The first script Colin Davis ever wrote was in crayon. He was 5, and the movie was called "Run or Die," a film he made using his family's video camera about how his family became stranded on an island with dinosaurs, and escaped by building a raft and paddling off into the sunset. Even then, Davis said he remembers channeling his inner-director. Read more...

In 1982, two men in Detroit lost their jobs because of outsourcing to Japan. Looking for someone to blame, they stumbled upon Vincent Chin, a Chinese American man they had never met. The two men chased Chin around their town with a bat, brutally killing him in the middle of the street while people stood by. Read more...

Film scholar Mark Shiel studies the relationship between films and their influence on the cities in which they are shot. In his new book, "Hollywood Cinema and the Real Los Angeles," Shiel tackles the heart of the motion picture industry in Los Angeles and describes the impact Hollywood cinema has had on the city. Shiel will discuss his new book tonight at 7 p.m. at the Hammer Museum. The Daily Bruin's Stanton Sharpe spoke with Shiel about how he began his research in Hollywood cinema and Los Angeles, his advice for film students and the London film scene. Read more...