Honorary Advisory Board

STEPHEN CHBOSKY
An Upper St. Clair native, Stephen grew up attending the Hollywood Theater. In 1999 he published his coming-of-age novel “The Perks of Being a Wallflower.” He also wrote the screenplay for the 2005 film “Rent” and was co-creator, executive producer, and writer of the CBS television series “Jericho,” which began airing in 2006. Stephen wrote a screenplay for “Perks,” and production of the film, which stars Emma Watson, began in the spring of 2011. Portions of the movie were filmed at the Hollywood Theater. The film was released in the fall of 2012.

DAVID CONRAD
David grew up near Edgewood and often took the trolley to Dormont to see movies at the Hollywood Theater. He studied history at Brown University where he became interested in acting. He went on to study acting at New York’s prestigious Julliard School. David’s film and TV credits include: “Wedding Crashers,” Men of Honor,” “Relativity,” “The Ghost Whisperer,” “CSI: Miami;” and “The Good Wife.”

PETER S. BEAGLE
Peter S. Beagle was born in Manhattan and raised in the Bronx. At 15 he won a scholarship to the University of Pittsburgh, where he earned a degree in creative writing. His first novel, A Fine and Private Place, was written while studying at Pitt and published by Viking in 1960. Mr. Beagle’s screenwriting credits include The Dove (1974), the animated Lord of the Rings (1978), and the screenplay of his own novel The Last Unicorn (1982). He is also the author of the teleplay “Sarek,” an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. The author of numerous novels, short stories, poems, and songs, he has won the Hugo, Nebula, and Mythopoeic Awards and a World Fantasy Award for Lifetime Achievement.

GILLIAN JACOBS
Gillian Jacobs, best know for playing Britta on the TV show “Community,” grew up in Mt. Lebanon. She made her name locally appearing in plays at the Pittsburgh Public Theater where she was a perennial contender in the Public’s Shakespeare Monologue Contest. That led to her being cast as Titania in its production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” After graduating from Mt. Lebanon High School in 2000, Gillian moved to New York City, where she studied acting at the Julliard School. Her first national exposure cane on the TV show “The Book of Daniel” in 2006, and she appeared in many New York theatrical productions, including “The Little Flower of East Orange” directed by Phillip Seymour-Hoffman. In 2008, Gillian played Cherry Daiquiri in the film adaptation of Chuck Palahniuk’s book “choke”. In 2009 she joined the cast of “Community.”

IAN PETRELLA Ian Petrella played little brother Randy in the 1983 movie “A Christmas Story.”  He has visited the Hollywood twice for events. Ian currently resides in Los Angeles where he is working on animation and puppetry.