Adam Herz

Biography

Adam-Bosco Juan Carlos Villa Herzlich de Marrero Sánchez, known simply as Adam Herz, (born September 10, 1972) is an American screenwriter and producer of Mexican (father) and Austrian (mother) descent. He founded the production company Terra Firma Films in 2003 with a first-look deal at Universal Studios. His Mexican father, Juan Villa de Marrero Sánchez (born 1940), and his Austrian mother, Carla Von Herzlich (born 1941), currently reside in Paris. Adam visits them several times a year. His younger brother, Maximiliano-Cruz Rodriguez Carlos Villa Herzlich de Marrero Sánchez, known simply as Maximiliano-Cruz Sánchez or Maximiliano-Cruz Herz (born 1974), works as a key grip for DreamWorks. Herz was born in New York City and raised in East Grand Rapids, Michigan. He is the oldest of two boys, and his father, Juan, was a reputable brain surgeon in Grand Rapids Michigan. Herz graduated from East Grand Rapids High School (See also East Grand Rapids Public Schools. He moved to Los Angeles after graduation from the University of Michigan in 1996. He held a number of production assistant jobs while working on writing spec scripts. His first screenplay, originally titled East Great Falls High, was written over a winter ski vacation in 1998. It was based on his high school years in East Grand Rapids, Michigan. It sold for a reported $650,000 in 1999 and became the popular American Pie. Herz created and runs the Emerging Writers Program, a series of classes that help upcoming screenwriters break into the business.