Steven Zaillian
Born
Steven Ernest Bernard Zaillian

(1953-01-30) January 30, 1953
Alma materSan Francisco State University
Occupations
  • Screenwriter
  • film director
  • film producer
  • film editor
Years active1977–present[1]
SpouseElizabeth Zaillian
Children2

Steven Ernest Bernard Zaillian[1] (born January 30, 1953) is an American screenwriter, film director and producer. He won an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award and a BAFTA Award for his screenplay 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. In 2016, he created, wrote and directed the HBO limited series The Night Of.

Early life

Steven Zaillian was born in Fresno, California, the son of Jim Zaillian, a radio news reporter. Zaillian is of Armenian descent.[2][3] He attended Sonoma State University, graduated from San Francisco State University in 1975 with a degree in Cinema.[1]

Personal life

He lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Elizabeth Zaillian; they have two sons together.[4]

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.[5] 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

Year Title Director Writer Producer
1985 The Falcon and the Snowman No Yes No
1990 Awakenings No Yes No
1993 Schindler's List No Yes No
Searching for Bobby Fischer Yes Yes No
Jack the Bear No Yes No
1994 Clear and Present Danger No Yes No
1996 Mission: Impossible No Story No
1998 A Civil Action Yes Yes Executive
2001 Hannibal No Yes No
2002 Gangs of New York No Yes No
2005 The Interpreter No Yes No
2006 All the King's Men Yes Yes Yes
2007 American Gangster No Yes Executive
2011 Moneyball No Yes No
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo No Yes Executive
2014 Exodus: Gods and Kings No Yes No
2018 Red Sparrow No No Yes
2019 The Irishman No Yes No
2021 Those Who Wish Me Dead No No Yes

Television

Year Title Director Writer Executive
Producer
Notes
2016 The Night Of Yes Yes Yes
TBA Ripley Yes Yes Yes In post-production[6]

Executive producer only

Editor

Awards

Year Title Award Result
1991 Awakenings Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay Nominated
Writers Guild of America Award for Best Adapted Screenplay Nominated
1994 Schindler's List Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay Won
BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay Won
Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay Won
Writers Guild of America Award for Best Adapted Screenplay Won
Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Screenplay Won
1999 A Civil Action Writers Guild of America Award for Best Adapted Screenplay Nominated
2003 Gangs of New York Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay Nominated
BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay Nominated
Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay Nominated
2008 American Gangster BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay Nominated
2012 Moneyball Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay Nominated
Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay Nominated
BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay Nominated
Writers Guild of America Award for Best Adapted Screenplay Nominated
Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Adapted Screenplay Won
Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Screenplay Won
Satellite Award for Best Adapted Screenplay Nominated
AACTA International Award for Best Screenplay Nominated
2012 The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Writers Guild of America Award for Best Adapted Screenplay Nominated
2017 The Night Of Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – Miniseries or TV Film (Episode: "The Beach") Won
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Limited Series Nominated
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special (Episode: "The Beach") Nominated
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Limited Series, Movie or a Dramatic Special (Episode: "The Call of the Wild") Nominated
Writers Guild of America Award for Television: Long Form – Adapted Nominated
2020 The Irishman Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay Nominated
Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay Nominated
BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay Nominated
Writers Guild of America Award for Best Adapted Screenplay Nominated
Critics' Choice Award for Best Adapted Screenplay Nominated
AACTA International Award for Best Screenplay Nominated

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Blue" Gene Tyranny (2015). "Steven Zaillian". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 5, 2015. Retrieved January 4, 2015.
  2. "Armenia's tragedy was long in coming to the movie screen". Los Angeles Times. November 18, 2002. Retrieved January 13, 2020.
  3. Setencich, Eli (March 23, 1994). "'Schindler's' screenwriter goes back to dad's vision". Fresno Bee. p. B1. Retrieved July 26, 2022 via Newspapers.com.
  4. "Steven Zaillian biography". Tribute. Retrieved May 18, 2012.
  5. Garrett, Diane (May 1, 2007). "Zaillian signs deal with Columbia". Variety. Retrieved January 7, 2021..
  6. Andreeva, Nellie (February 10, 2023). "'Ripley' Showtime Limited Series Starring Andrew Scott Moving To Netflix". Deadline. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
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