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Steven Zaillian

American screenwriter, film director and producer (born 1953)

Summary

American screenwriter, film director and producer (born 1953)

FieldValue
nameSteven Zaillian
image
birth_nameSteven Ernest Bernard Zaillian
birth_date
birth_placeFresno, California, U.S.
death_date
alma_materSan Francisco State University
occupation
years_active1977–present
spouseElizabeth Zaillian
children2

Steven Ernest Bernard Zaillian (born January 30, 1953) is an Armenian-American screenwriter, film director and producer. He won an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, a WGA Award, and a Golden Globe Award for his screenplay for the film Schindler's List (1993) and has earned Oscar nominations for the films Awakenings, Gangs of New York, Moneyball and The Irishman. He was presented with the Distinguished Screenwriter Award at the 2009 Austin Film Festival and the Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement from the Writers Guild of America in 2011. Zaillian is the founder of Film Rites, a film production company.

He also created, wrote and directed the limited series The Night Of (2016) and Ripley (2024), the latter for which he won a Primetime Emmy Award and a Peabody Award.

Early life and education

Steven Zaillian was born in Fresno, California, the son of Jim Zaillian, a radio news reporter. Zaillian is of Armenian descent. He attended Sonoma State University, graduated from San Francisco State University in 1975 with a degree in Cinema.

Personal life

He lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Elizabeth Zaillian; they have two sons together.

Career

Steven Zaillian is known for writing screenplays that often deal with tragedy and drama. Zaillian has written screenplays for many notable films. Zaillian wrote the screenplay for the 1990 film Awakenings. His most notable work is the 1993 screenplay for the film Schindler's List, for which he won an Academy Award. The Schindler’s List screenplay was voted the 49th best screenplay of all time by the Writers Guild of America West, the 32nd best of all time by IMDb, and the 49th best by filmsite.org. Zaillian directed and wrote the 1993 film Searching for Bobby Fischer, for which he earned critical and commercial acclaim. Zaillian also wrote and directed the 1998 film A Civil Action and wrote the screenplays for the films Gangs of New York in 2002, and American Gangster in 2007. In 2007, in partnership with Mandate Pictures, he signed a deal with Columbia Pictures. Zaillian co-wrote the screenplay for Moneyball in 2011 with Aaron Sorkin. Zaillian also wrote the screenplay for the 2011 film The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. His most recent work includes creating, directing, writing, and producing the 2016 Emmy-winning HBO miniseries The Night Of and writing the screenplay for the 2019 Netflix film The Irishman.

Filmography

Film

YearTitleDirectorWriterProducer
1985**
1990Awakenings
1993Schindler's List
Searching for Bobby Fischer
Jack the Bear
1994Clear and Present Danger
1996Mission: Impossible
1998**
2001Hannibal
2002Gangs of New York
2005**
2006All the King's Men
2007American Gangster
2011Moneyball
**
2014Exodus: Gods and Kings
2018Red Sparrow
2019The Irishman
2021Those Who Wish Me Dead

Television

YearTitleDirectorWriterExecutive
ProducerCreatorNotes
2016The Night Of
2024Ripley

** Executive producer only **

  • Welcome to the Rileys (2010)
  • The Cold Light of Day (2012)
  • The Current War (2017)
  • My Dinner with Hervé (2018)

** Editor **

  • Breaker! Breaker! (1977)
  • Kingdom of the Spiders (1977)
  • Starhops (1978)
  • Below the Belt (1980)

Awards and nominations

OrganizationYearCategoryWorkResultAACTA International AwardAcademy AwardsAstra TV AwardBAFTA AwardBoston Society of Film CriticsChicago Film Critics AssociationCritics' Choice Movie AwardsDirectors Guild of AmericaGolden Globe AwardsPrimetime Emmy AwardsWriters Guild of AmericaSatellite Award
2011Best ScreenplayMoneyball
2019The Irishman
1990Best Adapted ScreenplayAwakenings
1993Schindler's List
2002Best Original ScreenplayGangs of New York
2011Best Adapted ScreenplayMoneyball
2019The Irishman
2024Best Directing in a Limited Series or TV MovieRipley
1993Best Adapted ScreenplaySchindler's List
2002Best Original ScreenplayGangs of New York
2007American Gangster
2011Best Adapted ScreenplayMoneyball
2019The Irishman
2011Best ScreenplayMoneyball
1993Best ScreenplaySchindler's List
2011Best Adapted ScreenplayMoneyball
2019The Irishman
2017Outstanding Directing – Miniseries or TV FilmThe Night Of (episode: "The Beach")
2024Ripley
1993Best ScreenplaySchindler's List
2011Moneyball
2019The Irishman
2017Outstanding Limited SeriesThe Night Of
Outstanding Directing for a Limited Series or MovieThe Night Of (episode: "The Beach")
Outstanding Writing for a Limited Series or MovieThe Night Of (episode: "The Call of the Wild")
2024Outstanding Limited or Anthology SeriesRipley
Outstanding Directing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie
Outstanding Writing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie
1990Best Adapted ScreenplayAwakenings
1993Schindler's List
1998A Civil Action
2002Best Original ScreenplayGangs of New York
2011Best Adapted ScreenplayMoneyball
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
2017Television: Long Form – AdaptedThe Night Of
2019Best Adapted ScreenplayThe Irishman
2011Best Adapted ScreenplayMoneyball

References

References

  1. (September 16, 2024). "'Ripley' Director Steve Zaillian Takes Home Emmy For Outstanding Directing For A Limited Or Anthology Series Or Movie". Deadline.
  2. "Ripley".
  3. (November 18, 2002). "Armenia's tragedy was long in coming to the movie screen".
  4. Setencich, Eli. (March 23, 1994). "'Schindler's' screenwriter goes back to dad's vision". Fresno Bee.
  5. "Blue" Gene Tyranny. (2015). "Steven Zaillian". [[The New York Times]].
  6. "Steven Zaillian biography". [[Tribute (magazine).
  7. Garrett, Diane. (2007-05-01). "Zaillian signs deal with Columbia".
Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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