Northrop Davis

He is a screenwriter, the author of the sold-out book "Manga and Anime Go to Hollywood", and now the writer and creative director of his first manga-influenced series, "The Hole" (Japanese-style comics) volumes. He teaches screenwriting, television writing, and manga/anime studies.

As a writer, Davis has sold three Hollywood projects: his science fiction script to Warner Brothers and two pitches-- one to Columbia/Sony Studios and another to 20th Century Fox Film Corporation, both of which he subsequently wrote as screenplays. His screenplay "Alien Safari" is owned by Walt Disney Studios. He was interviewed in 2020 by Lionsgate Entertainment for the 25th Anniversary of the legendary "Ghost in the Shell" anime Blu-ray/Steelbox 4k Home Video release featurette-- and by French television studio Canal + for a documentary about Hollywood anime adaptations and by BBC News.

He has lectured at MIT (2022 to an anime class that uses his book), the Writers and the Directors Guilds of America, Duke University, Cal Arts, UCLA Professional Screenwriting Program, U.C. Irvine, Nanyang Technology University Singapore (2022), and ten years at Anime Expo (through 2024) where he first previewed "The Hole". He has been invited four times to lecture internationally, including at the premiere manga program at Japan's Kyoto Seika University.

Awards

As a member of the Writers Guild of America West, at the University of South Carolina, he received the Michael J. Mungo Undergraduate Teaching Award.

In 2015 he was named a Breakthrough Star, "awarded to faculty from a wide variety of disciplines, who show phenomenal commitment to their fields through research and scholarly activity." In 2023, he was awarded the Michael J. Mungo Distinguished Professor of the Year award, which is the University of South Carolina's most prestigious award presented annually to an outstanding teacher of undergraduate studies.

Books, papers, and articles

His articles have appeared in leading publications in his field. In 2024 alone, Davis has been quoted in Time Magazine's special "Pokemon" issue, and a major Japanese newspaper. Davis--and his book--which was published by Bloomsbury Academic--were quoted by France's newspaper of record "Le Monde" (in 2020 and 2017).

The American Library Association's "CHOICE" magazine recommends [PDF] his book for all ages. The book was purchased by over 1,030 libraries worldwide.

Volume One ("The Hole: A Family Space Adventure") and Two ("Space Airport") of the manga that he wrote, and served as the creative director on, will be published in 2024. His former student, Louise Wang, is a lead artist on the project as well. This publication will be followed by Volume 3 ("The Space Historians & the Dark Lord"), which is currently in production. The first two volumes are over 340 total pages and include approximately 2,000 color and inked panels.

For more information about Davis’ teaching/mentoring, students' current activities, and their career successes, please go to this link. You can read "Manga and Anime Go to Hollywood" free online if you are a University of South Carolina student, or employee, by going to this link.