He is the former President of the Writers Guild of America, West, professor and former chair of the writing division at the USC School of Cinematic Arts,[1] alumnus of Telluride Association Summer Program[2] and an artistic director of the Sundance Institute Screenwriting Labs.
In his 20s and early 30s, Rodman was a typist, a legal proofreader, a mail-room clerk, a union organizer (for the Committee of Interns and Residents) and the guitarist for various lower-Manhattan post-punk bands (Made in USA, Arsenal, Soul Sharks).
[10] His adaptations of Jim Thompson, David Goodis et al. for Showtime's Fallen Angels anthology series[11] were directed by Steven Soderbergh and Tom Cruise.
Set in Berlin in March 1933, it explores the stark choices faced by the German filmmaking community – chief among them legendary director Fritz Lang (M; Metropolis), and his acclaimed wife and collaborator, Thea von Harbou.
[36] He is the president of the USC chapter of the American Association of University Professors,[37] a Fellow of the Los Angeles Institute for the Humanities;[38][39] a former trustee of the Writers Guild Foundation,[40] vice-chair of the Committee on the Professional Status of Writers;[41] and serves on several nonprofit boards, among them the Franco-American Cultural Fund,[42] and Cornell in Hollywood.
[43] He is an alumnus of the Seed Fund Board of the Liberty Hill Foundation,[44] and a former editor of The Bill of Rights Journal.
[46] PEN International stands at the intersection of literature and human rights to protect free expression in the United States and worldwide.
Howard contributed to Black Clock literary magazine, published semi-annually by CalArts in association with its MFA Writing Program.
In February 2018 he was inducted into Final Draft (software)'s Screenwriters Hall of Fame,[65] alongside Robert Towne, Steven Zaillian, Aaron Sorkin, Nancy Meyers, Paul Schrader, Lawrence Kasdan et al.