenwriting from UCLA and a JD from Northwestern University School of Law. Her produced writing credits include the feature film The Boy Next Door, starring Jennifer Lopez, and the television movie Anything for Love, starring Erika Christensen. She was hired by Fox 2000 to write the feature film The Jury, yet to be released, and by Screen Gems to rewrite the feature film The Perfect Guy, starring Michael Ealy. She has developed a television series with Lionsgate and is currently writing a television pilot for LD Entertainment.

Prior to becoming a screenwriter, Curry spent nearly 10 years at the United States Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Major Violent Crimes Unit where she prosecuted federal crimes such as murder-for-hire, prison murder, Racketeering, arson, kidnapping, bank robbery, money laundering, conspiracy, and fraud. She also taught Advance Trial Advocacy at the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. and at the FBI Headquarters in Quantico, Virginia.

Jessica Yingling is the president of Mischief Entertainment, a Santa Monica-based film and television production company. Most recently, she produced Anything for Love, a romantic comedy that aired on the Hallmark Channel on Valentine’s Day 2016. Mischief Entertainment has several other projects in development, including Gift Wrapped, a Christmas-themed romantic comedy, and Retro House, a high-concept reality show.

While attending graduate school at UCLA’s School of Theater, Film, and Television, Yingling apprenticed under Arnold Rifkin, the former head of the William Morris Agency. After earning an M.F.A. in screenwriting, she was promoted to run film and TV production and development at Rifkin’s production company, Cheyenne Enterprises. In this capacity, she was actively involved with acquiring, developing, and/or packaging projects for the company’s slate, including Live Free or Die Hard, Timber Falls, Deception, Night Train, Stag Night, and Blood & Bone.

In addition to her film and television work, Yingling also writes, directs, and produces PSAs, commercials, and mini-documentaries for a wide range of clients, including the Milken Family Foundation. She also works as a film analyst for Netflix.