Scott Schneid
- Writer
- Producer
- Director
Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Scott arrived in Hollywood shortly after receiving his bachelor's degree from Harvard University. Landing a job in the William Morris Agency's training program, he worked evenings and weekends to develop the screenplay for what became Tri-Star's infamous "Silent Night, Deadly Night," receiving executive producer credit on the Yuletide horror picture, the film going on to spawn four sequels for LIVE Home Video and a very loose 2012 Anchor Bay remake.
Bitten by the creative bug, Scott formed a decade-long partnership with a former Morris trainee. Together they received writing credit on produced episodes of "Hardcastle & McCormack," "Rugrats," and "Friday The Thirteenth - The Series," the latter submitted for Emmy consideration by the producers. This was followed by the motion picture "Phantom of the Mall," starring Pauly Shore, Rob Estes and Morgan Fairchild, released theatrically in the U.S. by Fries Entertainment.
Development deals and close calls followed. An action/murder mystery of theirs was optioned by Baer Entertainment/Orion Pictures, multiple Academy Award special effects genius Stan Winston and producer Gale Anne Hurd got into business with them on one of their horror specs, they partnered with director Jon Turtletaub on a comedy they developed, CBS green-lit an MOW they wrote that Burt Reynolds was attached to star in, and IRS Films - in conjunction with the Chiodo Bros. - hired them to write an original.
Scott's decade-long roller coaster ride ended when he decided to pursue a welling interest in directing. Financing a 9-minute short, he was accepted into the American Film Institute's highly competitive MFA program. After his stint at the AFI, and 3 more shorts under his belt, Scott quickly optioned his first solo writing effort to producer Dale Pollock (Scott was the only director in his class of 24 that Pollock, former co-chair of the AFI producing program, got into business with). Although Pollock shut his company to become Dean of the North Carolina School Of The Arts, Scott once again optioned the project, this time to Beverly Hills-based Crusader Entertainment. Crusader attached Scott to direct the $8 million picture and placed it on the schedule for pre-production, but the film was scuttled at the last minute due to internal politics.
Scott wrote his next feature - "Reason To Believe" - based on a childhood experience. A coming-of-age comedy, it was one of 20 American projects chosen as a No Borders selection by the Independent Film Project (IFP NY) with Scott attached to direct and showcased at their annual International Co-Production market in Manhattan. Post- IFP, Scott produced and developed writer/director Rufus Williams' "Butterfly Dreaming," which made its world premiere at the Seattle International Film Festival and was the opening night picture of the Santa Monica Film Festival, winning the Jury Prize for Best Thriller. "Butterfly Dreaming" was picked up for domestic distribution by Vanguard Cinema.
While developing "Butterfly," Scott partnered with famed Hollywood producer David Foster on an action/horror/thriller. With Peter O'toole committed to playing one of the leads and ICM representing the package, the film began casting for a South African shoot, the likes of Zac Efron, Emma Stone, Kaley Cuoco, Michael Cerra and Amanda Seyfried all coming in to read for the teen leads, but the project was derailed when a portion of the financing fell out.
Last year, Scott - along with his SNDN partner Dennis Whitehead - raised $110,000 on Kickstarter to launch the SNDN board game, which shipped to thousands of fans in time for Christmas. They also partnered with boutique horror company Stop The Killer to publish a novelization of the original film, the book garnering fantastic reviews from the horror press, selling out in two weeks. The duo capped off this SNDN resurgence with a series of comic books from American Mythology and the development of a killer reboot script. A distribution deal is in place and everyone's hoping for a 2025 theatrical release of a new SNDN franchise.
Bitten by the creative bug, Scott formed a decade-long partnership with a former Morris trainee. Together they received writing credit on produced episodes of "Hardcastle & McCormack," "Rugrats," and "Friday The Thirteenth - The Series," the latter submitted for Emmy consideration by the producers. This was followed by the motion picture "Phantom of the Mall," starring Pauly Shore, Rob Estes and Morgan Fairchild, released theatrically in the U.S. by Fries Entertainment.
Development deals and close calls followed. An action/murder mystery of theirs was optioned by Baer Entertainment/Orion Pictures, multiple Academy Award special effects genius Stan Winston and producer Gale Anne Hurd got into business with them on one of their horror specs, they partnered with director Jon Turtletaub on a comedy they developed, CBS green-lit an MOW they wrote that Burt Reynolds was attached to star in, and IRS Films - in conjunction with the Chiodo Bros. - hired them to write an original.
Scott's decade-long roller coaster ride ended when he decided to pursue a welling interest in directing. Financing a 9-minute short, he was accepted into the American Film Institute's highly competitive MFA program. After his stint at the AFI, and 3 more shorts under his belt, Scott quickly optioned his first solo writing effort to producer Dale Pollock (Scott was the only director in his class of 24 that Pollock, former co-chair of the AFI producing program, got into business with). Although Pollock shut his company to become Dean of the North Carolina School Of The Arts, Scott once again optioned the project, this time to Beverly Hills-based Crusader Entertainment. Crusader attached Scott to direct the $8 million picture and placed it on the schedule for pre-production, but the film was scuttled at the last minute due to internal politics.
Scott wrote his next feature - "Reason To Believe" - based on a childhood experience. A coming-of-age comedy, it was one of 20 American projects chosen as a No Borders selection by the Independent Film Project (IFP NY) with Scott attached to direct and showcased at their annual International Co-Production market in Manhattan. Post- IFP, Scott produced and developed writer/director Rufus Williams' "Butterfly Dreaming," which made its world premiere at the Seattle International Film Festival and was the opening night picture of the Santa Monica Film Festival, winning the Jury Prize for Best Thriller. "Butterfly Dreaming" was picked up for domestic distribution by Vanguard Cinema.
While developing "Butterfly," Scott partnered with famed Hollywood producer David Foster on an action/horror/thriller. With Peter O'toole committed to playing one of the leads and ICM representing the package, the film began casting for a South African shoot, the likes of Zac Efron, Emma Stone, Kaley Cuoco, Michael Cerra and Amanda Seyfried all coming in to read for the teen leads, but the project was derailed when a portion of the financing fell out.
Last year, Scott - along with his SNDN partner Dennis Whitehead - raised $110,000 on Kickstarter to launch the SNDN board game, which shipped to thousands of fans in time for Christmas. They also partnered with boutique horror company Stop The Killer to publish a novelization of the original film, the book garnering fantastic reviews from the horror press, selling out in two weeks. The duo capped off this SNDN resurgence with a series of comic books from American Mythology and the development of a killer reboot script. A distribution deal is in place and everyone's hoping for a 2025 theatrical release of a new SNDN franchise.
