Penntertainment

Penn Alumni You Should Know About: Vol. 16

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TV

Melissa Hilfers (C’95) and Michael Rauch (C’90) are teaming up on a new pilot starring hottie Jessica Biel. Hilfers penned the script and Rauch is slated to executive produce. The story centers on a partying NYC bachelor who tries to change his ways by hiring an actress to play his wife in real life.  Yay for more Penn alumni working together!

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Roy Bank (C’94) is sending people to Mars. Bank is producing docuseries “Mars One”, which will chronicle the lives of four people who are training to be sent on a one-way mission to Mars, where they will then stay and live while we watch it all on screen. The show will be a window into a group of adventurous souls who are tasked with creating a brand new society on an entirely different planet. The series will start by showing the training for these lucky few and will continue on until their mission once 8 years of training is complete. I’d make a “the show will be outta this world” joke but it seems too easy.

Roy also currently has a few shows on air including season 2 of “Deal With It” a prank show starring Howie Mandel (TBS), “I Brake for Yard Sales” (“The Great American Country channel), and season 3 of “Flea Market Flip” (“The Great American Country channel).

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Becki Newton (C’00) is about to return to your screen! The Ugly Betty vet is slated to star in a new Fox pilot titled Weird Loners. She plays Caryn Goldfarb, a high-strung dental hygienist with an affinity for attractive men that she can’t seem to land. Look out for it in the upcoming pilot season!

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Vanessa Bayer (C’04, Bloomers, Friars) was recently all over our screens again. First she played a bank teller in the season premiere of “Portlandia”. See her charming and silly self in the first video, below. She then also appeared on “Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen” and discussed how much she would enjoy being on “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.” Spoiler alert: she thinks she’d be BFF with Kyle and Kim Richards. Check out the whole interview in the second video below.

Jake Avnet (C’05) has been working as the COO of YouTube series WIGS since May 2012. Now Jake is teaming up with The Black List to find lesser-known writers for the series (remember when Penn alum and writer Jack Stanley (C’11) made The Black List last winter?). We’re excited to see what the new partnership and rookie writers will add to the show!

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Next up: Alumni in Comedy and Theater
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