Skip to main content
This website uses a variety of cookies, which you consent to if you continue to use this site. You can read our Privacy Policy for details about how these cookies are used, and to grant or withdraw your consent for certain types of cookies.

Author Panel: Hollywood

June 7, 2023, 12:30pm–1:45pm

Admired and best-selling authors offer advice and discuss their latest books. 

Hollywood

Paul Rudnick, Farrell Covington and the Limits of Style

Joel Thurm, Sex, Drugs, and Pilot Season: Confessions of a Casting Director

Hosted by Ilana Levine, Actress and Podcaster, Little Known Facts with Ilana Levine

Paul Rudnick is a novelist, playwright, essayist and screenwriter, whom the New York Times has called, “one of our pre-eminent humorists.” His plays have been produced both on and off Broadway and around the world, and include I Hate Hamlet, Jeffrey, The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told, Valhalla, Regrets Only, and The New Century. His novels include Social Disease and I'll Take It, both from Knopf and Playing the Palace from Berkley. He’s a regular contributor to the New Yorker and his articles and essays have also appeared in the New York Times, Esquire, Vogue and Vanity Fair. Mr. Rudnick’s screenplays include In & Out, Sister Act, the screen adaptation of Jeffrey, and Addams Family Values.  He’s currently writing a screenplay called Ex-Husbands, based on an original idea by Billy Eichner, for Amazon. 

From his humble beginnings growing up on his grandfather’s dairy farm in New York, Joel Thurm became one of the most admired, powerful, and accomplished casting directors in Hollywood. Early on, Thurm’s instincts proved beyond reproach when he recognized John Travolta as much more than a teen idol, casting him in the TV Movie The Boy in the Plastic Bubble. It was during his years as Vice President of Talent and Casting for both Paramount Television and NBC that he discovered the remarkable Phoenix family from which River and Joaquin became A-list movie stars. With his insider’s knowledge, irreverent style, and biting wit, Thurm tells the stories of his key involvement in such iconic movies and shows as GreaseAirplane!CheersThe Golden Girls, and many, many more.

As an actress, Ilana Levine has performed on stage and screen to critical acclaim. On Broadway, Ilana is best known to musical theater fans for her comedic turn as "Lucy Van Pelt" in the Broadway revival of, You're A Good Man Charlie Brown. Ilana also starred in the Broadway productions of Jake's Women, Wrong Mountain and The Last Night Of Ballyhoo.  She has performed on the Tony Awards. Her ability to portray characters with raw honesty, humor, and pathos, has sustained her career as an actress for over 25 years.  She first appeared on the scene in the HBO series Tanner ’88 directed by Robert Altman and quickly was plucked by Vanity Fair journalist James Wolcott as an “up and comer to watch.”  Seinfeld fans recognize her from the infamous episode "The Contest."  She has appeared in many television shows and films including DivorceLaw and Order, Tanner on Tanner, Damages, The Job, Cashmere Mafia, Confessions of a ShopaholicKissing Jessica Stein, Gigantic, Ira and Abby, Failure to Launch, The Nanny Diaries, Friends With Kids and Five Flights Up. As a voice over artist she has done commercials and audio books. For the past three years Ilana has been cited as a “Twitter Influencer To Follow”.  She resides in Brooklyn, New York  with her husband, actor Dominic Fumusa, her two children, and their dog, Lola.