Screenwriter to speak at UCI

For Zach Helm — the screenwriter behind last year’s “Stranger Than Fiction” — doing what he loves has worked out rather well. Naturally, luck, too, has played a rather significant role in the process.

The philosophy has transported Helm from a town of less than 100 residents to the hub of the entertainment industry, and tonight he comes to UC Irvine’s Film and Video Center to present his debut film and encourage film students and audience members not to lose sight of their vision while navigating their career paths.

“You come to Hollywood and they give you these books that are supposed to teach you how to write a screenplay, but none of it really means you are going to be a successful screenwriter,” Helm, 32, said. “It’s important to remember how important inspiration and creativity are in all of this.”

It was luck that landed Helm a week-to-week contract at 20th Century Fox after spending two years in Chicago training telemarketers as a fresh graduate of DePaul University’s Goodman School of Drama.

But, after laboring to produce numerous scripts that never amounted to anything, it was passion that led him to buy back the first script he wrote for Fox, “Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium,” now a motion picture starring Natalie Portman and Dustin Hoffman slated for a Nov. 16 release.

“A few years ago, I decided that I needed to set some basic rules down for myself so I could focus on work that was more adventurous for me, and more bold, more individual and in line with my own voice,” he said.

Rule No. 1 prohibits economic needs or career objectives from influencing Helm’s work, and Film and Video Center Director Kyung Hyun Kim thinks it’s an important principle to follow.

“We like to bring in young filmmakers who are still trying to sustain their ideals and dreams,” said Kim, a film and video studies professor. “Film is a very attractive and glamorous medium that — over the last 100 years — has been stymied by business and investment interests.”

Unlike many Hollywood blockbusters, “Stranger Than Fiction” is a smart film that leaves audiences thinking and asking questions, Kim said, a quality he hopes audiences will find in all of the center’s spring series screenings.

“We want to offer films that are not only going to be intellectually stimulating, but also those that can actually offer a unique cultural experience,” he said. “We hope film students will be inspired by these filmmakers and use the experience

FILM AND VIDEO CENTER’S 2007 SPRING SERIES

TODAY

“Stranger than Fiction” with screenwriter Zach Helm. 7 p.m. today:

TILL APRIL 22

Vietnamese International Film Festival co-presented by the center (go to www.vietfilmfest.com for schedule information)

April 19

“Perpetual Motion” (“Wu qiong dong”), with an appearance by screenwriter and actress Liu Sola. 6:30 p.m.

April 26 through May 12

Latin American Film Festival (go to www.filmandvideocenter.com for schedule information)

May 17

“Superstar in a Housedress,” with an appearance by Alexis Del Lago, who appears in the documentary. 6:30 p.m.

May 24

“Two or Three Things I Know About Her” with Alexander Gelley, UCI professor of comparative literature. 7 p.m.

May 31

Fifteenth annual Festival of Staged Readings of Student Screenplays with founder Marie Cartier, UCI screenwriting lecturer. 7 p.m.

The Film and Video Center is at 215 Humanities Instructional Building, UC Irvine. General admission tickets are $5, $3 for students and $4 for UCI staff and seniors. Series passes are available for $15 to $25. For more information, go to www.filmandvideocenter.com or call (949) 824-7418.