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Scott Frank

Walk Among the Tombstones, A (2004)
Revelation (2005)
Six Shooters (2005)
Interpreter, The (2005)
Flight of the Phoenix, The (2004)
"Karen Sisco" (2003) TV Series
Minority Report (2002)
Out of Sight (1998)
Heaven's Prisoners (1996)
Get Shorty (1995)
"Fallen Angels" (1993)
Malice (1993)
Walter Ego, The (1991)
Little Man Tate (1991)
Dead Again (1991)
Plain Clothes (1988)
"Wonder Years, The" (1988) TV Series

Born in Fort Walton Beach, Florida (c. 1960), but raised in Los Gatos, California, Scott Frank graduated from college with a degree in film studies (1982). The screenwriter got started in the industry doing research for documentaries. His first writing efforts found their way to the screen in impressively short order. His teen comedy Plain Clothes (1988) was made into a modest feature helmed by Martha College. By contrast, Kenneth Branagh's Dead Again (1991), a more ambitious and sophisticated effort, was an imaginative and highly romantic thriller with past life complications. Frank, moving into the big leagues, next sold a very different screenplay, one he had written in college, for Jodie Foster's directorial debut, Little Man Tate (1991). Despite his genre-hopping, Frank's study of a child prodigy suggested ongoing interest in precocious (if sometimes scheming) types and intriguing plot twists. These later manifested themselves in his work on the standardized thriller fare of Malice (1993) and his well-regarded adaptation of Elmore Leonard's tangy, satirical novel about Hollywood, Get Shorty (1995). A few years later, Frank took a second crack at Elmore Leonard when he adapted Out Of Sight for Steven Soderbergh, garnering him an Academy Award nomination. Shortly thereafter, he teamed with Steven Spielberg and co-wrote Minority Report.
Milestones:

  • 1982 - Moved to Los Angeles after college graduation; worked for the Landsburg Company as a researcher on documentary films (date approximate).
  • 1988 - First produced screenplay, Plain Clothes (directed by Martha Coolidge).
  • 1991 - Signed with Columbia to make debut as director with The Big Wow.
  • 1991 - Scripted Dead Again, directed by and starring Kenneth Branagh.
  • 1995 - Adapted Elmore Leonard's novel Get Shorty as a feature.
  • Reportedly did uncredited script polish on Saving Private Ryan
  • 1998 - Wrote second film adaptation of a Leonard novel Out of Sight; received Oscar nomination for Best Adapted. Screenplay.
  • 2000 - Co-wrote Minority Report for Steven Spielberg to direct and starring Tom Cruise.

    Awards:

  • 1998 - Boston Society of Film Critics Award Best Screenplay Out of Sight.
  • 1998 - National Society of Film Critics Award Best Screenplay Out of Sight.
  • 1998 - Online Film Critics Society Award Best Adapted Screenplay Out of Sight.
  • 1999 - Writers Guild of America Award Best Screenplay Based on Material Previously Published or Produced Out of Sight.

    For more on Scott Frank and others visit: www.baseline.hollywood.com

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