Q&A: Hollywood producer Jordan Horowitz on Qatar, NU-Q, and La La Land

Qatar Foundation
Sep 8, 2018 · 4 min read

Jordan Horowitz, an American film producer, screenwriter, and Northwestern alumnus, delivered a special address at Northwestern University in Qatar’s (NU-Q’s) 2018 Convocation Ceremony for its incoming class of students on Sunday, 2 September.

Horowitz is best known for producing the Academy Award-winning musical comedy-drama La La Land, and during his visit, the Qatar Foundation partner university screened the film for the community and hosted a post-screening discussion.

Having earned his degree from Northwestern’s School of Communication in the United States in 2002, Horowitz co-founded a film and television production company, Original Headquarters, with his wife, writer/director Julia Hart. His upcoming projects include Fast Color, co-written by Horowitz and Hart; a movie adaptation of the young adult novel Stargirl for Disney; and a drama series for Apple that he will executive produce with La La Land director and writer Damien Chazelle.

Horowitz spoke to us about the message he wanted to send to NU-Q and his impressions of both Qatar and the university.

Q. What were your first impressions of Qatar and NU-Q?

A. I always try to go to new places without any pre-conceived notions. What most surprised me about Doha was that it’s a city in-progress and is building itself in an amazing way. It feels like the priorities of those building the country are in the right place. There’s a deep investment in people, which is refreshing. As for NU-Q, it’s rare that a building of this size is built for this purpose — where everything inside is so new and advanced. You don’t see this type of building created at such a robust and holistic level.

Q. What was the message that you wanted to deliver to the incoming class of NU-Q during Convocation?

A. I love to tell people about the work I do, and why I do it. My address was about process and the shedding of expectations. For students who are going out into the world, I can relate. When I was in college, I had all these ideas of what it would mean to be successful and what I wanted to do, but so much of that shifted, and I wish someone had been there to tell me that it doesn’t matter what you think; what’s going to happen is going to happen. You have a limited amount control over everything and where you do have control is in how you respond to it all.

Q. How would you compare the student community here at NU-Q to that of the main Northwestern campus?

A. One thing that the school here has in comparison to Northwestern in Evanston is that it’s infinitely more internationally diverse. There are resources for people who normally might not have had the same opportunity to tell their stories. I think that’s incredibly important.

Q. What do you hope students can gain from your La La Land screening?

A. I remember being young and upon deciding that I wanted to be a producer and hoping to find role models, not seeing many young producers in the industry. Instead, there were a lot of older male producers who didn’t seem quite open — I couldn’t understand their career path or what drove them. So I am more than happy to conduct Q&As and screenings. I like being accessible to young people who might want to become producers because I didn’t have that opportunity when I was starting out.

Q. What are some of the lessons you impart, no matter the audience, that you come back to for each screening and Q&A?

A. For La La Land, I learned that patience is a big thing. It took a long time to get that movie made. We knew what movie we wanted to make and never wanted to make a different version. So the lesson is in understanding the movie you’re making, having the patience to get it made as you want it to be made, and following the process to get to that spot. That’s better than forcing something to get made and doing so for the wrong reasons.

Q. Every year, NU-Q hosts its student film festival, and Qatar hosts the Ajyal Youth Film Festival for young film-makers. After spending time with the student community here, would you be interested in returning to Qatar in the future to see their endeavors?

A. If Qatar Foundation wants to bring me back, then I’d love to. Absolutely.

Qatar Foundation

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