Hopkins in Hollywood: An Alumni Panel and Intersession Gathering

Luke is a producer, writer, director, and Co-Head of HartBeat’s independent TV & Film Studio, HartBeat Independent, where he oversees and produces a variety of film and TV projects. Before joining HartBeat, Luke served as President at Propagate Content’s comedy studio, Big Breakfast where he was Executive Producer of the company’s slate of scripted and unscripted feature, TV, and digital projects including: MTV Films’ “Out Of Office” and “Cursed Friends” (both of which he also Produced), Discovery+’s Critics Choice Award-nominated “Million Dollar Wheels,” truTV’s “Double Cross with Blake Griffin,” Comedy Central’s “Loafy,” Facebook Watch’s award-winning "I Want My Phone Back," Discovery and MotorTrend’s ”Kevin Hart’s Muscle Car Crew,” and Pop TV's "Hot Date” on which he also served as showrunner. From 2013-2016, Luke ran Native Content at CollegeHumor where he created and ran several of the brand’s most successful digital series. During this time, he was also a Freelance Contributing Writer to Weekend Update on "Saturday Night Live.” He authors the long-running Vulture column, "Funny Videos of the Month," hosts the HeadGum podcast, "I'm Still Right," and is a guest lecturer in the Film and Media Studies department at Johns Hopkins University. He is a member of the Writers Guild of America, the Producers Guild of America, and the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.

Born in Seoul, but adopted and raised in Baltimore, Kimberly Parker Zox is a producer based in Los Angeles. She produced IFC's Catch the Fair One, winner of the 2021 Tribeca Audience Award, executive produced by Darren Aronofsky and Protozoa. Kimberly is an Executive Producer on A24's The Last Black Man in San Francisco (Best Director, Sundance 2019), executive produced by Brad Pitt and Plan B. She produced I Am My Own Mother, one of two American shorts in Cannes Cinéfondation 2018. She also produced Katie Says Goodbye (TIFF 2016), starring Olivia Cooke (Sound of Metal) and Christopher Abbott (Catch-22) and an interactive, gaze-controlled virtual reality film, Broken Night, starring Emily Mortimer (Tribeca, Cannes Next 2017). Her first feature as a producer, Those People, won Audience Awards at Outfest and NewFest. Kimberly was a 2016 San Francisco Film Society/KRF Producing Fellow and a 2019 Nevada City Film Festival Creative Producing Resident. She has participated in SFFILM Invest, Berlinale Talents, Film Independent’s Fast Track, the Sundance Women in Film Financing Intensive, IFP's Narrative Lab, EPI's Trans Atlantic Partners, and is a member of the Producers Guild of America. She graduated with a Film M.F.A. from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts and a B.A. in Writing Seminars and Film and Media Studies from Johns Hopkins University.

Emily Mayer is Executive Vice President of Development at B17 Entertainment, a Sony Pictures Television Nonfiction company. Since joining B17 Entertainment in 2019, Mayer has spearheaded the sale of over 25 series and specials to buyers including major streaming services, social platforms, broadcast networks, and linear cable. Recent sales include The Final Straw at ABC, The Book of Queer at Discovery+, Making of a Haunting: The Amityville Murders for MGM+, and Dark Marvels for The History Channel. Prior to B17, she held the title of Senior Vice President at All3 Media’s Maverick TV USA and FishBowl Worldwide Media, running company development and selling and producing shows for major buyers, such as USA, Food Network, E!, HGTV, and VH1. Her background in the television industry also includes NBCUniversal’s Wilshire Studios, where as VP of Development she sold and produced projects for more than a dozen networks. Additionally, Mayer has held executive positions at Fox Television Studios, GRB Entertainment, Alchemy Television Group, and 44 Blue Productions, following her start in United Talent
Agency’s Alternative department.

Zach Baylin is a Los Angeles-based screenwriter and co-founder of Youngblood Pictures. His first produced screenplay for King Richard was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. It was also nominated for best screenplay by the Writers Guild of America, BAFTA, and  the Hollywood Critics Association. He also co-wrote the screenplay for Michael B. Jordan’s upcoming Creed III, and for the re-boot of The Crow, a Rupert Sanders-directed film starring Bill Skarsgaard and FKA Twigs. Zach has written projects for Lionsgate, Imagine, and TNT, and for filmmakers James Grey, Jeremy Saulnier, Francesco Munzi, and Jonathan Levine, among others. A father of two, Zach worked in the props and art department on dozens of film and television projects in New York, including Boardwalk Empire, Mildred Pierce, The Blacklist, A Walk Among the Tombstones, Gossip Girl, and Side Effects. He graduated from Johns Hopkins University in 2002, where he was a two-time Academic All-American on the JHU football team and a Film and Media Studies major.

Teri Weiss is EVP, Television Development for DreamWorks Animation reporting to Chief Creative Officer, Television, Peter Gal. In this role, she oversees the creative development of a rapidly growing slate of original television projects, including content for Netflix, Apple TV+, Peacock, Amazon, Hulu and other leading broadcasters around the world. As part of the studio’s global initiatives, Weiss and her creative team are tasked with developing original animated programming inspired by characters from DreamWorks’ iconic franchises and upcoming features, Universal Pictures films and projects based on original and acquired IP. Upcoming series include The Boss Baby: Back in the Crib, Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight, Abominable and the Invisible City and preschool series Not Quite Narwhal and Dew Drop Diaries. Recent series include Gabby’s Dollhouse, The Croods: Family Tree, Dragons: The Nine Realms, Pinecone & Pony, Go, Dog. Go!, Madagascar: A Little Wild, TrollsTopia and Doug Unplugs.

Weiss previously served as the EVP, Preschool Development and Current Series. Recent projects that Weiss oversaw in this role include Archibald’s Next Big Thing from Tony Hale, Dragons Rescue Riders and Where’s Waldo?        

Prior to joining DreamWorks Animation Television, Weiss worked at NBCUniversal where she was hired to head up kids content for Universal Kids Productions group after a 16 year stint at Nickelodeon where she served as EVP of Preschool original programming.  She launched a series of hits, including Shimmer and Shine, Blaze and the Monster Machines, Dora and Friends, Paw Patrol and Wallykazam! She also helped solidify Nick Jr’s leadership position with series hits Bubble Guppies, Team Umizoomi and The Fresh Beat Band.  Prior to Nickelodeon, Weiss was a producer on Sesame Street, as well as Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? and Square One TV.

Raised in New York, Weiss graduated from John Hopkins University with a degree in International Studies.  She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, son and daughter.

Kate Susman is a co-founder of Youngblood Pictures, a Film and Television Development Company dedicated to telling true stories about complex, unheralded characters, with her husband and creative partner, Zach Baylin. Kate and Zach have a number of film and TV projects in development, including THE ORDER, a true crime heist thriller set in the dangerous American Militia movement of the 1980’s, with Justin Kurzel attached to direct, and a feature in the works that will re-team them with Star Thrower, the producers behind King Richard.  Kate lives in LA with her husband and two children.  She graduated from Johns Hopkins in 2002 with an Economics major. 

Nathan Klingher is an independent film producer, working alongside his partner Ryan Winterstern, who has produced and financed over 20 films as both a Producer and Executive Producer since founding his own production company Short Porch Pictures with Mr. Winterstern in 2020. Through that company, Nathan has raised and deployed over $50M in production finance over a variety of different films.

Prior to founding his own company, Nathan Klingher was a film executive and producer at Highland Film Group, overseeing production of Highland’s film properties. Starting his career at Highland as an executive assistant in 2015, he was promoted to run develop and production alongside his soon-to-be partner Ryan Winterstern, overseeing and financing dozens of films, such as WE SUMMON THE DARKNESS, starring Alexandra Daddario, BECKY, starring Kevin James, and MOST WANTED, starring Josh Hartnett and Jim Gaffigan.

Since starting Short Porch, Nathan has financed and produced ONE WAY, starring Machine Gun Kelly and Kevin Bacon, THE YACHT, starring Ruby Rose and Frank Grillo, SUPERCELL, starring Anne Heche and Alec Baldwin, BANDIT, starring Mel Gibson and Josh Duhamel, WHERE ALL LIGHT TENDS TO GO, starring Billy Bob Thorton and Robin Wright, SAM AND KATE, starring Dustin Hoffman and Sissy Spacek, BAD HOMBRES, starring Tyrese Gibson and Thomas Jane, 57 SECONDS, starring Josh Hutcherson and Morgan Freeman, amongst many other. He is currently in production on multiple different films, including LAND OF BAD, starring Russell Crowe and Liam Hemsworth, and BLOOD FOR DUST, starring Kit Harington, Scoot McNairy and Josh Lucas. An alum of  Hopkins School and the College of Film at Wesleyan University, he graduated with High Honors, winning the Akiva Goldsman Prize in Screenwriting, double majoring in Film Studies and History.

Dave Brown graduated with honors from Brown University. Starting in an agency mailroom he was promoted to agent where he discovered and brokered the initial deal for James Wan and Leigh Whannell to direct and star in the billion-dollar SAW franchise. After transitioning to management, Dave facilitated the deal for the award-winning Showtime series DEXTER. In 2013, Brown and his business partner Zadoc Angell moved their management team to Echo Lake Entertainment. Brown’s client list boasts some of the most sought-after TV showrunners and filmmakers in the industry, many of which he discovered and helped break into the business. Brown has also been a trailblazer in the packaging of straight-to-series, including international co-productions.