HD EXPO Panelists/Moderators

DIRK BLACKMAN (Writer-Producer) is a native son of New Jersey. He was educated at Columbia University and the American Film Institute, and has since become a bona fide Angelino. Dirk served his time as an assistant at the William Morris Agency, dodging flying coffee cups with the other trainees, before co-producing an indie feature, Friends and Enemies. As a solo writer, he has optioned multiple screenplays, and with co-writer Howard McCain, has worked with Jackie Chan, John Woo, Len Wiseman and even drank a Snapple out of Gene Simmons’s refrigerator. Dirk and Howard co-wrote the sci-fi/monster/Viking action film Outlander for the Weinstein Company, which hits theaters around the world in January 2009. Dirk also rendered Executive Producer chores on that production, which Howard directed. In addition to co-writing the upcoming Underworld 3,  they have also set up their screenplay Amazon at Lion’s Gate Films with Scarlett Johansson attached to star.  The pair was recently hired to write the script for the Conan reboot. A lifelong comic book and Buck Rogers memorabilia collector, Dirk is relieved to find that being a geek is no longer socially crippling. (Though he still won’t talk much about his vintage Wacky Packs collection.) He’s the father of lovely twin daughters, Kate and Rachel, and can’t believe they’re almost thirteen.