Student cues MTV pic deal

By Chris Gardner / VARIETY / December 14, 2005

College student Scott Beck has inked a development deal with MTV Films. Pact is a prize Beck won when a trailer he directed, titled "University Heights," was picked as the winner of mtvU's "Best Film on Campus" contest.

Judges for the competish were helmers Catherine Hardwicke, Nicole Kassell and John Singleton. They -- along with MTV Films execs and mtvU.com online voters -- chose Beck's trailer from a rash of submissions, and he will now work with MTV execs to develop his idea for the pic into a full-length feature.

Beck, a junior at the U. of Iowa, came up with a concept that follows the last days of four lives on a college campus. Beck was joined in the finalist round by another UI student, Bryan Woods.