Alexander Simon "Sacha" Gervasi (; born 1966) is a British director, screenwriter and former journalist. Early life Gervasi was born in London. His mother, Milli Kosoy, was Canadian. His father, Prof. Sean Gervasi, was an American economist who had worked as an economic advisor to President John F. Kennedy in the White House, was an expert in Yugoslav affairs and had taught at the University of Oxford, the London School of Economics and at the University of Paris in Vincennes-Saint-Denis. His uncle, Tom Gervasi, was an expert on intelligence matters and author of the Myth of Soviet Military Supremacy and the Arsenal of Democracy series. His paternal grandfather was foreign correspondent and author Frank Gervasi and his paternal step-grandmother was singer Georgia Gibbs. Gervasi was educated at Westminster School, and then read modern history at King's College London. As a teenager in 1981, Gervasi befriended Canadian metal band Anvil when they toured London and became a roadie for the band on three tours, eventually becoming close friends until a falling out in 1986. Career Gervasi's first position was to work for the 18th Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, Ted Hughes, at the Arvon Writing Foundation. After completing his degree, he subsequently worked for John Calder of the Samuel Beckett archive helping to arrange a vast sale of Beckett's personal papers at Sotheby's in 1989, including Beckett's own annotated version of Waiting for Godot, which sold to Trinity College Dublin. Gervasi moved to Los Angeles in 1995 to attend the graduate screenwriting programme at UCLA Film School, where he twice won the BAFTA/LA scholarship. While in the programme, he supported himself by working as a journalist, writing for newspapers and magazines, including The Sunday Times, The Observer, and Punch. From 1999 to 2000, he was the voice of Jaguar Cars on US radio and television. Gervasi got his filmwriting start with The Big Tease, which he co-wrote with Craig Ferguson. He went on to pen The Terminal, made into a 2004 film directed by Steven Spielberg. According to London's The Daily Telegraph: "He is one of only two English screenwriters to have their scripts made into movies by Steven Spielberg. The other is Tom Stoppard [for Empire of the Sun]." Other films for which he has written include Comrade Rockstar and How to Marry a Millionaire. He wrote and executive produced Henry's Crime. The film debuted at the Toronto Film