Please join UCLA’s Friends of the Semel Institute and the Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital Board of Advisors for an in-person screening of the new feature documentary The Narcissist’s Playbook, followed by a panel discussion with Director Mark Vicente and Producers Scott Altomare and Lyn David Lear.

Part exposé and part real-time unraveling, The Narcissist’s Playbook examines both survivors and self-aware abusers to reveal—and ultimately disrupt—the cycle of narcissistic abuse. Filmed across eight countries, the documentary exposes the chilling strategies narcissists use to manipulate, confuse, and dominate, from intimate relationships to positions of power in the workplace.

Through survivor testimony, expert analysis, and rare insight from self-aware narcissists who openly disclose their own tactics—including grooming, gaslighting, and coercive control—the film offers an unflinching look at psychological manipulation. A journalist’s investigation into therapist misconduct weaves through the narrative, culminating in a shocking twist: during production, the filmmakers themselves are manipulated by a subject. What begins as a documentary transforms into a real-time confrontation with deception, proving that no one is immune to the playbook.

Designed as a concise and teachable framework, the film equips audiences to recognize manipulation across relationships, institutions, and leadership, while validating survivors and empowering those at risk.

Featured Participants: Evan Rachel Wood, Barry Sonnenfeld, Doug Buggle, and Isla TraquairCase Study Contributors: Lee Hammock, HG Tudor, Sara Crouson, and Prof. Sam VakninExpert Voices: Dr. Ramani Durvasula, Richard Grannon, Dr. Heather Berlin, Dr. W. Keith Campbell, Christine Louis de Canonville, and Dr. Bandy Lee

Panelist Bios:

Mark Vicente (Director) Author, speaker, and award-winning filmmaker Mark Vicente was the director behind the sleeper hit What the Bleep Do We Know?!, a case study in grassroots independent film success. Born in Johannesburg, South Africa, Mark shot his first Hollywood feature at the age of 26, Disney’s Fatherhood (starring Patrick Swayze and Halle Berry), making him one of the youngest cinematographers to lens a studio film. His credits include 14 feature films, documentaries, and commercials, as well as director of photography on Sarafina! starring Whoopi Goldberg. Mark went on to direct Encender el Corazón, about Mexico ’ s kidnapping crisis. Later, as a whistleblower in the NXIVM scandal—chronicled in HBO’ s The Vow—he helped expose coercive control on a global scale. His work now focuses on using cinema to reveal the mechanisms of manipulation while exploring the resilience and beauty of the human spirit.

Scott Altomare (Producer) A native New Yorker, Scott began his career as a screenwriter, selling his first script just six months after arriving in Los Angeles. When a $15M feature stalled in litigation, he pivoted to producing to safeguard creative vision. Working his way up from production assistant to producer, he has since overseen over 20 feature films and documentaries, most notably HBO’ s Kevorkian and the global phenomenon What the Bleep Do We Know?!. Scott brings decades of experience balancing artistry with execution. He is the author of Listen to Your Tummy in the Zoo, a children’s book series that introduces emotional awareness and early patterns of narcissistic abuse. He is currently writing the second installment.

Lyn Davis Lear (Producer) Lyn Davis Lear is an Emmy-nominated filmmaker, environmentalist, and activist known for her powerful documentaries tackling climate change, democracy, and social justice. Her recent work includes acclaimed films like The Great Hack, Fantastic Fungi, and Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go For It, as well as several Sundance premieres. She produced the UN Climate Summit opener What’ s Possible, which reached over 127 million people globally. With a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology and a deep passion for storytelling, Lyn blends her expertise in human behavior with her commitment to cultural change. A longtime board member of the Sundance Institute and LACMA, Lyn is also co-founder of the Environmental Media Association. She is currently working on a memoir about her spiritual journey with Norman Lear, her husband of nearly forty years, and enjoys time with their three children and six grandchildren.