John August (born August 4, 1970) 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.
...
,
director,
producer, and
novelist
A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire ...
. He is known for writing the films ''
Go'' (1999), ''
Charlie's Angels
''Charlie's Angels'' is an American crime drama television series that aired on ABC from September 22, 1976, to June 24, 1981, producing five seasons and 115 episodes. The series was created by Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts and was produced by ...
'' (2000), ''
Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle'' (2003), ''
Big Fish'' (2003), ''
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
''Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'' is a 1964 children's novel by British author Roald Dahl. The story features the adventures of young Charlie Bucket inside the chocolate factory of eccentric chocolatier Willy Wonka.
The story was originall ...
'' (2005), ''
Corpse Bride
''Corpse Bride'' (also known as ''Tim Burton's Corpse Bride'') is a 2005 stop-motion animated musical dark fantasy film directed by Mike Johnson and Tim Burton with a screenplay by John August, Caroline Thompson and Pamela Pettler based on ...
'' (2005), ''
Frankenweenie'' (2012), the Disney live-action adaptation of ''
Aladdin
Aladdin ( ; ar, علاء الدين, ', , ATU 561, ‘Aladdin') is a Middle-Eastern folk tale. It is one of the best-known tales associated with ''The Book of One Thousand and One Nights'' (''The Arabian Nights''), despite not being part o ...
'' (2019), the novels ''
Arlo Finch in the Valley of Fire'' (2018), ''Arlo Finch in the Lake of the Moon'' (2019) and ''Arlo Finch in the Kingdom of Shadows'' (2020).
He hosts the popular screenwriting podcast ''
Scriptnotes'' with
Craig Mazin, maintains an eponymous screenwriting blog and develops screenwriter-targeted software through his company, Quote-Unquote Apps.
August is a member of the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization with the stated goal of advancing the arts and sciences of motion ...
, voting in the Writers branch. In 2016, he was awarded the WGAw's
Valentine Davies Award for his dignified contributions to the entertainment industry and the community-at-large, and has been nominated for a
BAFTA and a
Grammy
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...
.
Early life
August was born and raised in
Boulder, Colorado
Boulder is a home rule city that is the county seat and most populous municipality of Boulder County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 108,250 at the 2020 United States census, making it the 12th most populous city in Colora ...
. His birth name was John Tilton Meise, a surname he found was difficult to pronounce and wished to change; he eventually settled on August, his father's middle name. He earned a degree in journalism from
Drake University
Drake University is a private university in Des Moines, Iowa. It offers undergraduate and graduate programs, including professional programs in business, law, and pharmacy. Drake's law school is among the 25 oldest in the United States.
Hist ...
in
Des Moines
Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines ...
,
Iowa
Iowa () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wiscon ...
; while there, he participated in a summer film program at
Stanford
Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. S ...
and decided to pursue screenwriting. He went on to earn an
MFA in film from
The Peter Stark Producing Program at the
University of Southern California
, mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it"
, religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist
, established =
, accreditation = WSCUC
, type = Private research university
, academic_affiliations =
, endowment = $8.1 ...
.
As part of his course at USC, August wrote a romantic tragedy called ''Here and Now''. Though the script never sold, it resulted in August finding agent representation and helped launch his screenwriting career.
Career
August's debut film was 1999's critically acclaimed crime-comedy ''
Go'', directed by Doug Liman, for which he also served as co-producer and
second unit director. The film performed moderately at the box office, but was well received, and has since become a
cult classic
A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic. ...
.
After ''Go'' finished filming, August and
Melissa McCarthy, who had a small role in the film, ran into each other in a coffee shop, and August told McCarthy that he had written a short film with her in mind.
The short film, ''God'', was shot after ''Go'', but finished and released before. It has been credited as one of the early showcases of McCarthy's comedic talent.
August created his first television show, ''
D.C.'', in 2000 for
The WB
The WB Television Network (for Warner Bros., or the "Frog Network", for its former mascot, Michigan J. Frog) was an American television network launched on broadcast television on January 11, 1995, as a joint venture between the Warner Bros. ...
. The series was produced by ''
Law & Order
''Law & Order'' is an American police procedural and legal drama television series created by Dick Wolf and produced by Wolf Entertainment, launching the '' Law & Order'' franchise.
''Law & Order'' aired its entire run on NBC, premiering on ...
'' creator
Dick Wolf
Richard Anthony Wolf (born December 20, 1946) is an American film and television producer, best known for his Law & Order (franchise), ''Law & Order'' franchise. Since 1990, the franchise has included six police/courtroom dramas and four internat ...
, with August serving as co-executive producer.
Seven episodes were produced, though only four aired. In the same year, August also wrote the animated science fiction feature ''
Titan A.E.
''Titan A.E.'' is a 2000 American animated science fiction film directed by Don Bluth and Gary Goldman, and starring Matt Damon, Bill Pullman, John Leguizamo, Nathan Lane, Janeane Garofalo and Drew Barrymore. Its title refers to the spacecraft ...
'', and the
McG
The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as "The 'G", is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadium in the Southern Hem ...
-directed ''
Charlie's Angels
''Charlie's Angels'' is an American crime drama television series that aired on ABC from September 22, 1976, to June 24, 1981, producing five seasons and 115 episodes. The series was created by Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts and was produced by ...
''.
In the fall of 1998, while ''Go'' was still in post-production, August had acquired the film rights to
Daniel Wallace's novel ''
Big Fish
''Big Fish'' is a 2003 American fantasy comedy-drama film directed by Tim Burton, and based on the 1998 novel of the same name by Daniel Wallace. The film stars Ewan McGregor, Albert Finney, Billy Crudup, Jessica Lange, Helena Bonham Carter, ...
'' after reading it as a not-yet published manuscript. His adaptation became the 2003
Tim Burton
Timothy Walter Burton (born August 25, 1958) is an American filmmaker and animator. He is known for his gothic fantasy and horror films such as ''Beetlejuice'' (1988), ''Edward Scissorhands'' (1990), ''The Nightmare Before Christmas'' (1993), ...
film of the same name and earned August a 2003
BAFTA Award
The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTA Film Awards is an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to film. The cer ...
nomination for
Best Adapted Screenplay.
He returned to the world of ''Charlie's Angels'' to write its sequel, 2003's ''
Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle''. August has spoken about the difficult production process for the film.
He reunited with ''Big Fish'' director Burton in 2005 for ''
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
''Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'' is a 1964 children's novel by British author Roald Dahl. The story features the adventures of young Charlie Bucket inside the chocolate factory of eccentric chocolatier Willy Wonka.
The story was originall ...
'', an adaptation of
Roald Dahl
Roald Dahl (13 September 1916 – 23 November 1990) was a British novelist, short-story writer, poet, screenwriter, and wartime fighter ace of Norwegian descent. His books have sold more than 250 million copies worldwide. Dahl has be ...
's
classic children's book. August had written to Dahl as part of a third grade class project, and received a postcard reply. Though the reply was a form letter, August still had it, decades later, when he adapted the book. He earned a 2006
Grammy
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...
nomination for his lyrics for “Wonka's Welcome Song” from the film.
He collaborated for a third time with Burton on the
stop-motion
Stop motion is an animated filmmaking technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exhibit independent motion or change when the series of frames i ...
animated fantasy ''
Corpse Bride
''Corpse Bride'' (also known as ''Tim Burton's Corpse Bride'') is a 2005 stop-motion animated musical dark fantasy film directed by Mike Johnson and Tim Burton with a screenplay by John August, Caroline Thompson and Pamela Pettler based on ...
'', also released in 2005. The two films were in production simultaneously, with actors including
Johnny Depp
John Christopher Depp II (born June 9, 1963) is an American actor and musician. He is the recipient of multiple accolades, including a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award, in addition to nominations for three Academy Award ...
,
Helena Bonham Carter
Helena Bonham Carter (born 26 May 1966) is an English actress. Known for her roles in blockbusters and independent films, particularly period dramas, she has received various awards and nominations, including a British Academy Film Award a ...
and
Christopher Lee
Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee (27 May 1922 – 7 June 2015) was an English actor and singer. In a long career spanning more than 60 years, Lee often portrayed villains, and appeared as Count Dracula in seven Hammer Horror films, ultimat ...
appearing in both. The film marked the third of five produced collaborations to date between August and Burton.
August made his feature directorial debut in 2007 with
science fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...
psychological thriller
Psychological thriller is a genre combining the thriller and psychological fiction genres. It is commonly used to describe literature or films that deal with psychological narratives in a thriller or thrilling setting.
In terms of context and co ...
''
The Nines
''The Nines'' is a 2007 science fiction psychological thriller film written and directed by John August, starring Ryan Reynolds, Hope Davis, Melissa McCarthy, and Elle Fanning. The film debuted at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival and made $63 ...
'', starring
Ryan Reynolds
Ryan Rodney Reynolds (born October 23, 1976) is a Canadian-American actor. He is one of the highest-grossing film actors of all time, with a worldwide box-office gross of over billion.
He began his career starring in the Canadian teen ...
,
Melissa McCarthy,
Hope Davis
Hope Davis is an American actress. She is known for her performances on stage and screen earning various awards and nominations including a Tony Award nomination, as well two Primetime Emmy Awards, and two Golden Globe Award nominations.
She ...
and
Elle Fanning
Mary Elle Fanning (born April 9, 1998) is an American actress. She made her film debut as the younger version of her sister Dakota Fanning's character in the drama film '' I Am Sam'' (2001). As a child actress, she appeared in several films, i ...
. The film, which August also wrote, premiered at the 2007
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...
and
Venice Film Festival
The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival he ...
's Critics' Week. One of McCarthy's characters in the film, Margaret, is the same one she played in August's 1998 short film ''God''.
In 2010, he partnered with game designer
Jordan Mechner
Jordan Mechner (born June 4, 1964) is an American video game designer, author, screenwriter, and filmmaker. He is best known for designing and programming the Broderbund Apple II games ''Karateka'' and '' Prince of Persia'' in the 1980s, the la ...
to pitch an adaptation of Mechner's ''
Prince of Persia
''Prince of Persia'' is a video game franchise created by Jordan Mechner. It is built around a series of action-adventure games focused on various incarnations of the eponymous Prince, set in ancient and medieval Persia.
The first two games i ...
''. August served as an executive producer on the resulting film, ''
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time'', directed by
Mike Newell and produced by
Jerry Bruckheimer
Jerome Leon Bruckheimer (born September 21, 1943) is an American film and television Film producer, producer. He has been active in the genres of Action film, action, Drama film, drama, Fantasy film, fantasy, and Science fiction film, science fi ...
.
He reunited with Burton again in 2012 for the stop-motion
fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...
horror comedy
Comedy horror, also known as horror comedy, is a literary, television, and film genre that combines elements of comedy and horror fiction. Comedy horror has been described as able to be categorized under three types: "black comedy, parody and sp ...
''
Frankenweenie,'' a
remake
A remake is a film, television series, video game, song or similar form of entertainment that is based upon and retells the story of an earlier production in the same medium—e.g., a "new version of an existing film". A remake tells the same ...
of Burton's
1984 short film of the same name. August also received story credit on Burton's ''
Dark Shadows
''Dark Shadows'' is an American gothic soap opera that aired weekdays on the ABC television network, from June 27, 1966, to April 2, 1971. The show depicted the lives, loves, trials, and tribulations of the wealthy Collins family of Collinsport ...
'' adaptation''.''
August returned to ''Big Fish'' for a
2013 Broadway musical adaptation, with music and lyrics by
Andrew Lippa
Andrew Lippa (born December 22, 1964) is an American composer, lyricist, book writer, performer, and producer. He is a resident artist at the Ars Nova Theater in New York City.
Early life
Lippa was born in Leeds, England, to English parents. ...
, directed and choreographed by
Susan Stroman. The musical has subsequently been adapted all over the world, including a 2017 run on London's
West End starring
Kelsey Grammer
Allen Kelsey Grammer (born February 21, 1955) is an American actor and producer. He gained notoriety and acclaim for his role as psychiatrist Dr. Frasier Crane on the NBC sitcom '' Cheers'' (1984-1993) and its spin-off ''Frasier'' (1993-2004), ...
.
August co-wrote the screenplay for
Walt Disney Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures is an American film production company and subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, which is owned by The Walt Disney Company. The studio is the flagship producer of live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Studios uni ...
' live action musical fantasy film ''
Aladdin
Aladdin ( ; ar, علاء الدين, ', , ATU 561, ‘Aladdin') is a Middle-Eastern folk tale. It is one of the best-known tales associated with ''The Book of One Thousand and One Nights'' (''The Arabian Nights''), despite not being part o ...
'' (2019), alongside director
Guy Ritchie
Guy Stuart Ritchie (born 10 September 1968) is an English film director, producer and screenwriter. His work includes British gangster films, and the ''Sherlock Holmes'' films starring Robert Downey Jr.
Ritchie left school at age 15 and wor ...
.
In July 2016, August signed a deal to write a three-book series aimed at middle-grade children, inspired by his experience as a
Boy Scout
A Scout (in some countries a Boy Scout, Girl Scout, or Pathfinder) is a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement. Because of the large age and development span, many Scouting associations have split ...
. The first book in the series, ''
Arlo Finch in the Valley of Fire'', was published on February 6, 2018 by Roaring Brook Press, an imprint of the
Macmillan Children's Publishing Group. Its origins and creation were documented in August's podcast ''Launch''.
''Arlo Finch in the Lake of the Moon'' publishes in 2019, and the final book in the series will follow in 2020.
Awards
August was nominated for a
BAFTA Award
The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTA Film Awards is an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to film. The cer ...
for
Best Adapted Screenplay in 2003 for ''Big Fish''.
He earned a 2006
Grammy
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...
nomination for his lyrics for "Wonka's Welcome Song" from ''Charlie and the Chocolate Factory''.
In 2016, he was awarded the WGAw's
Valentine Davies Award for his dignified contributions to the entertainment industry and the community-at-large.
Other work
johnaugust.com
In 2003, August establishe
johnaugust.comas a repository for the 100+ screenwriting advice columns he had written for
IMDb
IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...
. The site now has over 1,500 posts.
August established a complementary site
screenwriting.io to provide concise answers to a wide range of screenwriting craft-related questions.
Quote-Unquote Apps
He founde
Quote-Unquote Appsin 2010, which develops software related to film and the film industry. Their releases includ
FDX Reader an
iOS
iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also includes ...
application that displays
Final Draft files;
[Less IMDb]
a browser extension for Safari
A safari (; ) is an overland journey to observe wild animals, especially in eastern or southern Africa. The so-called "Big Five" game animals of Africa – lion, leopard, rhinoceros, elephant, and Cape buffalo – particularly form an importa ...
, Chrome, and Firefox
Mozilla Firefox, or simply Firefox, is a free and open-source web browser developed by the Mozilla Foundation and its subsidiary, the Mozilla Corporation. It uses the Gecko rendering engine to display web pages, which implements current and ...
that reorganizes the layout of IMDb pages; an
Bronson Watermarker
an OS X
macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac computers. Within the market of desktop and lapt ...
watermarking application that supports multiple outputs. He also commissioned the typeface Courier Prime from Alan Dague-Greene, intended to be a more readable alternative to Courier New
Courier is a monospaced slab serif typeface. The typeface was designed by Howard "Bud" Kettler (1919–1999). Initially created for IBM's typewriters, it has been adapted for use as a computer font, and versions of it are installed on most deskt ...
.
In 2012, the Quote-Unquote team, along with Stu Maschwitz
Stuart T. Maschwitz, commonly known as Stu Maschwitz, was the co-founder and chief technology officer of The Orphanage, a visual effects company that was based in California. He has worked as senior visual effects supervisor on several films. ...
, developed Fountain
A fountain, from the Latin "fons" (genitive "fontis"), meaning source or Spring (hydrology), spring, is a decorative reservoir used for discharging water. It is also a structure that jets water into the air for a decorative or dramatic effect. ...
, a simple markup syntax for screenplays. Later that year, Quote-Unquote released the first public beta o
Highland
an OS X
macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac computers. Within the market of desktop and lapt ...
utility that converts screenplays between PDF, FDX, and Fountain formats, and works as a Fountain text editor.
In 2014, the company release
Weekend Read
a freemium iOS
iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also includes ...
app for reading screenplays. The app can open PDF
Portable Document Format (PDF), standardized as ISO 32000, is a file format developed by Adobe in 1992 to present documents, including text formatting and images, in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems. ...
, Final Draft, Fountain, Markdown
Markdown is a lightweight markup language for creating formatted text using a plain-text editor. John Gruber and Aaron Swartz created Markdown in 2004 as a markup language that is appealing to human readers in its source code form. Markdown is ...
and text files. iPad support was added in 2015. The app features a 'For Your Consideration' section featuring awards season screenplays, as well as August's own scripts.
In 2015, they release
Assembler
a Mac app for instantly combining text files.
Scriptnotes
Since the summer of 2011, August and fellow 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.
...
Craig Mazin have hosted the ''Scriptnotes'' podcast, a weekly podcast
A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing ...
on the craft of screenwriting and the film industry. It consistently ranks among iTunes's top TV & Film podcasts.
Writer Emergency Pack
August launched a 2014 Kickstarter
Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...
fo
Writer Emergency Pack
a deck of cards designed to help writers when they're stuck. The Kickstarter raised $158,104 from 5,714 backers, and the pack is now for sale to the public. August worked with NaNoWriMo to distribute Writer Emergency Pack to more than 2,000 classrooms worldwide.
One Hit Kill
In May 2015, August launched a second Kickstarter for a card game called One Hit Kill. The Kickstarter raised $76,038 from 1,951 backers.
Launch
August debuted a second podcast in January 2018. Titled ''Launch'', the six-episode series is produced by Wondery
Wondery is an American podcast network and publisher of numerous award-winning podcasts, including Dirty John, Dr. Death, and The Shrink Next Door. Wondery was founded in 2016 by entrepreneur and media executive Hernan Lopez. The company was lau ...
, and chronicles August's experience writing, selling and releasing his debut novel, '' Arlo Finch in the Valley of Fire''. On its first day of release, ''Launch'' reached the top 10 on the iTunes podcast chart.
Personal life
August lives in Los Angeles with his husband, Michael August, and their daughter.
Beginning in August 2016, he spent a year living in Paris.
Filmography
References
External links
John August Interview
johnaugust.com
Quote-Unquote Apps
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:August, John
1970 births
20th-century American male writers
21st-century American male writers
American expatriates in France
American gay writers
American LGBT novelists
American male screenwriters
American podcasters
Animation screenwriters
Drake University alumni
Film directors from Colorado
LGBT film directors
LGBT people from Colorado
LGBT screenwriters
Living people
Screenwriters from Colorado
USC School of Cinematic Arts alumni
Writers from Boulder, Colorado