Frank Pierson will speak on November 7

UNC Asheville's Mass Communication Department will host an afternoon with Academy Award-winning screenwriter Frank Pierson at 2 p.m. Friday, Nov. 7, at UNC Asheville's Humanities Lecture Hall. The event is co-sponsored by the Asheville Film Festival, which will honor Pierson's life work November 6-9. The talk is free and open to the public.

Pierson got his first Hollywood break in 1958 when he penned a script for the television series "Naked City." He went on to write or co-write several notable films, including "Cat Ballou," "Cool Hand Luke" and "Dog Day Afternoon," which won an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay in 1976. Pierson has also directed several notable television movies, including "Truman" and "Soldier's Girl," which earned Peabody Awards. He has served as president of the Writers Guild of America-West as well as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Currently, he is a member of the teaching staff of Sundance Institute and is artistic director of the American Film Institute.

For more information, call UNC Asheville's Mass Communication Department at 828/232-5027.