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Christian Bale, who plays an industrial worker who hasn’t slept in over a year, underwent a

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Christian Bale and Jennifer Jason Leigh star in Scott Kosar’s dark psychological thriller,

It’s not unusual for a college or university to be more than an academic environment for students. For screenwriter and alumnus Scott Kosar, UCLA was the safe haven that changed his life.

“When I entered (UCLA’s graduate screenwriting program), I came in at a time in my life after many years of taking the low road, and not really living a healthy lifestyle,” Kosar said. “Going in to UCLA, I made personal changes in my life.”

These changes included the learned ability to incorporate personal experiences and a unique voice into his writing. From his gut, Kosar was able to formulate the script to “The Machinist,” a dark psychological thriller that will be released in theaters Oct. 22.

Although he has experienced recent success, Kosar remains connected to the place where he started. Kosar will return to campus tonight to discuss his film, which the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television will screen before it hits the box office.

Dealing with themes such as guilt, alter egos and existential crises, “The Machinist” tells the nightmarish story of an insomniac who falls deeper and deeper into a self-created personal hell.

Melding his personal experiences with the influential works of Roman Polanski’s “The Tenant” and Wim Wendor’s “The American Friend,” Kosar completed the script in the winter of 2002, while still in the MFA program at UCLA. In many ways, “The Machinist” was a turning point in his life and led to his debut as screenwriter in 2003, for his remake of the horror film “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.”

“‘The Machinist’ wound up being read all over Hollywood. (Directors and producers) met with me and loved (the script), but they all thought it was a little too dark,” Kosar said. “They liked my style so they always asked, ‘How would you like to do this instead?’ and suggested to me a bunch of remakes. Once I pitched and landed (‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’), everyone in town suddenly knew who I was.”

But now with “The Machinist” being released and another remake, “The Amenityville Horror,” currently in production, is Kosar limited to material from his dark side?

“Well, let’s just say I don’t get offered very many romantic comedies,” Kosar said jokingly. “I’m comfortable with writing about dark people and stories.”

Because he was comfortable with his own style, Kosar realized while writing “The Machinist” that nonconformity is not necessarily a bad thing.

“When I wrote ‘The Machinist,’ people warned me that it was too dark and I wouldn’t sell it. But I didn’t listen to them,” Kosar recalled. “I wasn’t at UCLA to put together three or four scripts and break into Hollywood. I was there to learn how to write, to turn my life around and to find meaning it.”

According to Kosar, UCLA had given him the artistic freedom to write the stories he wanted to write.

“I love the faculty, the liberal politics,” he said. “The students in the writing program are really encouraged to experiment and to find their own voices.”

Though his scripts paved his path to success, Kosar values deeply the idea of writing for himself and not for commercial purposes.

“When I write to myself, it’s to entertain myself and no one else, I do better work than if I’m trying to see what the market would like,” Kosar said. “Of course, I am interested in people being entertained and following the meaning of the story, but I would never try to write a script in order to convey a certain message for other people.”

Though “The Machinist” was written from the gut, Kosar said he had no difficulty piecing the story together.

“I didn’t set out to tackle any personal demons; I’m not that self-indulgent,” Kosar said. “What’s strange is as I started to outline and write it, things just seemed to fall into place. Some of the personal things that came out (from the writing), I didn’t notice until after I wrote them.”

While much of his work is influenced by his own personal experiences and instincts, Kosar admits that his own personal story has yet to completely unfold.

“I’m still trying to piece together fractured parts of my psyche,” he said. “I’m coming closer to it though.”