Craig Borten (born September 16, 1965) is an American

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

. Borten is best known for his Oscar-nominated script for the 2013 film ''

Dallas Buyers Club ''Dallas Buyers Club'' is a 2013 American biographical drama film written by Craig Borten and Melisa Wallack, and directed by Jean-Marc Vallée. The film tells the story of Ron Woodroof (Matthew McConaughey), an AIDS patient diagnosed in the mi ...

''. In addition to his nomination for

Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay The Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay is the Academy Awards, Academy Award for the best screenplay not based upon previously published material. It was created in 1940 as a separate writing award from the Academy Award for Best Story. Be ...

, Borten also received a nomination for

Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay The Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay is one of the three film writing awards given by the Writers Guild of America. Woody Allen holds the record for most wins and nominations for the award, with five wins out of twenty ...

Biography

Borten grew up in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, where he attended Plymouth Whitemarsh High School, then attended

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

in New York and subsequently moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

to pursue a career in filmmaking. After hearing about

Ron Woodroof Ron is a shortening of the name Ronald. Ron or RON may also refer to: Arts and media * Big Ron (''EastEnders''), a TV character * Ron (''King of Fighters''), a video game character *Ron Douglas, the protagonist in ''Lucky Stiff'' played by Joe A ...

, the original founder of the "Dallas Buyers Club" for the distribution of unapproved

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...

medications, in the early 1990s, and interviewing Woodroof in 1992, Borten decided to write a screenplay about Woodroof and his buyers club. He successfully sold the script—titled ''

''—in 1996 with Woody Harrelson attached to play Ron and Dennis Hopper Directing, but shortly afterwards the production company that had bought it dissolved. In 2001, he rewrote the script with

Melisa Wallack Melisa Wallack is an American screenwriter and film director. Wallack and fellow screenwriter Craig Borten were nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for the 2013 film ''Dallas Buyers Club''. Life and career Wallack was b ...

and they sold it to

Universal Studios Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

, with

Marc Forster Marc Forster (born 30 November 1969) is a Swiss filmmaker. He is best known for directing the feature films '' Monster's Ball'', '' Finding Neverland'', '' Stranger than Fiction'', ''The Kite Runner'', ''Quantum of Solace'', ''World War Z'', and ...

to direct the film and Brad Pitt to star. Again, the production fell through, which Borten described as "a death blow". In 2009, however, Borten and Wallack were able to reclaim their rights to the script and producer

Robbie Brenner Robbie Brenner is an American producer and film executive with over 20 years of industry experience. In 2013 she produced ''Dallas Buyers Club'', which starred Matthew McConaughey, Jared Leto, and Jennifer Garner and earned Brenner a nomination f ...

was able to cast

Matthew McConaughey Matthew David McConaughey ( ; born November 4, 1969) is an American actor. He had his breakout role with a supporting performance in the coming-of-age comedy '' Dazed and Confused'' (1993). After a number of supporting roles, his first succes ...

and secure funding for the film's production. The film was released in 2013, more than two decades after Borten met Woodroof, and more than 15 years after selling his first version of the script. ''Dallas Buyers Club'' received numerous accolades, including

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

nominations for

Best Picture This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

and

Best Original Screenplay The Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay is the Academy Award for the best screenplay not based upon previously published material. It was created in 1940 as a separate writing award from the Academy Award for Best Story. Beginning with the ...

. Borten's screenwriting credits since 2013 include other

biopics A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of a non-fictional or historically-based person or people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from docudra ...

such as the survival-drama ''

The 33 ''The 33'' ( es, Los 33) is a 2015 biographical disaster-survival drama film directed by Patricia Riggen and written by Mikko Alanne, Craig Borten, Michael Thomas, and José Rivera. The film is based on the real events of the 2010 Copiapó mi ...

'' and the Netflix film '' Sergio''. His upcoming projects include ''The War and Treaty'' with John Legend and Gilbert Films, and ''Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller'', a

biopic A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of a non-fictional or historically-based person or people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from docudra ...

about the life of

John D. Rockefeller John Davison Rockefeller Sr. (July 8, 1839 – May 23, 1937) was an American business magnate and philanthropist. He has been widely considered the wealthiest American of all time and the richest person in modern history. Rockefeller was ...

with

Lasse Hallström Lars Sven "Lasse" Hallström (; born 2 June 1946) is a Swedish film director. He first became known for directing almost all the music videos by the pop group ABBA, and subsequently became a feature film director. He was nominated for an Acade ...

attached as director.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Borten, Craig American male screenwriters Living people Syracuse University alumni 1965 births Screenwriters from Pennsylvania Screenwriters from New York (state)