Derek Kolstad (born April 4, 1974) 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. ...

and

film producer A film producer is a person who oversees film production. Either employed by a production company or working independently, producers plan and coordinate various aspects of film production, such as selecting the script, coordinating writing, di ...

. He is the creator of the ''John Wick'' franchise, which began in 2014. He continued to write for the first two sequels of the franchise and is mainly known as a screenwriter of action films and shows.

Biography

Originally from

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the county seat of Dane County and the capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census the population was 269,840, making it the second-largest city in Wisconsin by population, after Milwaukee, and the 80th-lar ...

, Kolstad attended

Edgewood High School of the Sacred Heart Edgewood High School of the Sacred Heart is a private, Catholic, college preparatory school located in Madison, Wisconsin. Edgewood has been sponsored since its inception by the Dominican Sisters of Sinsinawa, Wisconsin. In the 2019–2020 schoo ...

and later studied business administration at

Taylor University Taylor University is a private, interdenominational, evangelical Christian university in Upland, Indiana. Founded in 1846, it is one of the oldest evangelical Christian universities in the country. The university is named after Bishop William ...

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

. He moved to

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

at age 24 to pursue screenwriting. He says he started writing films when he was a teenager, but he struggled to find success in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

at first.Doug Moe
Doug Moe: John Wick, hit man
Madison.com, January 6, 2014.

Career

The first script he sold was called ''Acolyte'', which was purchased by

Voltage Pictures Voltage Pictures is an American film production and distribution company founded by Nicolas Chartier in 2005. It has assembled over 180 motion pictures, earning the company a total of two Golden Globe Awards and nine Academy Awards. Recent fi ...

in June 2012. After that, he got some writing and re-writing work, including work on '' One in the Chamber'', starring

Dolph Lundgren Hans Lundgren (, ; born 3 November 1957), better known as Dolph Lundgren, is a Swedish actor, filmmaker and martial artist. His breakthrough came in 1985, when he starred in ''Rocky IV'' as the imposing Soviet boxer Ivan Drago. Since then, Lu ...

and

Cuba Gooding Jr. Cuba Mark Gooding Jr. (born January 2, 1968) is an American actor. He is the recipient of an Academy Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and an Emmy nomination. After his breakthrough role as Tre Styles in ''Boyz n the Hood'' (1991), he appeare ...

He then wrote '' The Package'', which also starred Lundgren. Kolstad sold a script titled ''Scorn'' to

Thunder Road Pictures Thunder Road Films is a film and television financing and production company founded by Basil Iwanyk. It is based in Santa Monica, California. Management Producer Basil Iwanyk founded the film and television financing and production company ' ...

, which signed

Keanu Reeves Keanu Charles Reeves ( ; born September 2, 1964) is a Canadian actor. Born in Beirut and raised in Toronto, Reeves began acting in theatre productions and in television films before making his feature film debut in '' Youngblood'' (1986). ...

for the lead role in April 2013. At Reeves' suggestion, the film was renamed ''

John Wick ''John Wick'' is an American action thriller media franchise created by Derek Kolstad and centering around John Wick, a former hitman who is forced back into the criminal underworld he had abandoned. The franchise began with the release of ''J ...

'' after the

title character The title character in a narrative work is one who is named or referred to in the title of the work. In a performed work such as a play or film, the performer who plays the title character is said to have the title role of the piece. The title of ...

, whom Kolstad had named after his maternal grandfather. The film was released in 2014 and was followed by '' John Wick: Chapter 2'' in 2017 and '' John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum'' in 2019.Gary Collinson
An interview with Derek Kolstad, screenwriter of John Wick
Flickering Myth, October 24, 2014. Kolstad wrote the video game ''John Wick: Chronicles'' and was involved with the creation of a comic book series. However, he was not asked by the studio to continue writing for the fourth or subsequent films. In 2017, it was reported that Kolstad would write a live-action television adaptation of the ''Hitman'' franchise as well as an action-thriller titled ''The Steward''. In 2019, it was reported that Kolstad would write and produce a live-action film adaptation of the '' Just Cause'' franchise. In 2020,

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

announced that Kolstad would be an executive producer and writer on a ''Splinter Cell''

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

series. In 2021, Kolstad was hired to write the screenplay for a live-action adaptation of ''

Hellsing ''Hellsing'' (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kouta Hirano. It was serialized in Shōnen Gahōsha's ''seinen'' manga magazine '' Young King OURs'' from May 1997 to September 2008, with its ch ...

'' for

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, also known simply as Prime Video, is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming and Renting, rental service of Amazon (c ...

. Kolstad wrote the screenplay for the 2021 film ''

Nobody Nobody may refer to: * Nobody, an indefinite pronoun Nobody may also refer to: Fictional characters *Nobody (Kingdom Hearts), Nobody (''Kingdom Hearts''), a race of beings in the ''Kingdom Hearts'' video game series *Nobody, a character in the ...

'' starring

Bob Odenkirk Robert John Odenkirk (; born October 22, 1962) is an American actor, comedian and filmmaker best known for his role as Saul Goodman on ''Breaking Bad'' (2008–2013) and its spin-off ''Better Call Saul'' (2015–2022). For the latter, he has re ...

, and two episodes of the 2021 Marvel television series ''

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier ''The Falcon and the Winter Soldier'' is an American television miniseries created by Malcolm Spellman for the streaming service Disney+, based on Marvel Comics featuring the characters Sam Wilson / Falcon and Bucky Barnes / Winter Soldier. ...

''.

Personal life

Kolstad lives in

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. I ...

with his wife Sonja and twin children.

Filmography

Film writer Also credited as "characters created" in the ''John Wick'' franchise. Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kolstad, Derek 1974 births Living people American people of Swedish descent Writers from Pasadena, California Writers from Madison, Wisconsin Taylor University alumni