Jan-Bodo Bruhns grew up in Germany, studied communications at the Berlin Art school and came to the USA in 1994 to get an MFA at the USC Peter Stark Producing program. Here he worked as a teaching assistant and discovered a passion for the art of cinematic storytelling, as it applies to both small independent films and big Hollywood blockbusters.

Jan-Bodo then worked in development at studios and production companies in Los Angeles (i.e. Universal, Blue Tulip, Gemini Film, Studio Hamburg International Production) and as freelance story analyst (HBO Films, Dreamworks, etc.). He also taught script development at the Munich film school with his former teacher Bobette Buster and worked on various scripts - from writing adaptations, consulting on German dialogue for SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, to research and consulting on various HBO films (e.g. German subtitles for the critically acclaimed Rwanda genocide drama SOMETIMES IN APRIL).

Jan-Bodo currently works as a freelance story analyst in L.A. and has various projects in development as writer and producer. As such, he is always eager to discover new talent and work with talented up- and coming writers.

“I don’t care what genre you write in - I like many genres myself, from comedy to thriller, scifi and horror - but it has to appeal to a wide audience to be commercially viable. Many writers and executives mistake that for dumbing down a script to the least common denominator and molding it into a standard structure, but there are such things as universal topics, characters and emotions that we identify with and that is why we like movies. However, people are getting tired of the same old formulas that Hollywood serves up, unless they have some cool special effects and action scenes. Just look at the success of Judd Apatow’s comedies (KNOCKED UP, THE 40-YEAR OLD VIRGIN), quirky independent films such as LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE, or even Germany’s Oscar winner THE LIVES OF OTHERS, which has a specific German topic, but the theme of oppression and how we deal with it individually is universal.”

Education

1996 Master of Fine Arts, Peter Stark Producing Program,
USC School of Cinema-Television, Los Angeles

1994 Masters/Bachelor of Arts in Communication Arts,
Hochschule der Künste Berlin (Berlin School of Arts)
Germany

Work Experience

1999-2007 Freelance Story Analyst
(HBO FILMS, BEL AIR ENT., DREAMWORKS TV, etc.)

2002-2003 STUDIO HAMBURG INTERNATIONAL PRODUCTION
Story Editor
Set up and managed development office in L.A.

1998-1999 GEMINI Film Production, Cologne, Germany
Freelance Story Editor in L.A., consulting and development on various international projects (i.e. Fantasy-Drama TV Series; Thriller, Family Adventure mini-series, German MOWs)

1996-1997 BLUE TULIP PRODUCTIONS
Intern and Development Assistant
to producer Michael Peyser and director Jan De Bont

1996 MUNICH FILM SCHOOL (HFF), Germany
Assistant teacher for screenplay seminar with Bobette Buster,
co-instruction on the basics of Hollywood storytelling, coaching writers

1995/1996 USC, School of Cinema-TV
teaching assistant for two classes:
"Graduate Film Business" and
"Script Analysis for the Producer"

Development/Consulting work

2005 SOMETIMES IN APRIL, HBO Films (wr/dir: Raoul Peck)
German subtitles writer and editor for Berlin film festival

2002 SOUL OF A NATION, HBO Films (in development)
Researcher for writer Kate Lanier (Set it off, What’s Love got to do with it, etc.), research and story notes for animated drama about the history of African-American music

1999 A SORDID AFFAIR, aka THE HUSTLE (US video title),
aka DIE ABZOCKER (German TV title), story editor (uncredited development notes), Gemini Film, thriller written by David Howard and Michael Capellupo

1999 THE STAR GAME, story consultant for Fantasy Drama TV-Series, Capture Film, Los Angeles (unproduced)

1997 SAVING PRIVATE RYAN
German Consultant for writer Frank Darabont on uncredited rewrite, research and German dialogue translation

Screenplays and Treatments

2005 THE OUTPOST, Scifi/Horror spec

1999 THE LETTER FOR THE KING, treatment for Adventure TV-Mini-series, adaptation of Tonke Dragt books, Gemini Film (unproduced)

1998 DIE JOURNALISTIN (The Journalist), German TV-Drama, adaptation of a H.G. Konsalik novel, Gemini Film (co-writer, unproduced)

1997 LEGENDS OF THE SEA, spec script, Action-Adventure

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