Writers to Watch

1. Christine Conradt

Originally from Lincoln, Nebraska, Christine Conradt is an L.A.-based screenwriter, producer, director, and script consultant. After earning a BFA in screenwriting from the University of Southern California's Cinematic Arts program, she worked briefly in development before launching her ...

2. Teraisa J. Goldman

Actress | Phases of Mahina

Teraisa J. Goldman is known for Phases of Mahina (2015) and Motormouth (2004).

3. Stephen King

Writer | Maximum Overdrive

Stephen Edwin King was born on September 21, 1947, at the Maine General Hospital in Portland. His parents were Nellie Ruth (Pillsbury), who worked as a caregiver at a mental institute, and Donald Edwin King, a merchant seaman. His father was born under the surname "Pollock," but used the last name ...

4. Larry Karaszewski

Writer | American Crime Story

Mr. Karaszewski is known for unusual true stories written in tandem with Scott Alexander. Their feature film credits include the Oscar-winning Ed Wood, The People vs.Larry Flynt, Man on the Moon, Big Eyes, & Dolemite is My Name. Mr. Karaszewski co-chairs the International Feature Film category & ...

5. Jeffrey Boam

Writer | Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

Jeffrey Boam was born on November 30, 1946 in Rochester, New York, USA. He was a writer and producer, known for Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), The Dead Zone (1983) and The Phantom (1996). He was married to Paula M. Boam. He died on January 26, 2000 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

6. Gayle Abrams

Producer | Frasier

Gayle Abrams is known for Frasier (1993), Stark Raving Mad (1999) and Spin City (1996).

7. Akiva Goldsman

Writer | A Beautiful Mind

Akiva Goldsman was born on July 7, 1962 in New York City, New York, USA. He is a producer and writer, known for A Beautiful Mind (2001), Batman & Robin (1997) and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2022).

8. Mitch Hara

Actor | Smothered

Mitch Hara (Actor/Writer/Director) Raised by speed-freak alcoholics, an experience that shaped his unique voice and eccentric view of the world. Drugs, cookies and chaos also helped inform his artistic flare. He escaped to New York City at age 19, when he was invited to join the acclaimed Actors ...

9. Byron Howard

Director | Zootopia

Byron Howard was born on December 26, 1968 in Misawa, Japan. He is a director and producer, known for Zootopia (2016), Encanto (2021) and Tangled (2010).

10. Jennifer Lee

Writer | Frozen

Jennifer Lee was born on October 22, 1971 in Barrington, Rhode Island, USA. She is a producer and writer, known for Frozen (2013), Frozen II (2019) and Wreck-It Ralph (2012). She has been married to Alfred Molina since August 2021. She was previously married to Robert Joseph Monn.

11. Philip K. Dick

Writer | Blade Runner

Philip Kindred Dick was born in Chicago in December 1928, along with a twin sister, Jane. Jane died less than eight weeks later, allegedly from an allergy to mother's milk. Dick's parents split up during his childhood, and he moved with his mother to Berkeley, California, where he lived for most of...

12. Frank Spotnitz

Producer | The X Files

Award-winning American writer and producer Frank Spotnitz is the Chief Executive of Big Light Productions Ltd., a London-and Paris-based production company he founded in 2013 with a vision to create distinctive and ambitious TV drama series, and has become one of the fastest-growing independent ...

13. Patrick Süskind

Writer | Kir Royal

Patrick Süskind was born on March 26, 1949 in Ambach, Bavaria, Germany. He is a writer and actor, known for Kir Royal (1986), Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006) and Rossini (1997).

14. M. Night Shyamalan

Producer | Lady in the Water

Born in Puducherry, India, and raised in the posh suburban Penn Valley area of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, M. Night Shyamalan is a film director, screenwriter, producer, and occasional actor, known for making movies with contemporary supernatural plots.

He is the son of Jayalakshmi, a Tamil ...

15. Victor Fresco

Producer | Andy Richter Controls the Universe

Victor Fresco is a television writer, producer and show creator. He is credited with creating the critically acclaimed television series "Better Off Ted" which ran for two seasons on ABC, and the FOX show "Andy Richter controls the Universe", for which he was nominated for a writing Emmy. Fresco ...

16. Clay Graham

Producer | Who's the Boss?

Clay Graham is known for Who's the Boss? (1984), The Drew Carey Show (1995) and All-American Girl (1994).

17. Gary Grubbs

Actor | The X Files

Gary and his wife Glenda moved to Los Angeles in 1977 for Gary to pursue a writing career. He went on an open call as an actor, got the part, and now two hundred parts later Gary is still acting. Gary and Glenda now have a home in Mississippi and an apartment in Los Angeles, and Gary works both the...

18. David Morse

Actor | The Green Mile

David Morse, a 6' 4" tall blue-eyed blond who performed on stage for 10 years before breaking into film, has become established as a respected supporting, character actor and second lead.

He was born the first of four children of Charles, a sales manager, and Jacquelyn Morse, a schoolteacher, on ...

19. Robert Graysmith

Writer | Zodiac

Robert Graysmith was born on September 17, 1942 in Pensacola, Florida, USA. He is a writer, known for Zodiac (2007), Auto Focus (2002) and Trailside. He was previously married to Melanie Krakower and Margaret Ann Womack.

20. 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.

21. Shane Salerno

Writer | Armageddon

Shane Salerno is the co-screenwriter of the forthcoming Avatar: The Way of Water (2022), Avatar 3 (2025), Avatar 4 (2029), Avatar 5 (2031) produced and directed by Oscar winner James Cameron. He has been a professional screenwriter since the age of 19. In the years that have followed Detour ...

22. Daniel Waters

Writer | Heathers

Daniel Waters was born on November 10, 1962 in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. He is a writer and producer, known for Heathers (1988), Hudson Hawk (1991) and Batman Returns (1992).

23. Jane Goldman

Producer | Kick-Ass

Jane Goldman was born on June 11, 1970 in England, UK. She is a producer and writer, known for Kick-Ass (2010), Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014) and Stardust (2007). She has been married to Jonathan Ross since August 1988. They have three children.

24. Harry MacLean

Writer | In Broad Daylight

Harry MacLean is known for In Broad Daylight (1991) and The Generation Why Podcast (2012).

25. Sean Mick

Writer | Silencer

Sold, produced, Award-Winning writer Sean Mick grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area.

He studied film and art at Sonoma State University in Northern California, then continued his training through seminars with many of the top screenwriting "gurus" in Hollywood... including John Truby, Christopher ...

26. H.G. Wells

Writer | The War of the Worlds

Writer, born in Bromley, Kent. He was apprenticed to a draper, tried teaching, studied biology in London, then made his mark in journalism and literature. He played a vital part in disseminating the progressive ideas which characterized the first part of the 20th-c. He achieved fame with scientific...

27. Eddie Navarro

Writer | Spokesman

Eddie Navarro is known for Spokesman, Moon Students (2023) and Eddie Navarro: It Ain't Me (2020).

28. Dan Fogelman

Writer | This Is Us

Dan Fogelman was born on February 19, 1976 in River Vale, Bergen County, New Jersey, USA. He is a writer and producer, known for This Is Us (2016), Life Itself (2018) and Tangled (2010). He has been married to Caitlin Thompson since June 13, 2015. They have one child.

29. Ryan Murphy

Producer | Glee

Born November 9, 1965 in Indianapolis, Indiana, US as Ryan Patrick Murphy, he is an American writer, director, and producer, responsible for creating such hits as Nip/Tuck (2003), Glee (2009) and American Horror Story (2011). His mother, J. Andy Murphy, was a writer and communications worker and ...

30. Bobby Miller

Writer | The Master Cleanse

Bobby Miller is a writer/director known for making genre-bending comedies. His short film Tub and feature debut The Cleanse add horror and fantasy to the mix. The films' world premiered at Sundance and Sxsw, respectively, and have screened at film festivals worldwide. The Cleanse was released in ...

31. Chris Rafferty

Writer | Lucifer

Chris Rafferty is known for Lucifer (2016), The Flash (2014) and Dead End (1997).

32. Joel Coen

Producer | The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

Joel Daniel Coen is an American filmmaker who regularly collaborates with his younger brother Ethan. They made Raising Arizona, Barton Fink, Fargo, The Big Lebowski, True Grit, O Brother Where Art Thou?, Burn After Reading, A Serious Man, Inside Llewyn Davis, Hail Caesar and other projects. Joel ...

33. Ethan Coen

Producer | The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

The younger brother of Joel, Ethan Coen is an Academy Award and Golden Globe winning writer, producer and director coming from small independent films to big profile Hollywood films. He was born on September 21, 1957 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In some films of the brothers- Ethan & Joel wrote, Joel...

34. Taika Waititi

Producer | What We Do in the Shadows

Taika Waititi, also known as Taika Cohen, hails from the Raukokore region of the East Coast of the North Island of New Zealand, and is the son of Robin (Cohen), a teacher, and Taika Waititi, an artist and farmer. His father is Maori (Te-Whanau-a-Apanui), and his mother is of Ashkenazi Jewish, Irish...

35. Darren Aronofsky

Writer | Pi

Darren Aronofsky was born February 12, 1969, in Brooklyn, New York. Growing up, Darren was always artistic: he loved classic movies and, as a teenager, he even spent time doing graffiti art. After high school, Darren went to Harvard University to study film (both live-action and animation). He won ...

36. John Krasinski

Actor | Jack Ryan

American actor John Krasinski is known for his role as sardonic nice guy Jim Halpert on NBC's popular TV sitcom, The Office (2005), for which he won a 2007 and 2008 Screen Actors Guild Award for outstanding performance by an ensemble in a comedy series.

Born John Burke Krasinski on October 20, 1979,...

37. Lana Wachowski

Writer | The Matrix

Lana Wachowski and her sister Lilly Wachowski, also known as the Wachowskis, are the duo behind such ground-breaking movies as The Matrix (1999) and Cloud Atlas (2012). Born to mother Lynne, a nurse, and father Ron, a businessman of Polish descent, Wachowski grew up in Chicago and formed a tight ...

38. Sean Penn

Actor | Mystic River

Sean Penn is a powerhouse film performer capable of intensely moving work, who has gone from strength to strength during a colourful film career, and who has drawn much media attention for his stormy private life and political viewpoints.

Sean Justin Penn was born in Los Angeles, California, the ...

39. Thomas Page McBee

Producer | The Umbrella Academy

Thomas Page McBee is known for The Umbrella Academy (2019), The L Word: Generation Q (2019) and Tales of the City (2019).

40. Hayley Keown

Actress | Reservation Dogs

Hayley Keown is known for Reservation Dogs (2021), The Morning Show (2019) and The Family Plan (2023).