Cape Honeysuckle tecoma capensis
It will quickly get to 10 feet in a year and can get to 8 feet wide also. The bottom can be dense but the top will have upright and arching branches.
I have seen it 20x20x20. I cut mine back twice a year to 3 feet tall and let it get to 6-7 feet.
The foliage is bright green and comes in orange, yellow or red flowers. Hummers and bees love it.
It might be a bit aggressive for you and the you might not want bees around in front.

How wide can it get? That will make a difference in the recommendations.

I love pyracantha.

Duranta repens- especially the purple-flowered variety or the variegated ones. They grow tall fast, stay wispy if you don't shear them, come in different foliage colors, nice growth habit. Don't know about deer. They require summer water, but do not require constant moisture. My variegated green and gold one has large thorns, but they are few and far between and very long, so they are easily avoided. I have not seen thorns on my deep green ones.

The white flowering varieties do not grow as fast, and avoid the groundcover variety!

I'll try to find a photo of one of mine.

Renee

Here are a few fuzzy photos of two of my durantas- a variegated green and gold and a variegated white and green. The plain green ones have been eaten by other shrubs.
Renee

Here is a link that might be useful: Duranta photos

There is at least one conflicting set of requirements here; fast growth yet controlled height with only annual pruning. You might consider using more herbaceous plants such as some of the South African Restios. Elegia capensis and Chondropetalum tectorum might fit the bill perfectly. A couple of California natives that will top out at that height might include Arctostaphylos densiflorus 'Sentinel', or Carpenteria californica 'Elizabeth'. Some of the South African Proteas such as Leucadendron salignum 'Winter Red'/'Summer Red'/'Blush', might also work well. Nandina domestica could also fit the bill.

Thanks all for those quick and insightful responses; I'll try to answer some of your questions.

bahia, by "fast growth" I dont' really expect it to grow to 8 feet in 1 year ... but it would be nice if it got there in maybe 4 or 5 years. I don't really want a herbaceous plant here if I can help it (mostly just for aesthetic reasons). Carpenteria I like, but I understand it to grow very slowly; Nandia suffers terribly from powdery mildew in my climate. I actually have a small 'Sentinel', maybe i should try to move it to this position! I need to read up on your other suggestions.

Size/spread: 8 ft tall and 8ft wide is okay, except that I'll need to prune it to maybe 4 feet deep. Some plants can accommodate this (Pyracantha, e.g.) and some probably can't be well pruned this way.

hosenemesis, your garden is gorgeous! I'll look some more into duranta.

Renee, I want to be you when I grow up! Those photos look like something out of a magazine. I feel so lucky to have you and bahia here doling out such wonderful advice.

How about pineapple guava?

Here is a link that might be useful: Pineapple Guava

How about one of the nice Pittosporum tenuifoliums? I had the same identical set of requirements to create a nice screen around the east side of my greenhouse. You have some very nice hybrids to chose from, 'Silver Sheen' which has a lovely silvery color and black stems, 'Majorie Channon', which is variegated. Both have a more open habit than the species, especially 'Silver Sheen', and lacy looking. If you want something a little more full, the regular Pittosporum tenuifolium species is really very nice, a nice shade of green against black stems. Grows quickly and prunes up very easily as well. I put mine on drips and pretty much forget about it until I need to prune it up a little. It will grow in full sun and in shade very nicely.

Patty S.

Here is a link that might be useful: San Marcos Growers: Pittosporum teniufolium

Loribee, I'm going to print out your comment and frame it- I feel so jazzed at being put into the same sentence as bahia!

I think Hoovb wrote about these pittosporums somewhere, maybe on her blog, and she liked Marjorie Channon as I dimly recall. They do have a wonderfully lacy look. My silver sheen is more of a tree, but I think most people keep them as hedges. Very pretty.
Renee

hoosierquilt, I've actually been thinking about 'silver sheen' for a different location. I do like it a lot and I could use it in the spot that I'm asking about here ... but the shrub that I'm fantasizing about has a more sinuous and substantial branching structure than does the pittosporum. But if I don't land on my fantasy shrub, I might well come back to 'silver sheen'; it's quite attractive.

melikeeatplants, pineapple guava has exactly the structure that I'm hoping for, but I'm hoping for a more bright green foliage. I grew up with pineapple guavas at home, and I must admit I don't care for the fruit either.

Oh my, I feel like I'm just shooting down all the ideas that everyone is gamely offering. I *do* appreciate all of the suggestions!

How about Dodonea viscosa (Hopbush)?

I love dodonea! So much that I already have it in a nearby spot. Also, what I'm hoping for in this particular spot is a plant with more of a spreading branch structure (like Pyracantha, Cotoneaster, or feijoa); dodonea and pittosporum have what I think of as a fastigiate structure ... nice, but not what I'm hoping for in this spot.

Leaves might be too grayish, but I'm going to throw it out there anyway...how about Lavatera maritima?

Yeah, Lavatera maritima doesn't have the color (lush green) or the shape (upright/spreading/vase) that I'm hoping for.

Dang; this is a tough one.

I just had an idea while browsing at the nurery: Manzanita 'Dr Hurd'. It doesn't have the rich green foliage that I'm hoping for, but it's still more green than gray. And in other respects it seem to fit most of my requirements. Not to mention that I generally love Mazanita. Probably my leading contender at the moment

I ended up going with Azara dentata for a screen--I needed something that would take deep shade and top out at around 15 feet. It's pretty slow-growing but I love the branching habit. It has cute round leaves and yellow powder-puff flowers in the spring. Doesn't sound like it would be a good fit for your situation if manzanita is your top choice, but just FYI.

Here is a link that might be useful: Azara dentata

Hi Cowper; I did notice Azara dentata while browsing for inspiration at the nursery ... but I've never seen a mature one, so I didn't give it too much thought. It sounds like it might make a pretty dense hedge; is that right in your experience? (I guess yours is in the shade; my full-sun site will probably make most plants a little more dense than if they were in the shade.)

Update -- I'm now leaning towards one of the large, 12-footish, Escallonia ... E. bifida; E. exoniensis 'Balfouri'; E. laevis; E. rubra. Though they seem to be not that widely available; hopefully my local nursery could locate them somewhere. Anyone have any experience with any of these?

I have a hedge of Escallonia that is about 30 years old that protects a front fence from taggers. It is in a 3 foot wide planting strip but actually wants to be wider. I have controlled the hedge with two or three prunings a year. It is about 10 to 12 feet tall and a rather dense hedge. I cut it back drastically last year to better control the width and have more blooms. Since it is so narrow shearing it sacrificed a lot of the blooms. It does great in the sun but part of the fence line (125 feet long) is shaded by a large Brazilian Pepper tree. In the shaded area it grows more slowly and not as tall, 8 to 10 feet, or quite as dense. The shaded foliage is yellow and green where the sunniest areas are very bold green. It has done a great job as a hedge and I love it. I'm trying to locate some Escallonia Rubra Macrantha, Escallonia Laevis and Escallonia Bifida to replace about 80 feet of a back fence area that had large Oleanders, red, white and pink, hiding some high power towers that are unsightly. Unfortunately I have not been able to locate the large Escallonias here in the SF Bay Area. I have tried many nurseries both retail and wholesale with no luck in finding them. Only the dwarf varieties (5 to 6 feet) are available here. I bought the original Escallonias from a nursery I used to work for, since sold out to developers. If anyone knows where to purchase them in Northern California please let me know. I have been very pleased with Escallonias and want more. BTW, extra fertilizer and Foliar Iron seem to cure the "varigated" yellow and green leaves which are rather attractive in a way. Good luck in your quest.
Joekona

Hi joekona, I ended up with Escallonia Iveyi, which I found at Berkeley Hort nursery. I don't think it, or any unusual Escaonia, are in their regular stock, but they might be able to order what you want. It took about two years to get well established, about 4ft tall now and adding 12 to 18 inches per year.

Hi, the E. Iveyi is a very nice plant but too small for my needs. At four feet yours are about full grown. I think that is about max for E. Iveyi. Thanx for recommending Berkeley Hort Nursery. I will call them on Monday to see if they can help.
Joekona

Did anyone suggest Xylosma or Grewia?

Mc510, correction for size of Escallonia Iveyi. They grow to 3 or 4 meters tall not 3 or 4 feet. That was a misprint from a site giving info on Escallonia. Sorry for the mistake. I hope it didn't cause anyone any problem.