The School of Cinematic Arts
Invites USC Students of ALL YEARS & MAJORS
to Register for the Fall 2024 Semester Course:

CTCS-466: Theatrical Film Symposium

AKA: Thursday Night at the Movies with Leonard Maltin

USC's Most Popular Elective for over 50 years!!!

Thursday nights from 6:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.

NO D-CLEARANCE NEEDED

Find CTCS-466 on the USC Schedule of Classes:
https://classes.usc.edu/term-20243/classes/ctcs/

Leonard Maltin is one of the most recognized and respected film critics of our time. He spent 30 years on the hit television show Entertainment Tonight and appears regularly on Turner Classic Movies. He currently hosts the weekly podcast Maltin on Movies with his daughter Jessie. An established author, he is best known for his paperback reference, Leonard Maltin’s Movie Guide. In 2005, he introduced a companion volume, Leonard Maltin’s Classic Movie Guide (now in its third edition), which focuses on movies made before 1965, going back to the silent era. His latest book is a memoir titled Starstruck: My Unlikely Road to Hollywood.

A lifelong Disneyphile, Leonard first published his book The Disney Films in 1973 and revised it several times through the year 2000. He initiated, hosted, and co-produced the popular Walt Disney Treasures DVDs (thirty-seven in all).

Leonard’s other books include Hooked on Hollywood, The Best 151 Movies You’ve Never Seen, Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons, The Great American Broadcast: A Celebration of Radio’s Golden Age, The Great Movie Comedians, Movie Comedy Teams, The Art of the Cinematographer, Selected Short Subjects and (as co-author) The Little Rascals: The Life and Times of Our Gang.

Leonard has been teaching at the USC School of Cinematic Arts for the last 24 years. His popular class screens new films prior to their release, followed by a Q&A with the filmmakers.

As an expert and host, he is frequently seen on news programs and documentaries. Leonard is also a prolific freelance writer whose articles have appeared in The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The London Times, Smithsonian, TV Guide, Esquire, The Village Voice and American Film. He was the film critic for Playboy magazine for six years.

Additionally, Leonard frequently lectures on film and was a member of the faculty of New York City’s New School for Social Research for nine years. He served as Guest Curator at the Museum of Modern Art film department in New York on two separate occasions.

He has written a number of television specials, including Fantasia: The Creation of a Disney Classic and has hosted, produced and written such video documentaries and compilations as The Making of The Quiet Man, The Making of High Noon, Cartoons for Big Kids, The Lost Stooges, Young Duke: The Making of a Movie Star, Cliffhangers: Adventures from the Thrill Factory and Cartoon Madness: The Fantastic Max Fleischer Cartoons.

In 2006 he was named by the Librarian of Congress to join the Board of Directors of the National Film Preservation Foundation. He also has received awards and citations from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, American Society of Cinematographers, Anthology Film Archives, The Society of Cinephiles, San Diego Comic-Con International, and the Telluride Film Festival. Perhaps the greatest indication of his fame was his appearance in a now-classic episode of the animated series South Park.

In 2022 he became the third person to receive the Robert Osborne Award at the TCM Classic Film Festival, where it was presented to him by Warren Beatty. Shortly afterward he was invited to become a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.