Barry Sandler, M.F.A.

• Associate Professor
• Barry.Sandler@ucf.edu
• 407-823-4387
• Office Hours: Tuesday, 2-4pm
• Campus Location: COMM178

With a BA and MFA from UCLA Film School, Barry Sandler has written screenplays for numerous motion pictures, including CRIMES OF PASSION, THE MIRROR CRACK’D, EVIL UNDER THE SUN, THE DUCHESS AND THE DIRTWATER FOX, THE OTHER SIDE OF MIDNIGHT, GABLE AND LOMBARD, ALL-AMERICAN MURDER, THE LONERS, THE VALLEY, EVIL NEVER DIES, THE KANSAS CITY BOMBER, and the groundbreaking classic MAKING LOVE, the first major studio film to present a positive portrayal of gay people.

Sandler has also written FUTURE HOUSE for Warner Bros., BRAINWAVE and LOVELAND for Universal, THE COMMON MANN for Columbia, TORCH for CBS, HOLLYWOOD HUSBANDS for NBC, and STAR LADIES, ACTRESS and STAT for ABC.
In 2010 he was published in LARGER THAN LIFE: MOVIE STARS OF THE 1950'S, a collection of essays.

He is the recipient of the GLAAD Media Award, the Southern California Psychotherapy Association Courage in Filmmaking Award, the People for the American Way Defending Freedom Citation, the PFLAG Oscar Wilde Award, the MECLA Humanitarian Award, the GLCSC Award, the FMPTA Crystal Reel Award, and the Outfest 2002 Gay Pioneer Award for Courage and Artistry. He has been honored by the Berlin, Seattle, Florida, Asheville, Santa Barbara, Outfest, Gay Orlando and Q2 Film Festivals, profiled in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Advocate, the Orlando Sentinel, the Orlando Weekly, the Miami Herald, the Chicago Sun Times, After Dark, Daily Variety, Esquire Magazine, GQ, the Village Voice, Filmmakers Forum, ABC 20/20, NBC Today Show, A&E Biography, CBC Saturday Night, WHO’S WHO IN AMERICA, MAKING HISTORY by Eric Marcus, and THE CELLULOID CLOSET by Vito Russo, and he served as a commentator in Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman’s award-winning documentary THE CELLULOID CLOSET. In 2002, Sandler was named by The Advocate as one of the most influential gay artists in America.

He currently has film projects in development at Wildcat Productions, Safe Harbour Films, Regent Entertainment, and Here! TV, and is mounting a stage adaptation of CRIMES OF PASSION which premiered at the Edinburgh Festival in 2008. In addition, he serves on the WGA Credit Arbitration Committee, the American Cinemateque Advisory Board, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, as well as being Artistic Director of the Outfest Screenwriting Lab and advisor to the Orlando Gay and Lesbian Center. Sandler is currently on the faculty of the University of Central Florida School of Film, where he teaches screenwriting, and he was the inaugural instructor in the UCF Honors College LGBT program. In 2007, Sandler was selected as one of the WGA Gay Groundbreakers. In 2008, he was chosen as an honorary speaker at California State University, Northridge. In 2009, he was honored with a week-long tribute and retrospective of his work by the University of Nebraska, and in 2010 he was honored by the Florida Queer Arts Council with a commemoration of his contribution to advancing the positive images of gay and lesbian people through his work.

Education

• M.F.A. in Screenwriting from University of California, Los Angeles (1972)
• B.A. in Screenwriting from University of California, Los Angeles (1970)

Research Interests

• Screenwriting
• American Film History

Awards

• GLAAD Media Award
• Southern California Psychotherapy Association Courage in Filmmaking Award
• People for the American Way Defending Freedom Citation
• PFLAG Oscar Wilde Award
• MECLA Humanitarian Award
• GLCSC Award
• FMPTA Crystal Reel Award
• Outfest 2002 Gay Pioneer Award for Courage and Artistry

Courses

Updated: Dec 6, 2011