Spartan Profiles: David Magee

FINDING NEVERLAND

            After graduation from MSU in theatre, he worked for several years as an actor in regional theatres, enjoying himself immensely but “earning virtually nothing.”  He built sets for off-Broadway theatres, cropped up in small parts on the occasional soap opera, did extensive voiceover work and narrations, and wrote the audio abridgements of some 80 novels.  One day six years ago, David Magee, ’84, was given the opportunity to write the screenplay for the film version of The Man Who Was Peter Pan.  The movie was Finding Neverland (2004), and lo and behold, Magee—in his first script—was nominated for an Academy Award (for Best Adapted Screenplay), a Golden Globe, a Broadcast Film Critics Award, a BAFTA British Academy Award and the London Film Critics Award.  He won the Christopher Award, given to movies with an uplifting spirit. 

            “It has worked out incredibly well,” says Magee, who lives in New Jersey with his wife Pamela and three children.  “Especially in a business that’s so unpredictable.  I’m confident I can work for a while now.” 

            Indeed, David has since written seven scripts “either for a studio or for a producer,” including Miss Pettigrew for Focus Features and The Tiger’s Apprentice for Miramax.  “Probably three will never see the light of day for any number of arcane reasons, but four probably will,” predicts Dave.  “Once you prove you know what you’re doing, you essentially get offers every week.”  At the very least, he notes, he can now tell friends who ask him if he is still acting or abridging, “No, I’m a screen writer.” 

            A native of Flint, Dave credits MSU with helping launch his career.  “I loved my time at MSU,” he recalls.  “The Wharton Center had just opened and I had a great opportunity to get on stage and act and to make mistakes.”  As for his acumen for writing, Dave says that  abridging novels “was a great training ground for story structure and for knowing what’s really important.”