"Twilight" director at Avram Theater

Filmmaker Chris Weitz, director of "The Twilight Saga: New Moon," "The Golden Compass" and, with his brother, Paul, "American Pie" and "About a Boy," will talk about his work at Stony Brook Southampton's Avram Theater Saturday.

Weitz is guest of honor for the annual Pakula Prize evening, named for the late director Alan J. Pakula, in which scholarships are awarded to two students in the university's Screenwriting Conference -- part of its renowned Southampton Writers Conference.

This summer, the writers' conference has been expanded to include programs in theater directing and digital filmmaking. The Screenwriting Conference runs Thursday through next Sunday.

Weitz will be interviewed onstage by conference director Annette Handley Chandler, who will intersperse her questions with film clips.

Weitz's "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" set a record for biggest midnight box-office opening, grossing more than $26 million domestically in 2009. His latest movie, "A Better Life," premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival June 21.

The theater directing conference, with Joe Mantello, Tina Landau, Austin Pendleton and Kathleen Marshall participating, begins July 13. -- Steve Parks

Tickets to the Weitz interview are $10, available at the door before the 7:30 p.m. start, or at 631-632-5152 or stonybrook.edu/avram.