Michael Lent is a mixed media writer and producer based in Los Angeles. He is best known as the co-writer of ''On Thin Ice'', the memoirs of Hugh Rowland, one of the stars of the long-running series

Ice Road Truckers ''Ice Road Truckers'' (commercially abbreviated ''IRT'') is a reality television series that premiered on History Channel, on June 17, 2007. It features the activities of drivers who operate trucks on seasonal routes crossing frozen lakes an ...

Career

Michael Lent received a BA in American Studies from

Hamilton College Hamilton College is a private liberal arts college in Clinton, Oneida County, New York. It was founded as Hamilton-Oneida Academy in 1793 and was chartered as Hamilton College in 1812 in honor of inaugural trustee Alexander Hamilton, followi ...

, and an MFA in Screenwriting and Film from the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, ...

. Lent began his career interning in the On-Air Promotions Department at

MTV Networks Paramount Media Networks (formerly known as Warner Cable Communications, Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, MTV Networks, Viacom Media Networks, and ViacomCBS Domestic Media Networks) is an American mass media division of Paramount Global tha ...

where he worked with producers

Ted Demme Edward Kern Demme ( ; October 26, 1963 – January 13, 2002) was an American director, producer, and actor. Early life Demme was born in New York City, the son of Gail (née Kern) and Frederick Rogers Demme. He grew up in Rockville Centre, New ...

Mark Pellington Mark Pellington (born March 17, 1962) is an American film director, writer, and producer. Life and career Pellington was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the son of Bill Pellington, an All-Pro linebacker who played football with the Baltimore Colts ...

, John Payson, and Abby Terkuhle. From 1997-2007, he was a featured columnist and contributing editor for ''Creative Screenwriting Magazine''. In 2004, Lent's book ''Breakfast With Sharks: A Screenwriter's Guide to Getting the Meeting, Nailing the Pitch, Signing the Deal, and Navigating the Murky Waters of Hollywood,'' on the business side of screenwriting, was published by

Random House Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Ger ...

. The introduction to ''Breakfast With Sharks'' is by

Mike Medavoy Morris Mike Medavoy (born January 21, 1941) is an American film producer and business executive. He is the co-founder of Orion Pictures (1978), former chairman of TriStar Pictures, former head of production for United Artists (1974–1978), and t ...

, American film producer and executive. The book was a best-seller in the category of film books, and is used in film programs in colleges and universities around the world. In 2006, Lent co-produced the feature film ''Hard Scrambled'', starring

Kurtwood Smith Kurtwood Larson Smith (born July 3, 1943) is an American television and film actor. He is known for playing Clarence Boddicker in ''RoboCop'' (1987), Robert Griggs in '' Rambo III'' (1988), and Red Forman in ''That '70s Show'' (1998–2006), a ...

Richard Edson Richard Edson (born January 1, 1954) is an American actor and musician. Personal life Edson was born in New Rochelle, New York to a Jewish family. He has one brother, Steven, who resides in the Boston area, and two sisters, Andrea, who resides ...

Beth Grant Beth Grant (born September 18, 1949) is an American character actress. Between 2012 and 2017, she was a series regular on the television comedy ''The Mindy Project'' in the role of Beverly Janoszewski. She is also known for her role as Gracie ...

, and

Alanna Ubach Alanna Ubach (born October 3, 1975) is an American actress, known for her roles as Serena McGuire in '' Legally Blonde'' (2001) & '' Legally Blonde 2'' (2003), Isabel Villalobos in ''Meet the Fockers'' (2004), Maria in '' Sister Act 2: Back in t ...

. The film was awarded the Best Narrative Film Award by the

Garden State Film Festival The Garden State Film Festival is a film festival in the United States held in Asbury Park, New Jersey which debuts more than 200 independent films annually over four days each spring. The festival was founded in 2002 in Sea Girt, New Jersey by ...

and the Best Director award at the

Phoenix Film Festival Phoenix Film Festival is a festival that celebrates feature films and their creators. Started in 2000, the annual celebration takes place in the city of Phoenix, Arizona. The festival is a showcase for feature and short films from all over the wo ...

. Lent also produced the feature film ''Witches' Night'' in 2007, starring

Gil McKinney Mark Gilbert McKinney, known professionally as Gil McKinney, (born February 5, 1979 in Houston, Texas) is an American film and television actor. He is best known for playing Dr. Paul Grady on '' ER'', Derek Bishop on '' Friday Night Lights'', a ...

and

Betsy Baker Betsy Baker is an American actress, best known as playing Linda in the film ''The Evil Dead'' (1981). Early life Baker was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa - a middle child - and grew up in St. Joseph, Michigan. She started piano lessons at the age ...

. In 2007, Lent's holiday humor book ''Christmas Letters from Hell: All The News We Hate From The People We Love'', was published by

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest pub ...

. The book is a parody of "self-absorbed, aggrandizing" family letters sent out every holiday season; Lent writes from the imagined perspective of Satan and his family. It moved to #2 on Amazon's bestseller list for holiday books. Lent was then part of the Authors@Google series, in which he travelled to

Google Google LLC () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company focusing on Search Engine, search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, software, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, ar ...

Headquarters to discuss ''Christmas Letters From Hell''. Also in 2007, Lent created and co-wrote ''Prey: Origin of the Species'', a graphic novel published by

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Comics'' in 19 ...

and

Dabel Brothers Publishing Dabel Brothers Productions (also known as DB Pro, DBPro, Dabel Brothers Publishing and sometimes Dabel Brothers Production) is a U.S. publishing company of comic books and graphic novels. It was founded in 2001 and is based in Atlanta, Georgi ...

.Michael Lent – Comic Book DB
/ref> He is the co-writer of ''On Thin Ice,'' published by Hyperion Books in 2010, based on the life of Hugh Rowland, one of the stars of

and

IRT Deadliest Roads ''Ice Road Truckers'' (commercially abbreviated ''IRT'') is a reality television series that premiered on History Channel, on June 17, 2007. It features the activities of drivers who operate trucks on seasonal routes crossing frozen lakes and r ...

on the

History Channel History (formerly The History Channel from January 1, 1995 to February 15, 2008, stylized as HISTORY) is an American pay television network and flagship channel owned by A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Dis ...

. In 2008, Lent worked as a writer on the video game '' Vigilante 8: Arcade,'' produced by Isopod Labs. Lent was also a writer on the video game ''SCAPS Agent,'' published in 2011 by Slime Sandwich. He is the co-creator and co-writer, with Brian McCarthy, of the ''Brimstone'' comic book series published by

Zenescope Entertainment Zenescope Entertainment is a comic book and graphic novel publisher headquartered in Horsham, Pennsylvania, United States, co-founded by Joe Brusha and Ralph Tedesco in 2005. Zenescope publishes full-color action, fantasy and horror titles. Und ...

in 2011-2012. A film based on the series is currently in development with producer Brett Donowho. Lent and McCarthy also co-authored a series of graphic bios of

Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, crime, science-fiction, and fantasy novels. Described as the "King of Horror", a play on his surname and a reference to his high ...

Keith Richards Keith Richards (born 18 December 1943), often referred to during the 1960s and 1970s as "Keith Richard", is an English musician and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the co-founder, guitarist, secondary vocalist, and co-princi ...

JRR Tolkien JRR may refer to: * J. R. R. Tolkien (1892–1973), English writer, poet, philologist and university professor * Jaime Robbie Reyne (born 1985), Australian singer * Jay Robinson Racing, a racing team * Jiru language * Jackie Robinson (1919–1972), ...

, and Stephen Hawking that are published by Bluewater/Orbit Productions. The Stephen King bio is in its third printing as of 2015. Lent executive-produced the 2014 film ''If You’re Serious'', which was nominated for the Verna Fields Award by the

Motion Picture Sound Editors Motion Picture Sound Editors (M.P.S.E.) is an American honorary society of motion picture sound editors founded in 1953. The society's goals are to educate others about and increase the recognition of the sound editors, show the artistic merit o ...

. In 2015, Lent produced the film ''2021'', written and directed by David Ash, which is premiering at the Twin Cities Film Festival. He is the author of ''TMS: The Machine Stops'', a graphic novel series published by Alterna Comics in 2015. The story is adapted from the classic

E.M. Forster Edward Morgan Forster (1 January 1879 – 7 June 1970) was an English author, best known for his novels, particularly ''A Room with a View'' (1908), ''Howards End'' (1910), and ''A Passage to India'' (1924). He also wrote numerous short stori ...

science fiction short story ''

The Machine Stops "The Machine Stops" is a science fiction short story (12,300 words) by E. M. Forster. After initial publication in ''The Oxford and Cambridge Review'' (November 1909), the story was republished in Forster's ''The Eternal Moment and Other Stori ...

''. Lent has taught or lectured at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a Normal school, teachers colle ...

Chapman University Chapman University is a private research university in Orange, California. It encompasses ten schools and colleges, including Fowler School of Engineering, Dodge College of Film and Media Arts, Fowler School of Law, and Schmid College of Scie ...

, the

, and

Santa Barbara City College Santa Barbara City College (SBCC) is a public community college in Santa Barbara, California. It opened in 1909 and is located on a campus. History Santa Barbara City College was established by the Santa Barbara High School District in 1909, ma ...

. For more than two years, as part of the UCLA Extension Arts Reach Program, he taught writing to inmates at the

Chino Men's Prison California Institution for Men (CIM) is a male-only state prison located in the city of Chino, San Bernardino County, California. It is often colloquially referenced as "Chino". In turn, locals call the prison "Chino Men's" or just "Men's" to avo ...

References

External links

*
Michael Lent
Facebook page
Page devoted to Brimstone that Lent and Brian McCarthy founded
Facebook group
Lent on author site/database Red Room
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lent, Michael Living people American male writers Film producers from New York (state) American comics writers Hamilton College (New York) alumni University of Miami School of Communication alumni Video game writers Year of birth missing (living people)