Media Study to host Zweibel, screenings

The Department of Media Study next month will host two noteworthy events: a visit by Alan Zweibel, a UB alumnus and one of the original writers for "Saturday Night Live," and a screening of several films as part of the Empire State Film Festival.

Zweibel will lecture about his career in show business from 7:30-9 p.m. Oct. 4 in the Screening Room, Room 112 of the Center for the Arts on the North Campus.

The event will free and open to the public.

On Oct. 3, 10 16-mm films will be screened as part of the traveling Empire State Film Festival. The UB screening will be held from 3-5 p.m. in the Screening Room in the Center for the Arts. It will be free of charge and open to the public.

The films to be screened are "Araby," United States; "Babcha," Israel; "Bound," Australia, "Fighting Eddie," U.S., "Langmuir's World, U.S.; "Miss December," U.S.; "My Mother Dreams the Satan's Disciples in New York," U.S.; "Single Moments," U.S.; "Tolerance," U.S., and "The Windigo," U.S.

The festival also will screen films in Manhattan, Saratoga Springs and Ithaca.

A 1972 graduate of UB, Zweibel began his career by writing one-liners that he sold for $7 apiece to Catskill comedians. He was discovered by Lorne Michaels, who gave him a job as one of the original writers of "Saturday Night Live."

Since then, he has won five Emmy, six Ace and two Writer's Guild awards for his work in television, which also includes "Great Performances" on PBS and "It's Garry Shandling's Show," which he co-created and produced.

His plays, "Between Cars," Comic Dialogue" and "Bunny Bunny" all enjoyed critically acclaimed off-Broadway runs, and his fiction has appeared in such diverse publications as Mad magazine, The New Yorker and The Atlantic.

His feature film credits include "Dragnet," which he co-wrote with Dan Aykroyd; Rob Reiner's "North," which he adapted from his own novel, and "The Story of Us," which he co-wrote and produced.

Currently, he is adapting his best-selling book, "Bunny Bunny: Gilda Radner-A Sort of Love Story," into a feature film for Warner Brothers. He also is writing a feature film, "Teddy," for Miramax and creating a television series for Jon Lovitz.

His children's book, "A Tree Named Steve," which he wrote and illustrated, will be published next fall