Nancy Oliver (born February 8, 1955) is an American playwright and screenwriter who is best known for her work on the successful TV series ''
Six Feet Under.'' Oliver was nominated for the
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 ...
in 2008 for her debut screenplay, ''
Lars and the Real Girl
''Lars and the Real Girl'' is a 2007 romantic comedy-drama film written by Nancy Oliver and directed by Craig Gillespie. It stars Ryan Gosling, Emily Mortimer, Paul Schneider, Kelli Garner, and Patricia Clarkson. The film follows Lars (Gosling) ...
''.
Early life and career
Oliver was born in Syracuse, NY and raised in
Framingham, Massachusetts
Framingham () is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. Incorporated in 1700, it is located in Middlesex County and the MetroWest subregion of the Greater Boston metropolitan area. The city proper covers with a popu ...
.
She began writing at an early age
and earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from the
University of Massachusetts Amherst
The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst, UMass) is a public research university in Amherst, Massachusetts and the sole public land-grant university in Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Founded in 1863 as an agricultural college, it ...
, Amherst. During this time she was involved with the university's theater department as a performer.
While attending
Florida State University
Florida State University (FSU) is a public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher education in the st ...
in Tallahassee, Florida for theatre, Oliver met director and screenwriter
Alan Ball in 1976. Together they founded the General Nonsense Theater Company, a satirical ensemble for which the two wrote, staged and starred in subversive comical sketches. She was also a member of Alarm Dog Rep. A playwright whose work includes ''Office'', ''Dreams Are Funny'', ''Calypso" and "VW'' as well as several plays for young people, she twice won Florida's Individual Artist Grant for Playwriting. In addition to working previously as a teacher, columnist and newspaper editor, she studied Drama at the Banff Fine Arts Center in Canada and
Trinity College, Oxford
(That which you wish to be secret, tell to nobody)
, named_for = The Holy Trinity
, established =
, sister_college = Churchill College, Cambridge
, president = Dame Hilary Boulding
, location = Broad Street, Oxford OX1 3BH
, coordinates ...
. She earned a
Master of Arts
A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...
degree in Acting and Directing from
Florida State University
Florida State University (FSU) is a public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher education in the st ...
.
Career
After graduating, Oliver supported herself by doing "anything anyone would pay me to do that was kind of mindless—typing, filing, Xeroxing—so I could save the rest for writing and directing."
She moved to Los Angeles in 1997 after the computer game she was writing for, ''
Riana Rouge
Riana may refer to:
* Rhiannon, the horse goddess in Welsh mythology
* ''Riana Rouge'', action-adventure game
* Riana, Tasmania, a small town in Australia
People with the given name ''Riana''
* Riana Nel (born 1982) is a Namibian singer and song ...
'', relocated to the West Coast. She later teamed up again with Alan Ball, becoming his script reader. A few years later, shortly after deciding to abandon show business and move back to Florida,
Ball offered her a spot as a writer and co-producer for the award-winning television series ''
Six Feet Under''.
Oliver began as a writer during the show's third season and stayed on for three years.
The idea for her first screenplay, which would eventually be made into the 2007 film ''
Lars and the Real Girl
''Lars and the Real Girl'' is a 2007 romantic comedy-drama film written by Nancy Oliver and directed by Craig Gillespie. It stars Ryan Gosling, Emily Mortimer, Paul Schneider, Kelli Garner, and Patricia Clarkson. The film follows Lars (Gosling) ...
'', was the result of an early job in which she dealt "with a lot of Web sites and a lot of lonely guys."
Oliver considers the story, in which a lonely and
delusion
A delusion is a false fixed belief that is not amenable to change in light of conflicting evidence. As a pathology, it is distinct from a belief based on false or incomplete information, confabulation, dogma, illusion, hallucination, or some o ...
al 27-year-old man forms a romantic attachment to a
sex doll
A sex doll (also love doll, fuck doll or blowup doll) is a type of anthropomorphic sex toy in the size and shape of a sexual partner. The sex doll may consist of an entire body, or just a head, pelvis, or other body part (vagina, anus, mouth, ...
, a "contemporary fairy tale".
After contemplating the concept for nearly five years, Oliver wrote the script over a nine-month period in 2002, before she was hired at ''Six Feet Under''. In 2002, when her agent asked for a project to shop around, Oliver gave them ''Lars''. In 2005, it was ranked No. 3 on the 2005 edition of The Black List, a compilation of the Top 90 most-liked, un-produced scripts in Hollywood.
Directed by
Craig Gillespie
Craig Gillespie (born 1 September 1967) is an Australian-American film, television, music video, and commercial director. He is best known for directing the films ''Lars and the Real Girl'' (2007), ''Fright Night'' (2011), ''I, Tonya'' (2017), ...
and starring
Ryan Gosling
Ryan Thomas Gosling (born November 12, 1980) is a Canadian actor. Prominent in independent film, he has also worked in blockbuster films of varying genres, and has accrued a worldwide box office gross of over 1.9 billion USD. He has received ...
, the film had its world premiere at the
Toronto International Film Festival
The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a permane ...
where it received a standing ovation from the audience. The screenplay was eventually nominated for several awards, including an
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 ...
for
Original Screenplay. In 2008, Oliver received the
Humanitas Prize
The Humanitas Prize is an award for film and television writing, and is given to writers whose work explores the human condition in a nuanced and meaningful way. It began in 1974 with Father Ellwood "Bud" Kieser—also the founder of Paulist P ...
for the screenplay.
''Screenwriters lauded with Humanitas Prize''
Associated Press, Los Angeles, September 17, 2008
In 2007, Oliver again teamed up with Alan Ball to write and direct episodes for his HBO
Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...
vampire
A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mi ...
series, ''True Blood
''True Blood'' is an American fantasy horror drama television series produced and created by Alan Ball. It is based on ''The Southern Vampire Mysteries'', a series of novels by Charlaine Harris. A reboot is currently in development.
The serie ...
''. She is also in the early stages of another film project.
Awards and nominations
*2009 Writers Guild of America (WGA) Award
**Episodic drama "I Will Rise Up" ''True Blood
''True Blood'' is an American fantasy horror drama television series produced and created by Alan Ball. It is based on ''The Southern Vampire Mysteries'', a series of novels by Charlaine Harris. A reboot is currently in development.
The serie ...
'' (Nominated)
*2008 Humanitas Prize
The Humanitas Prize is an award for film and television writing, and is given to writers whose work explores the human condition in a nuanced and meaningful way. It began in 1974 with Father Ellwood "Bud" Kieser—also the founder of Paulist P ...
**Feature Film: ''Lars and the Real Girl''
*2008 Academy Awards
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 ...
**Best Original Screenplay: ''Lars and the Real Girl'' (Nominated)
*2008 Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards
The Critics' Choice Movie Awards (formerly known as the Broadcast Film Critics Association Award) is an awards show presented annually by the American-Canadian Critics Choice Association (CCA) to honor the finest in cinematic achievement. Writt ...
**Best Writer: ''Lars'' (Nominated)
*National Board of Review Awards
The National Board of Review of Motion Pictures is a non-profit organization of New York City area film enthusiasts. Its awards, which are announced in early December, are considered an early harbinger of the film awards season that culminat ...
**Best Screenplay – Original: ''Lars'' (WON ied with Diablo Cody for ''Juno (film)">Juno
Juno commonly refers to:
*Juno (mythology), the Roman goddess of marriage and queen of the gods
*Juno (film), ''Juno'' (film), 2007
Juno may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media Fictional characters
*Juno, in the film ''Jenny, Juno''
*Ju ...
''])
*2008 WGA Award
**Best Original Screenplay: ''Lars'' (Nominated)
*2007 Satellite Awards
**Best Screenplay, Original: ''Lars'' (Nominated)
*2006 Writers Guild of America Awards
**Best Dramatic Series: ''Six Feet Under'' (Nominated with ensemble)