INTRO

I’m TW Hawk, author, filmmaker, and Hollywood creative entrepreneur.

Hollywood is where I’ve spent three decades producing movies, shaping creative works and deal-making.

I’ve also written movies, plays, shot and edited docuseries, created and hosted web series, directed a film, taught at Stanford, and wrote a book on purpose-driven success.

I was first to discover and TO sell: Rounders; 10 Things I Hate About You; an Emmy-winning director; a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer.

I’ve discovered, launched, shaped, guided, and grown the prolific and profitable careers of scores A-list screenwriters, directors, authors, and content creators.

BEGINNINGS

The journey started when I was a kid growing up loving movies.

I read Premiere magazine. I was inspired by the magic of Star Wars, the adventure of Indiana Jones, and stories of the Biz, the F/X, and the stars and directors behind them: Lucas, Spielberg, Cameron, Tom Cruise, Oliver Stone, Michael Douglas…. their films were my favorites. I devoured and absorbed everything I could.

But growing up in New York was far from the magic of movie-making. That happened in a distant and enigmatic place on the other side of the country.

So I followed a path of entrepreneurship to Cornell University; studied International Management in Maastricht (The Netherlands); and toured consumer products companies on an Ivy League Fellowship in Japan.

And then I saw a movie. An amazing movie! The Player. It changed my life forever.

I scrapped my plans for Wall Street, set my sights on California, and put all my chips on Tinseltown. I moved to L.A. within a week of graduating with almost a 4.0, to start an unpaid internship making copies, fetching coffee, reading scripts, writing coverage. I was smitten! And I never looked back.

HOLLYWOOD’s FIRST

I was the first—okay, technically the second—independent literary manager in Hollywood. (The first isn’t in the business anymore).

When I started doing it, literary management was a bold, new concept. But it struck me as an intuitive evolution of agenting; a way to champion brand new voices. It required entrepreneurial aplomb, relentless persistence and the kind of moxie I cultivated as a student of entrepreneurship and craft.

CUT TO:

I sold my first script within two years after arriving in Hollywood.

I fostered the explosive success of hot new writing teams, and got seminal and beloved movies made, like Rounders, 10 Things I Hate About You, Legally Blonde, The House Bunny, and many more.

I went from reading the Hollywood trades in my college dorm room to being written about in the trades.

I championed female talent. Launched brilliant new writers, fresh voices, sought-after artists. I advocated for directors. Packaged projects. Became a tireless proponent of new material and unique stories.

I pursued a trajectory in literary management and producing that blazed a path that hundreds of literary managers have followed.

From UNPAID Intern TO MGM PRODUCER

I learned to be a deal-maker, innovator, champion of vision, networker, marketer, pitcher, developer, creator, communicator, people-grower and business shape-shifter. I hatched unique ways to develop, make, market and sell IP (Intellectual Property).

With a robust track record of script and pitch sales, produced movies, and white-hot clients, I landed my own studio producing deal at MGM.

THE PLAYER

Making movies led me to rub shoulders on film sets with talent like Matt Damon, Edward Norton, Heath Ledger, and Joseph Gordon Levitt.

From unpaid intern to MGM producer in FIVE years!

I took meetings with stars-before-they-were-stars Anna Faris, Chris Pratt, and Rose Byrne. I confabbed over creative lunches with David Schwimmer, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Jon Hamm. Sat with superstar directors, mammoth producers, and veteran agents.

I steered a peak talent roster of A-list clients, packaged dozens of projects from concept to screen, and oversaw my own eclectic slate of films.

I did so whilst living and working in a beach-front home in Malibu, sharing my insights from Hollywood driver’s seat—literally—as the host of a popular industry web series, Hollywood Drive & Talk.

Creator-preneur

I earned a reputation for high-quality material, great taste, stellar deal-making, career longevity, and deal facilitation.

I shared my best practices through a new media channel, Content Engine, where I produced content to “inspire, educate, and empower” Content Creators.

The result is a content-rich media library guiding content creators in the shape of the New Hollywood.™

This unique brand of dynamism resulted in a New Hollywood approach that combined innovation with creativity; entrepreneurship with intuition.

The result is tens upon tens of millions of dollars in deals, twenty studio films, hundreds of hours of series television, scores of published books, a slate of graphic novels, and dozens of careers for A-list writers, award-winning directors, diverse content creators, and even a Pulitzer Prize-winner.

WEB SERIES

In Moments of Truth, I share some snack-able spiritual precepts to inspire you.

Why success comes with a DECREASE and NOT with an INCREASE.

SPEAKER

In my lectures at the world’s top film schools, at Stanford’s d.school, and at international writers conferences, my unique methodology entertains and guides participants with easy-to-grasp tools everyone can use.

teacher

In my master classes for filmmakers and organizations around the world (from Silicon Valley to Amsterdam; Kenya to Lisbon), I teach how to succeed purposefully, intuitively, meaningfully.