Eric Andrew Heisserer (born 1970) is an American filmmaker, comic book writer, television writer, and television producer. His screenplay for the film ''
Arrival'' earned him a
Best Adapted Screenplay
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# ...
nomination at the
89th Academy Awards in 2016.
Career
Heisserer's professional screenwriting career was launched with the sale of ''The Dionaea House'' to Warner Bros. in 2005,
based on an online
epistolary
Epistolary means "in the form of a letter or letters", and may refer to:
* Epistolary ( la, epistolarium), a Christian liturgical book containing set readings for church services from the New Testament Epistles
* Epistolary novel
* Epistolary po ...
story of the same name that he wrote from autumn 2004 to winter 2006.
''The Dionaea House'' was a multimedia novel told across multiple blogs run by fictional characters, and concerned an ominous house that existed in multiple places across the United States. It is considered to be one of the first popular
creepypasta
Creepypastas are horror-related legends that have been shared around the Internet. Creepypasta has since become a catch-all term for any horror content posted onto the Internet. These Internet entries are often brief, user-generated, paranormal ...
stories. He then developed an original television pilot for
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...
and
CBS, and wrote feature projects for
Jerry Bruckheimer
Jerome Leon Bruckheimer (born September 21, 1943) is an American film and television producer. He has been active in the genres of action, drama, fantasy, and science fiction.
His films include '' Flashdance'', ''Top Gun'', '' The Rock'', '' ...
Films and
Warner Bros. In 2007, he sold a pitch to
Regency Enterprises and Fox called ''Inhuman'', a supernatural thriller set in Tokyo that combines live action and anime sequences, as well as a coming-of-age horror script titled ''Dustycats'', about a teenage girl who discovers she transforms into a
werecat when aroused.
In December 2008, Heisserer was hired to re-envision and rewrite the script for the franchise reboot of ''
A Nightmare on Elm Street
''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' is a 1984 American supernatural slasher film written and directed by Wes Craven and produced by Robert Shaye. It is the first installment in the ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' franchise and stars Heather Langenka ...
'', produced by
Platinum Dunes
Platinum Dunes is an American production company founded in November 2001 by filmmakers Michael Bay, Brad Fuller, and Andrew Form. The company produces horror films, such as '' The Texas Chainsaw Massacre'', ''The Purge'', '' Friday the 13t ...
. An early draft had been written by
Wesley Strick. The script went on to land director
Samuel Bayer
Samuel David Bayer (born February 17, 1962) is an American visual artist, cinematographer, and commercial, music video and film director. Bayer was born in Syracuse, New York. He graduated from New York City's School of Visual Arts in 1987 with ...
, actor
Jackie Earle Haley, and began filming in May 2009.
He rewrote the
prequel
A prequel is a literary, dramatic or cinematic work whose story precedes that of a previous work, by focusing on events that occur before the original narrative. A prequel is a work that forms part of a backstory to the preceding work.
The term ...
to director
John Carpenter
John Howard Carpenter (born January 16, 1948) is an American filmmaker, actor, and composer. Although he worked in various film genres, he is most commonly associated with horror, action, and science fiction films of the 1970s and 1980s. He ...
's 1982 remake ''
The Thing''. In April 2010, Heisserer signed on to write ''
Final Destination 5
''Final Destination 5'' is a 2011 American 3D supernatural horror film directed by Steven Quale and written by Eric Heisserer. It is the fifth installment in the ''Final Destination'' film series and a prequel to the first film. ''Final D ...
'', the fifth film of the
horror film franchise.
Heisserer made his directorial debut with the film ''
Hours
An hour (symbol: h; also abbreviated hr) is a unit of time conventionally reckoned as of a day and scientifically reckoned between 3,599 and 3,601 seconds, depending on the speed of Earth's rotation. There are 60 minutes in an hour, and 24 hou ...
'', starring
Paul Walker
Paul William Walker IV (September 12, 1973 – November 30, 2013) was an American actor. He was known for his role as Brian O'Conner in the ''Fast & Furious'' franchise.
Walker began his career as a child actor in the 1980s, gaining recogniti ...
. Heisserer co-wrote ''
The Conjuring 2'' along with the brothers
Chad Hayes and
Carey Hayes. Heisserer wrote along with artist Felipe Massafera and Colorist Wes Dzioba, the comic book series Shaper.
Heisserer wrote the 2016 film ''
Arrival'' based on
Ted Chiang
Ted Chiang (born 1967) is an American science fiction writer. His work has won four Nebula awards, four Hugo awards, the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, and six Locus awards. His short story "Story of Your Life" was the basis of th ...
's short story "The Story of Your Life"''.'' Heisserer has said that he was attracted to the challenge of adapting the non-linear story by its emotional content. After the release of the film, he was nominated for
Best Adapted Screenplay
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# ...
at the
89th Academy Awards.
In July 2017, Heisserer announced that he was developing a science fiction series based on another
Ted Chiang
Ted Chiang (born 1967) is an American science fiction writer. His work has won four Nebula awards, four Hugo awards, the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, and six Locus awards. His short story "Story of Your Life" was the basis of th ...
's story, "
Liking What You See: A Documentary", for AMC. The series will explore concepts such as beauty, relationships, and advertising.
On 27 September 2017, there was an announcement that Heisserer would write the script for the live-action remake of the sci-fi romance anime ''
Your Name
is a 2016 Japanese animated romantic fantasy film produced by CoMix Wave Films. It depicts a high school boy in Tokyo and a high school girl in the Japanese countryside who suddenly and inexplicably begin to swap bodies. The film was commis ...
''. By September 2020, he was replaced by
Lee Isaac Chung and
Emily V. Gordon.
Heisserer wrote the script for ''
Bird Box'' (2018), based on the thriller book ''
Bird Box'', by
Josh Malerman
Josh Malerman is an American novelist, short story writer, film producer, and one of two singer/songwriters for the rock band The High Strung. He is best known for writing horror and his post-apocalyptic novel, '' Bird Box'', which was the inspira ...
. Released by
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 ...
, the film stars
Sandra Bullock
Sandra Annette Bullock (; born July 26, 1964) is an American actress and producer. The recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award, Bullock was the world's highest-paid actress in 2010 and 2014. In 2010 ...
and was directed by
Susanne Bier
Susanne Bier (; born 15 April 1960) is a Danish filmmaker. She is best known for her feature films '' Brothers'' (2004), '' After the Wedding'' (2006), ''In a Better World'' (2010), and '' Bird Box'' (2018), and the TV miniseries ''The Night Man ...
.
Heisserer is serving as creator, head writer, show runner, and executive producer of the 2021
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 ...
series ''
Shadow and Bone
''Shadow and Bone'' is a young adult fantasy adventure and debut novel written by Israeli-American author Leigh Bardugo. It was published by Macmillan Publishers on June 5, 2012. The novel is narrated by Alina Starkov, a teenage orphan who grows ...
'', an adaptation of the fantasy book series ''
The Grisha Trilogy
Leigh Bardugo ( he, לי ברדוגו) is an Israeli-American fantasy author. She is best known for her young adult Grishaverse novels, which include the '' Shadow and Bone'' trilogy, the ''Six of Crows'' duology, and the '' King of Scars'' duol ...
'' and the ''
Six of Crows Duology''.
Personal life
Heisserer is the son of Margaret L., a senior editor for a publishing company, and Andrew J. Heisserer, a professor of ancient history, of
Norman, Oklahoma
Norman () is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Oklahoma, with a population of 128,097 as of 2021. It is the largest city and the county seat of Cleveland County, and the second-largest city in the Oklahoma City metropolitan area, be ...
. Heisserer married television producer/writer
Christine Boylan
Christine Ann Boylan (born July 25, 1977) is an American television writer and producer. She is known for her work on the ABC crime series ''Castle''.
Life and career
Christine attended Hofstra University. Since 2010, she has been married to s ...
in 2010. His previous marriage ended in divorce.
Heisserer identifies as
agnostic
Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, of the divine or the supernatural is unknown or unknowable. (page 56 in 1967 edition) Another definition provided is the view that "human reason is incapable of providing sufficien ...
.
Filmography
Film
Television
Books
He wrote the book "150 Screenwriting Challenges", containing exercises to help screenwriters develop their skills.
It was published in November 2013.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heisserer, Eric
1970 births
American agnostics
American film directors
American male screenwriters
American people of German descent
Hugo Award-winning writers
Living people
Nebula Award winners
Place of birth missing (living people)