The USC School of Cinematic Arts, 20th Century Fox,
and USC Visions and Voices: The Arts & Humanities Initiative,
invite you and a guest to attend
 

Planet of the Apes (1968) - 50th Anniversary Screening

About Planet of the Apes (1968)

About the Guests

DYLAN CLARK - Producer: Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, War for the Planet of the Apes

Dylan Clark is a producer and founder of Dylan Clark Productions, a company he launched in 2017.  Clark, who has 20 years’ experience producing commercially and critically successful films and building and running film operations for prominent entertainment companies, is currently housed at Universal Pictures.

Best known for his work on the Blockbuster Planet of the Apes Franchise, Clark was formerly a partner at Bluegrass Films since 2013 where he oversaw development and production on a diverse slate of films with Bluegrass Films Founder Scott Stuber.

Clark is currently in production on Birdbox starring Sandra Bullock (Gravity) and directed by Susanne Bier (Night Manager) for Netflix. He is working with Universal on a re-imagining of the classic film Scarface and his company is developing Battlestar Galactica with producer Michael DeLuca, director Francis Lawrence (The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Parts 1 and 2) and writer Lisa Joy (Westworld), and Bad Monkeys starring Margot Robbie (Suicide Squad) among others.

Before working at Bluegrass, Clark was President of the film Division at Chernin Entertainment, a company he launched with former News Corp COO Peter Chernin in 2009. Clark successfully rebooted the coveted Planet of the Apes property with Chernin and the three films Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and War for the Planet of the Apes garnered $1.7 billion at the worldwide box office.  While at Chernin Entertainment Clark also developed and produced Oblivion directed by Joseph Kosinski and starring Tom Cruise.

Prior to his work with Chernin, Clark was a production executive at Universal for eight years, most recently serving as Executive Vice President of Production. During his tenure, he oversaw production for dozens of films including Friday Night Lights, Dawn of The Dead, Children of Men, Cinderella Man, The Kingdom, Charlie Wilson’s War, Green Zone, Couples Retreat and Robin Hood.

Clark started his career in film as Director of Development for MGM.  Before entering into the film business, Clark worked as an aide to US Senator Dianne Feinstein in Washington, DC. He is a graduate of the University of California, Santa Barbara. Clark resides in Los Angles with his wife and three sons.

WILLIAM CREBER - Art Director: Planet of the Apes (1968), Beneath the Planet of the Apes, Escape from the Planet of the Apes

Bill Creber was born in Los Angeles, July 26, 1931, the middle of three sons to Lewis and Valentine Creber (Bob, Bill and Jim) and grew up in West Los Angeles, close to Fox and MGM studios. He went to Louis Pasteur Junior High School and Hamilton High School, where the only two A’s he got were in Art and Phys Ed. However, his dad gave the boys A’s in boat building: an 18’ sail boat kit he’d bought for them that they built in the garage and that Bill sailed to Catalina and raced out of LA Harbor nearly every weekend. He went on to Santa Monica City College, majoring in pre-architecture; by then wanting to be an architect and to go on to USC.

In January, 1951, the Korean War was on and he was up for the draft! He liked the ocean (being a sailor from age 12) much better than snow and mud. So he enlisted in the Navy for four years. His duty was aboard destroyers as a gunfire-controlman, part of the team that aimed the guns. He was a range-finder and radar operator in the main battery gun director. That responsibility at such a young age, being part of a team, using highly technical knowledge under pressure, gave him a sense of confidence that’s applied through life.

When he was discharged from the Navy, he was married and a baby was on the way. He needed a job.  Because of his interest in airplanes and the electronics he’d learned in the Navy, he thought aerospace was for him. He’d applied to Hughes Aircraft and expected his career to go in that direction. But his father, Lewis Creber, had another idea. His dad was an independent Art Director who’d begun his long career in the twenties with William Fox, which became 20th Century Fox, and remained there through WWII. In later years he was Art Director (more appropriately now called Production Designer) on nine seasons of Perry Mason.

“Strangely,”  a week later Bill got a call from the head draughtsman at Fox.  He said he was looking for an apprentice draughtsman.  Bill’s reaction was, “Did my father call you?”  “Oh, no, the boys in the draughting room mentioned that you were out of the Navy and I remembered that you liked to draw.  Would you come in to talk and if you have any drawings that aren’t just school work, would you bring them?”  Bill had worked for his dad the summer of 1950 on an independent film as a junior draughtsman and he did have some of his drawings from that.  This was January, 1955.  His career began and the rest is history.

Highlights of his career include:
- his first big break as Assistant Art Director on the feature, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1960)
- as a full Art Director on The Greatest Story Ever Told in 1963, for which he was nominated for an Academy Award
- The Poseidon Adventure (1971) with another nomination, followed by
- Towering Inferno (1973) and its nomination
- and, of course, the first Planet of the Apes (1967 and two sequels)

Franklin Schaffner , director of Planet of the Apes, told Bill that he was the perfect choice for Art Director, having done part of The Greatest Story in Glen Canyon, the arid valley that is now covered by Lake Powell. The script called for an unearthly place with no vegetation but with water. The Ape Village was shot in the hills of Malibu on the, then, Fox Ranch. The famous final scene was at the South end of Zuma Beach against the Point Dume Palisade. Inspiration for the ape village was a combination of Antonio Gaudi’s work in Barcelona and the ruins in Capadocea in Turkey. One of Bill's illustrators came up with ideas that the model-maker used for the clay models of the ape houses. To build the houses they used very bendable metal pencil rod, covered them with cardboard, sprayed urethane foam from the inside, and when dry, peeled the cardboard away, then painted them. The cage/jail that held the astronauts was merely the form of one house without the foam.

Bill totally enjoyed his long career, and, looking back, guesses he retired around 2000 after helping to re-design the burned back lot at Universal Studios. (He’d done the New York Street at Disney World and “Hollywood Blvd” at both Disney Paris and Disneyland’s California Adventure.)

Bill has a son, Ken, and daughter, Carolyn. Ken is the third generation Art Directors in the Creber family; and an Emmy award winner, too! Bill has three granddaughters, two grandsons and five great-grandchildren, all of whom live in Southern California.

RICK JAFFA (SCA Alumnus) - Writer, Producer: Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes; Producer: War for the Planet of the Apes

Rick Jaffa has collaborated with his wife and partner, Amanda Silver, for more than 25 years. They most recently co-wrote the worldwide blockbuster Jurassic World, which has grossed more than $1.6 billion worldwide, making it the fourth-highest-grossing film of all time.

In 2011, the duo wrote and produced the hit Rise of the Planet of the Apes, which earned an Oscar nomination for its groundbreaking visual effects and successfully rebooted the Planet of the Apes franchise. In 2014, they co-wrote and produced the sequel, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, and the third installment, War for the Planet of the Apes, which they produced, is currently in theaters.

Avatar 2 and Avatar 3, the scripts they co-wrote with James Cameron for the much-anticipated sequels to Avatar, the top-grossing film in history, are in production. In addition, their script for the live action version of the Disney animated film Mulan is in pre-production with Niki Caro directing.

A native of DeSoto, Texas, Jaffa graduated from Southern Methodist University with a degree in history and political science. He later earned his MBA at the University of Southern California. In 1981, Jaffa began his entertainment career in the mailroom of the William Morris Agency. He became the executive assistant to legendary agent Stan Kamen, who was then head of the motion-picture department. Later, as an agent, Jaffa represented writers and directors, packaging films as diverse as 1987’s RoboCop and 1985’s The Trip to Bountiful.

He began collaboration with Silver as an executive producer on The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, which she scripted. They then co-wrote Eye For an Eye and The Relic.

JOE LETTERI - Senior Visual Effects Supervisor: Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, War for the Planet of the Apes

Joe Letteri's pioneering work on digital visual effects has earned him four Academy Awards® for Best Visual Effects on Avatar, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King and King Kong. He has also received the Academy’s Technical Achievement Award for co-developing the subsurface scattering technique that brought Gollum to life.

Joe joined Weta Digital as Visual Effects Supervisor on The Two Towers and has since led the company to become one of the world’s premiere visual effects studios.

Joe has developed many techniques that have become standards for bringing photographic quality to digital visual effects. He specializes in the creation of realistic creatures, from the dinosaurs of Jurassic Park, to Gollum, King Kong, the Na'vi in Avatar, and Caesar from The Planet of the Apes.

As Senior Visual Effects Supervisor on Avatar, Joe oversaw a program of research and development over four years that produced shots larger and more complex than ever attempted before. This involved shooting on a virtual stage with a new camera system, along with the development of a full pipeline of tools that effectively launched a new approach to filmmaking called virtual production.

Under Joe’s leadership, Weta Digital has continued to expand and improve these techniques through films like The Adventures of Tintin, The Hobbit trilogy and The Planet of the Apes trilogy. Joe has recently been focused on Luc Besson’s new sci-fi epic, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, and War for the Planet of the Apes.

MATT REEVES (SCA Alumnus) - Director: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes; Writer, Director: War for the Planet of the Apes

Reeves came to feature film prominence in 2008 as the director of the acclaimed science fiction horror hit, Cloverfield for Paramount Pictures. The modestly budgeted film set a domestic record for January release, and went on to gross over $175 million dollars worldwide.

In 2014, Reeves directed Dawn of the Planet of the Apes starring Andy Serkis, Jason Clarke and Keri Russell. The film grossed over $700 million worldwide. This summer, he returned to the Apes franchise by writing and directing War for the Planet of the Apes, which stars Andy Serkis, Woody Harrelson and Judy Greer. The film has grossed over $400 million worldwide since being released on July 14, 2017.

In 2010, Reeves directed Let Me In starring Kodi Smit-McPhee and Chloe Grace Moretz. Acclaimed by critics and audiences alike, the film is a remake of the Swedish horror film Let the Right One In, about the relationship between a bullied young boy and his new neighbor, a young girl who turns out to be a vampire. Prior to that, Reeves co-created the popular television series Felicity, starring Golden Globe Award winning actress Keri Russell. Reeves served as executive producer with partner and co-creator J.J. Abrams. He frequently directed episodes during the show’s four-season run, including the 1998 pilot for the WB network.
 
Reeves made his feature directorial debut with Miramax’s 1996 dark comedy, The Pallbearer, starring Gwyneth Paltrow, David Schwimmer, and Barbara Hershey. He developed the screenplay with co-writer Jason Katims through Robert Redford’s Sundance Institute. In 1999, Matt co-wrote and co-produced James Gray’s critically acclaimed feature, The Yards, starring Mark Wahlberg, Joaquin Phoenix, and Charlize Theron.
 
He first gained the attention of the industry with his award-winning student short, "Mr. Petrified Forrest" upon graduating from USC’s prestigious cinema school. Reeves got his start in 1995 when a screenplay he penned in college with classmate Richard Hatem was purchased by Warner Brothers, and later turned into Under Siege 2: Dark Territory. For the small screen, in addition to the pilot for Felicity, Reeves helmed the pilot episodes of Gideon’s Crossing and Miracles for ABC, Conviction for NBC, and series episodes of NBC’s Homicide: Life on the Street and ABC’s Relativity.
 
Up next, he will write and direct The Batman for Warner Bros. Reeves currently lives with his wife in Los Angeles.

AMANDA SILVER (SCA Alumna) - Writer, Producer: Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes; Producer: War for the Planet of the Apes

Amanda Silver has teamed with her husband, Rick Jaffa, on a number of successful film projects. They co-wrote 2015’s global blockbuster Jurassic World, which is the third-highest-grossing film in history, with more than $1.6 billion at the worldwide box office.

In 2011, the duo wrote and produced the hit Rise of the Planet of the Apes, which earned an Oscar nomination for its groundbreaking visual effects and successfully rebooted the Planet of the Apes franchise. In 2014, they co-wrote and produced the sequel, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, and the third installment, War for the Planet of the Apes, which they produced, is currently in theaters.

Avatar 2 and Avatar 3, the scripts they co-wrote with James Cameron for the much-anticipated sequels to Avatar, the top-grossing film in history, are in production. In addition, their script for the live action version of the Disney animated film Mulan is in pre-production with Niki Caro directing.

Silver grew up in New York City and received her BA in history from Yale University before moving to Los Angeles. She was an executive assistant at TriStar and Paramount Pictures before enrolling in film school at the University of Southern California, where she earned an MFA in screenwriting.  

Silver’s thesis script was the thriller The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, which went on to be a hit in 1992 and began her collaboration with Jaffa, who executive produced the film. She followed the next year with a Cable ACE Award-winning episode of Fallen Angels, directed by Alfonso Cuarón. Silver and Jaffa have since co-written such films as Eye for an Eye and The Relic.

DAN STRIEPEKE - Makeup Artist: Planet of the Apes (1968), Planet of the Apes TV Series (1974); Makeup Supervisor: Beneath the Planet of the Apes, Escape from the Planet of the Apes, Conquest of the Planet of the Apes

Bio coming soon.

RUPERT WYATT - Director: Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Writer, Director and Producer Rupert Wyatt was born and raised in the South of England and now makes his home in Hudson, NY. He is a founding member of the New York, London and Los Angeles film collective Picture Farm that has produced numerous Documentaries and Feature Films including the multi-award winning Dark Days (2001) and Fishing Without Nets (2014), both audience award winners of the Sundance Film Festival, as well as his directorial debut The Escapist (2008) starring Brian Cox, Damian Lewis, Dominic Cooper and Joseph Fiennes, which premiered at the Sundance film festival and was nominated for eight international awards.

As a screenwriter he has worked mostly in France, the U.K., and the U.S. where he has written and developed screenplays for 20th Century Fox, Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros, Universal Studios and Sony Pictures Entertainment. His 2nd film as director was 20th Century Fox’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011) starring Andy Serkis and James Franco. Since its release, the film and the franchise has seen enormous success worldwide, both critically and commercially.

In 2013, he directed the television Pilot episode of AMC’s Turn which recently aired its 4th season. 2014 saw the release of Paramount Pictures’ The Gambler, his 3rd film as director, and starring Mark Wahlberg, Brie Larson, John Goodman, and Jessica Lange. In 2015 he co-founded the film and television company Lightfuse & Gettaway. He directed the television Pilot episode and executive produced the 1st and 2nd season of FOX’s The Exorcist in 2016.

In 2017, he co-wrote and directed Participant Media’s Captive State to be released by Focus Features in August 2018. The film stars John Goodman and Vera Farmiga and recounts the lives of collaborators and dissidents in a working class neighborhood of Chicago nine years into an alien occupation. Upcoming projects include the animated feature Birdsong adapted from the novel by Sebastian Faulks. His first graphic novel Mill Rock is due for publication in 2019.

About the Moderator

ALESSANDRO AGO

Alessandro Ago is the Director of Programming and Special Projects at the USC School of Cinematic Arts, where he programs film screenings, festivals, guest speakers and special events. Ago curates Outside the Box [Office], a prolific, diverse screening series dedicated to showcasing new international, documentary and independent cinema at USC, often followed by conversations with the filmmakers. He also runs the SCA Movies We Love program, in addition to several annual Visions & Voices festivals, including a major retrospective of the seminal ABC television series Twin Peaks in 2013, featuring panel discussions with 50 members of the cast and crew.

Ago has produced tributes celebrating the work of Dino De Laurentiis, Ray Stark, John Wayne, Roger Corman, Costa Gavras, Maurice Jarre, Albert Broccoli and the James Bond franchise, as well as world cinema showcases focusing on Japan, Italy, Bollywood, South America and the Middle East. Ago has taught undergraduate film courses at USC, including Transnational Nightmares and Filmmaking, Italian Style and, more recently, Italian Genre Cinema and Society. He is also one of the curators of the American Film Showcase, an international documentary film diplomacy program funded by the U.S. Department of State.

Both an Italian and American citizen, he grew up in Washington, D.C. and Rome, Italy. He holds a bachelor's and master's degree from the Division of Cinema and Media Studies at the USC School of Cinematic Arts.

About 50 Years of Planet of the Apes Exhibit & Film Retrospective

 

The USC School of Cinematic Arts has partnered with 20th Century Fox Film to host an exclusive exhibit and retrospective celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Planet of the Apes franchise titled 50 Years of Planet of the Apes.

A vast collection of props, costumes, photos, posters and artwork from across all iterations of the longstanding franchise will be on display in the Hugh Hefner Exhibition Hall at USC this spring. The exhibit will be available to visit as a work-in-progress from January 26th - February 8th and all final displays will be open from February 9th through May 13th, 2018. A series of panels and screenings will complement the exhibit, including all feature films from the Planet of the Apes universe.

The exhibit is in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of the 1968 release of the first Planet of the Apes film, the original installment of the still expanding franchise that now includes four sequels, a TV series, an animated series, comic books, merchandise, and 20th Century Fox Film’s highly successful prequel film series Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, and War for the Planet of the Apes.

50 Years of Planet of the Apes is funded by USC Visions & Voices: The Arts and Humanities Initiative, and is free and open to the public. The Hugh Hefner Exhibition Hall is located in the lobby of the George Lucas Building at the USC School of Cinematic Arts Complex, 900 W. 34th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90007, and will be open Monday through Friday from 8:00 A.M. - 10:00 P.M., and Saturday & Sunday from 12:00 P.M. - 8:00 P.M.

Produced by Alessandro Ago for the USC School of Cinematic Arts, in collaboration with Sandra Garcia-Myers, and Chris Castelonia for 20th Century Fox Film.

Learn more about the calendar of events at: http://cinema.usc.edu/Apes

 

Check-In & Reservations

This screening is free of charge and open to the public. Please bring a valid USC ID or print out of your reservation confirmation, which will automatically be sent to your e-mail account upon successfully making an RSVP through this website. Doors will open at 6:30 P.M.

All SCA screenings are OVERBOOKED to ensure seating capacity in the theater, therefore seating is not guaranteed based on RSVPs. The RSVP list will be checked in on a first-come, first-served basis until the theater is full. Once the theater has reached capacity, we will no longer be able to admit guests, regardless of RSVP status.

Parking

The USC School of Cinematic Arts is located at 900 W. 34th St., Los Angeles, CA 90007. Parking passes may be purchased for $12.00 at the USC Royal Street Entrance, located at the intersection of W. Jefferson Blvd. & Royal Street. We recommend the USC Royal Street Structure, at the far end of 34th Street. Limited street parking is also available along Jefferson Blvd.

Contact Information

Name: Alessandro Ago
Email: aago@cinema.usc.edu