Screenwriters (Current)
by phoenixsri1983 | created - 23 Aug 2019 | updated - 17 Sep 2021 | Public
1. Steven Zaillian
Writer | Searching for Bobby Fischer
Steven Zaillian was born on January 30, 1953 in Fresno, California, USA. He is a writer and producer, known for Searching for Bobby Fischer (1993), The Irishman (2019) and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011). He is married to Elizabeth Zaillian. They have two children.
2. Aaron Sorkin
Writer | The West Wing
Aaron Sorkin grew up in Scarsdale, a suburb of New York City where he was very involved in his high school drama and theater club. After graduating from Syracuse University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theater, Sorkin intended to pursue a career in acting. It took him only a short time to ...
3. Charlie Kaufman
Writer | I'm Thinking of Ending Things
Avid reader Charlie Kaufman wrote plays and made short films as a young student. He moved from Massapequa, New York to West Hartford, Connecticut in 1972 where he attended high school. As a comedic actor, he performed in school plays and, after graduation, he enrolled at Boston University but soon ...
4. Jonathan Nolan
Writer | Westworld
Attended Loyola Academy in Wilmette, Illinois, graduating in 1994.
Graduated from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. in 1999. Majored in English.
Shortly after graduating from Georgetown University, Jonathan Nolan served as a production assistant on Memento (2000).
Wrote the short story, "...
5. David Benioff
Producer | Game of Thrones
David Benioff was born on September 25, 1970 in New York City, New York, USA. He is a producer and writer, known for Game of Thrones (2011), The Kite Runner (2007) and 25th Hour (2002). He has been married to Amanda Peet since September 30, 2006. They have three children.
6. David Mamet
Writer | House of Games
Born in 1947 in Chicago, he was educated at Goddard College, in Vermont, and studied drama at New York's Neighborhood Playhouse, before returning to Chicago and establishing the St Nicholas Theatre Company in 1972. He remained their resident writer for four years. The first of his plays to secure ...
7. John Logan
Writer | Skyfall
John Logan was a playwright in Chicago for ten years before writing, on spec, his first screenplay, "Any Given Sunday." He won the 2010 Tony, Drama Desk, Drama League and Outer Critics Circle awards for his play RED, which premiered at the Donmar Warehouse in London and the Golden Theatre on ...
8. Steven Knight
Writer | Locke
Steven Knight is a British screenwriter and film director. He is best known for screenplays he wrote for the films Dirty Pretty Things (2002) and Eastern Promises (2007), and also directed as well as written the film Locke (2013).
Knight is also one of three creators of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire...
9. Brian Helgeland
Writer | Finestkind
Brian Helgeland was born in Providence, Rhode Island and raised in New Bedford Massachusetts. A born worker, Helgeland has endeavored to achieve in the following fields: snow shoveler, scrap newspaper collector, dishwasher, nursing home janitor, drug store clerk and unreliable nightshift gas ...
10. Richard Curtis
Writer | Love Actually
Richard Curtis was born on November 8, 1956 in Wellington, New Zealand. He is a writer and producer, known for Love Actually (2003), Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994) and About Time (2013).
11. Peter Morgan
Writer | Frost/Nixon
Peter Morgan was born on April 10, 1963 in London, England, UK. He is a writer and producer, known for Frost/Nixon (2008), The Last King of Scotland (2006) and The Crown (2016).
12. Eric Roth
Writer | Dune
Mr. Roth won an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for Forrest Gump & has been nominated for his screenplays of The Insider, Munich, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, A Star is Born, & Dune. He wrote Mr. Kurosawa's Rhapsody in August, The Horse Whisperer, Ali, & Best Picture Nominee, Extremely ...
13. Tony Gilroy
Writer | Michael Clayton
Tony Gilroy was born in Manhattan, New York, New York, USA; and raised in upstate New York. His father, Frank D. Gilroy, was a Pulitzer Prize winning playwright, director, and screenwriter. Tony has penned many films, including The Devil's Advocate (1997) and The Cutting Edge (1992).
14. Paul Haggis
Writer | Crash
Paul Haggis established himself over twenty years with an extensive career in television, before his big break into features arrived when he became the first screenwriter to garner two Best Film Academy Awards back-to-back for his scripts: "Million Dollar Baby" (2004) directed by Clint Eastwood, ...
15. Scott Z. Burns
Writer | The Report
Scott Z. Burns is known for The Report (2019), Side Effects (2013) and Contagion (2011).
16. Taylor Sheridan
Writer | Hell or High Water
Taylor Sheridan is an American actor, screenwriter and director. He is best known for writing the screenplay for 'Sicario' (2015) and 'Hell or high water' (2016), for which he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay.
He also starred in the FX television series 'Sons of ...
17. Billy Ray
Writer | Captain Phillips
Billy Ray is known for Captain Phillips (2013), The Hunger Games (2012) and Shattered Glass (2003). He is married to Stacy Sherman. They have two children.
18. Christopher McQuarrie
Writer | The Usual Suspects
Christopher McQuarrie is an acclaimed producer, director and an Academy Award® winning writer. McQuarrie grew up in Princeton Junction, New Jersey and in lieu of college, he spent the first five years out of school traveling and working at a detective agency. He later moved to Los Angeles to pursue...
19. Andrew Kevin Walker
Writer | The Killer
Andrew Kevin Walker was born on August 14, 1964 in Altoona, Pennsylvania, USA. He is a writer and actor, known for The Killer (2023), Se7en (1995) and Metalocalypse: Army of the Doomstar (2023).
20. David Koepp
Writer | Jurassic Park
David Koepp is an American film director and screenwriter. He is known for writing Jurassic Park directed by Steven Spielberg, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Mission: Impossible, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Spider-Man directed by Sam Raimi and Panic Room directed by David ...
21. William Monahan
Writer | The Departed
William Monahan was born on November 3, 1960 in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. He is a writer and producer, known for The Departed (2006), London Boulevard (2010) and Edge of Darkness (2010).
22. Terence Winter
Producer | The Sopranos
Terence Winter was born on October 2, 1960 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He is a producer and writer, known for The Sopranos (1999), The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) and Boardwalk Empire (2010). He is married to Rachel Winter. They have two children.
23. Randall Wallace
Writer | We Were Soldiers
Randall Wallace was born on July 28, 1949 in Jackson, Tennessee, USA. He is a writer and producer, known for We Were Soldiers (2002), Pearl Harbor (2001) and Braveheart (1995).
24. Alex Garland
Writer | Ex Machina
Alex Garland is an English novelist, screenwriter, film producer and director. He is best known for the films Ex Machina (2015) and Annihilation (2018).
Garland's others works as a writer includes The Beach (2000), 28 Days Later (2002), Sunshine (2007), Never Let Me Go (2011) and Dredd (2012).
He is ...
25. Andrew Niccol
Writer | GATTACA
New Zealand-born screenwriter-director Andrew Niccol began his career in London, successfully directing TV commercials before moving to Los Angeles in order to make films "longer than 60 seconds." He interested high-powered producer Scott Rudin in his The Truman Show (1998) script, but Rudin was not...
26. Mark Boal
Producer | The Hurt Locker
Mark Boal was born on January 23, 1973 in New York, USA. He is a producer and writer, known for The Hurt Locker (2008), Zero Dark Thirty (2012) and Detroit (2017).
27. Dennis Lehane
Producer | The Drop
Dennis Lehane was born on August 4, 1965 in Dorchester, Massachusetts, USA. He is a producer and writer, known for The Drop (2014), Mystic River (2003) and Live by Night (2016). He was previously married to Dr. Angela Mililani (Lieb) Bernardo and Sheila Fort Lawn.
28. Tony Kushner
Writer | West Side Story
Tony Kushner's play "Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes" earned him the Pulitzer Prize, among many other awards. His other acclaimed plays include "Slavs", "Homebody/Kabul" and "Caroline, or Change". He has collaborated with children's author and illustrator Maurice Sendak on ...
29. Scott Frank
Writer | Logan
Scott Frank was born on March 10, 1960 in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, USA. He is a writer and producer, known for Logan (2017), Out of Sight (1998) and The Lookout (2007).
30. John Hodge
Writer | Trainspotting
John Hodge was born in 1964 in Glasgow, Scotland, UK. He is a writer and producer, known for Trainspotting (1996), T2 Trainspotting (2017) and Shallow Grave (1994).
31. David Webb Peoples
Writer | Unforgiven
David Webb Peoples was born on February 9, 1940 in Middletown, Connecticut, USA. He is a writer and editor, known for Unforgiven (1992), Blade Runner (1982) and 12 Monkeys (1995). He is married to Janet Peoples.
32. Richard LaGravenese
Writer | Freedom Writers
Richard LaGravenese was born on October 30, 1959 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He is a writer and producer, known for Freedom Writers (2007), Paris, I Love You (2006) and Behind the Candelabra (2013). He is married to Ann Weiss. They have one child.
33. John Lee Hancock
Writer | The Blind Side
John Lee Hancock was born on December 15, 1956 in Longview, Texas, USA. He is a writer and director, known for The Blind Side (2009), Saving Mr. Banks (2013) and The Highwaymen (2019).
34. Kurt Wimmer
Writer | Equilibrium
Kurt Wimmer was born on March 9, 1964. He is a writer and producer, known for Equilibrium (2002), Total Recall (2012) and Point Break (2015).
35. Zak Penn
Writer | Ready Player One
Zak Penn's career began as a screenwriter when he sold his first script, Last Action Hero, at the age of twenty-three. Since then, Penn has become known for his work on numerous films based on Marvel comics, including X-Men 2 and X-Men: The Last Stand, The Incredible Hulk, and The Avengers. He has ...
36. Nick Schenk
Writer | Gran Torino
Nick Schenk is known for Gran Torino (2008), The Mule (2018) and Narcos (2015).
37. David Magee
Writer | Life of Pi
David Magee was born in 1962 in Flint, Michigan, USA. He is a writer and producer, known for Life of Pi (2012), Mary Poppins Returns (2018) and Finding Neverland (2004).
38. James Vanderbilt
Producer | Zodiac
James Vanderbilt was born in 1975 in the USA. He is a producer and writer, known for Zodiac (2007), Independence Day: Resurgence (2016) and Scream (2022). He has been married to Amber Freeman since May 7, 2005.
39. Stephen Gaghan
Writer | Syriana
Stephen Gaghan was born on May 6, 1965 in Louisville, Kentucky, USA. He is a writer and director, known for Syriana (2005), Traffic (2000) and Dolittle (2020). He has been married to Minnie Mortimer since May 19, 2007. They have two children.
40. Drew Goddard
Producer | The Martian
Drew Goddard was raised in Los Alamos, New Mexico. He attended Los Alamos High School in Los Alamos, New Mexico and graduated in 1993. He then attended the University of Colorado, and worked as a production assistant in L.A. after graduation. A spec script Drew wrote based on Six Feet Under (2001) ...
41. Anthony Peckham
Writer | Invictus
Anthony Peckham is known for Invictus (2009), Sherlock Holmes (2009) and Don't Say a Word (2001).
42. Michael Arndt
Writer | Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens
Michael Arndt was born on November 11, 1965 in Harris County, Texas, USA. He is a writer and producer, known for Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015), Little Miss Sunshine (2006) and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013).
43. Jim Taylor
Writer | Election
Jim Taylor was born in 1962 in Bellevue, Washington, USA. He is a writer and producer, known for Election (1999), Sideways (2004) and About Schmidt (2002). He has been married to Tamara Jenkins since 2002. They have one child.
44. Mark Bomback
Producer | Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Mark Bomback was born on August 29, 1971 in New Rochelle, New York, USA. He is a producer and writer, known for Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014), War for the Planet of the Apes (2017) and Godsend (2004).
45. Seth Rogen
Producer | This Is the End
An actor, comedian and writer, Seth Rogen has come a long way from doing stand-up comedy as a teen.
Rogen was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, to Sandy (Belogus), a social worker, and Mark Rogen, who worked for non-profits. His father is American-born and his mother is Canadian. He is of Russian...
46. Peter Craig
Writer | The Town
Peter Craig is an American screenwriter, producer and novelist from Los Angeles, California who is known for writing The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Bad Boys for Life, Blood Father, 12 Strong, The Batman, Top Gun: Maverick and The Town. He is a son of Sally Field and Steve Craig. He has had three ...
47. Ken Nolan
Writer | Transformers: The Last Knight
Ken Nolan is known for Transformers: The Last Knight (2017), Black Hawk Down (2001) and Only the Brave (2017).
48. John August
Writer | Big Fish
John August's screenwriting credits include Go (1999), Big Fish (2003), Titan A.E. (2000), Charlie's Angels (2000), and Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle (2003).
Born and raised in Boulder, Colorado, John earned a degree in journalism from Drake University in Iowa and an MFA in film from the Peter ...
49. Eric Warren Singer
Writer | American Hustle
Eric Warren Singer is known for American Hustle (2013), Top Gun: Maverick (2022) and Only the Brave (2017).
50. Justin Marks
Writer | Top Gun: Maverick
Justin Marks was born on April 27, 1980 in Harris, Texas, USA. He is a writer and producer, known for Top Gun: Maverick (2022), The Jungle Book (2016) and Counterpart (2017). He is married to Rachel Kondo.
51. Matthew Michael Carnahan
Writer | Dark Waters
Matthew Michael Carnahan is known for Dark Waters (2019), Mosul (2019) and 21 Bridges (2019).
52. Paul Tamasy
Writer | The Fighter
Paul Tamasy is known for The Fighter (2010), Patriots Day (2016) and The Outpost (2019).
53. Eric Johnson
Writer | The Fighter
Eric Johnson is known for The Fighter (2010), Patriots Day (2016) and The Outpost (2019).
54. Scott Silver
Writer | Joker
Scott Silver is known for Joker (2019), The Fighter (2010) and Johns (1996).
55. William Broyles Jr.
Writer | Apollo 13
William Broyles Jr. was born on October 8, 1944 in Houston, Texas, USA. He is a writer and producer, known for Apollo 13 (1995), Cast Away (2000) and Planet of the Apes (2001). He is married to Andrea Bettina Berndt. They have three children. He was previously married to Linda Purl and Sybil Ann ...
56. Anthony McCarten
Writer | The Theory of Everything
Anthony McCarten was born on April 28, 1961 in New Plymouth, New Zealand. He is a writer and producer, known for The Theory of Everything (2014), Darkest Hour (2017) and The Two Popes (2019). He is married to Eva Maiwald. They have three children.
57. Jack Thorne
Writer | Wonder
Jack Thorne was born on December 6, 1978 in Bristol, England, UK. He is a writer and producer, known for Wonder (2017), National Treasure (2016) and The Aeronauts (2019). He is married to Rachel Mason.
58. Steve Conrad
Writer | Patriot
Steve Conrad was born in 1968 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA. He is a writer and producer, known for Patriot (2015), Wonder (2017) and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013).
Tell Your Friends