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Irving Belateche

Professor of the Practice of Cinematic Arts

Affiliated Divisions:

John Wells Division of Writing for Screen & Television

Email: ibelateche@cinema.usc.edu
Work Phone: 213.740.3303
Office: SCA 344

Irving Belateche is a screenwriter and award-winning author. He’s written screenplays for Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures, Warner Bros., and other studios, as well as for TV networks HBO and Syfy. He’s also the author of the bestselling novels Einstein’s Secret and The Origin of Dracula

Among the twenty-two feature film scripts Belateche has sold are CombustionTestamentExpecting, and The Veil. He also adapted the Hugo Award winning novel, The Demolished Man, by Alfred Bester, for Paramount Pictures and producer Robert Evans (Chinatown). He’s written scripts for producers Lawrence Bender (Pulp Fiction), Joel Silver (The Matrix), Jason Blum (Paranormal Activity, Get Out), Gavin Polone (Gilmore Girls, Curb Your Enthusiasm), and director Robert Zemeckis (Back To The FutureForrest Gump).

As an educator, Belateche has taught undergraduate and graduate students, as well as professional filmmakers (screenwriters, directors, and producers) in the United States, China, Malaysia, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and North Africa. His students have gone on to write some of world’s most popular films and TV shows. He also founded and designed the screenwriting program at ShanghaiTech University in China and taught seminars at Tencent and Blizzard Entertainment (the world’s two largest gaming companies). 

Belateche is a Film Expert for the U.S. Department of State’s cultural exchange program, the American Film Showcase, which conducts programs in over forty countries, and he’s a member of the Writers Guild of America West. He received his B.A. in English Literature from Columbia University and his M.A. in Film Production with a concentration in screenwriting from the USC School of Cinematic Arts.