Jeff Phillips

Veteran screenwriter Jeff Phillips grew up watching movies in the same New Jersey shopping mall his father worked in, becoming an avid film buff early on. After majoring in screenwriting at Los Angeles' Loyola Marymount University, he acquired a master's in English from Orange County's Chapman University. Much of his work remains off-screen in the profitable form of stories and pitches that are sold to studios but never actually made. Beginning his career in 1995, Phillips' first credit to make it to audiences was 1998's franchise installment "3 Ninjas: High Noon At Mega Mountain." More direct-to-video and television work followed, largely family fare like the 1999 Jim Varney vehicle "Treehouse Hostage." In 2005, Phillips co-authored the supernatural graphic novel "Houdini: The Man From Beyond," in which the escapologist returns to life, and expanded his resume further the next year by not only writing for but serving as one of the executive producers of the children's reality dance show "Dance Revolution." For his highest-profile work yet, in 2010 Phillips stepped behind the camera for the first time for the independent drama "@urFRENZ," a topical look at cyberbullying and parental responsibility based on his teenage daughter's experiences with online harassment, suicidal urges and self-mutilation.