Timothy Calpin, Jr. (born 1979) is an American

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

best known for writing the 2009 film ''

Assassination of a High School President ''Assassination of a High School President'' is a 2008 American neo noir comedy film directed by Brett Simon and starring Reece Thompson, Bruce Willis, Mischa Barton, Emily Meade and Michael Rapaport. It was written by Tim Calpin and Kevin ...

''.

Biography

Calpin was born in

Scranton, Pennsylvania Scranton is a city in and the county seat of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, United States. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Scranton is the most populous city in Northeastern Pennsylvania and the ...

, and first became interested in writing while attending

Scranton Preparatory School Scranton Preparatory School is a co-educational Jesuit high school located in Scranton, Pennsylvania, United States. History Scranton Prep opened its doors in 1944. At the request of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Scranton and of Catholic families ...

, from which he graduated in 1997. He went on to earn a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

in film at

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...

. Calpin wrote his first script while at Syracuse. After leaving college, he relocated to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

where he worked mainly as a production assistant on commercials and short films, he moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

in November 2003 after getting an agent. In Los Angeles, he met Kevin Jakubowski, who helped him get a job on the television comedy series ''

South Park ''South Park'' is an American animated sitcom created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, and developed by Brian Graden for Comedy Central. The series revolves around four boysStan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormickand the ...

'' for two seasons, first as a

production assistant A production assistant, also known as a PA, is a member of the film crew and is a job title used in filmmaking and television for a person responsible for various aspects of a production. The job of a PA can vary greatly depending on the budget ...

and later as a

personal assistant A personal assistant, also referred to as personal aide (PA) or personal secretary (PS), is a job title describing a person who assists a specific person with their daily business or personal task. It is a subspecialty of secretarial duties ...

executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the production of media. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights or royalties). In film ...

Anne Garefino. Working on ''South Park'', Calpin says he and Jakubowski "picked up plenty" from watching

Trey Parker Randolph Severn "Trey" Parker III (born October 19, 1969) is an American actor, animator, writer, producer, director, and musician. He is best known for co-creating ''South Park'' (1997) and '' The Book of Mormon'' (2011) with his creative part ...

and

Matt Stone Matthew Richard Stone (born May 26, 1971) is an American actor, animator, writer, producer, and musician. He is best known for co-creating ''South Park'' (since 1997) and ''The Book of Mormon (musical), The Book of Mormon'' (2011) with his cre ...

and the other staff writers at work, and the pair realized that they shared similar writing styles and "comedic sensibilities". The pair first wrote and collaborated on ''Your Ex-Girlfriend's Cat'', which was optioned by

Rogue Pictures Rogue (originally Rogue Pictures) is an American independent production company founded in 1998 by Matt Wall and Patrick Gunn, originally started off as a genre film label of the Universal-affiliated independent film studio October Films and was ...

but has still not been

greenlight In the context of the film and television industries, to greenlight is to give permission to proceed with a project. It specifically refers to formally approving its production finance and committing to this financing, thereby allowing the projec ...

ed. In December 2005, while ''South Park'' was on hiatus, Calpin and Jakubowski began writing ''

'', a screenplay which evolved from high school-related stories they had been working on separately. When the completed script was given to film studios in April 2006, despite receiving a generally positive response, companies were reluctant to produce the film as it was not conventionally mainstream, until film producer

Roy Lee Roy Lee (born March 23, 1969) is an American film and television producer. His production company, Vertigo Entertainment, has a first-look deal with Lionsgate. Early life Lee was born in 1969 at Wyckoff Heights Hospital in Brooklyn, New York, ...

brought the script to Yari Film Group, who signed on to produce, and

Brett Simon Brett Simon (born November 28, 1973, in Palo Alto, California) is an American commercial, music video and film director. Career Simon graduated from Princeton University ''summa cum laude'' in 1997 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Comparative ...

soon after signed on to direct. In September 2007 Calpin wrote and directed the short film ''Gentleman Jack'', about two men trying to pick up the same girl in a bar, which was Agapic Films' first feature. Calpin is currently working with Jakubowski on a film for

Lions Gate Entertainment Starz Entertainment Corp, formerly known officially as Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation and commonly as Lions Gate and/or Lionsgate, is a Canadian-American entertainment industry, entertainment company currently headquartered in Santa Monica ...

about two professional

pool Pool may refer to: Bodies of water * Swimming pool, usually an artificial structure containing a large body of water intended for swimming * Reflecting pool, a shallow pool designed to reflect a structure and its surroundings * Tide pool, a roc ...

players, and a script for

MTV Films MTV Entertainment Studios (formerly MTV Production Development from 2003 until 2018 and MTV Studios from 2018 until 2021) is an American film and television Film production, production and Film distribution, distribution company and is the film ...

, possibly about the local music scene in a small town.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Calpin, Tim American male screenwriters Syracuse University College of Visual and Performing Arts alumni People from Pettis County, Missouri 1979 births Living people Screenwriters from Missouri Screenwriters from New York (state)