Steven Ernest Bernard Zaillian (born January 30, 1953) is an American screenwriter, film director and producer. He won 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 ...

, a

Golden Globe Award The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...

and 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 cere ...

for his screenplay ''

Schindler's List ''Schindler's List'' is a 1993 American epic historical drama film directed and produced by Steven Spielberg and written by Steven Zaillian. It is based on the 1982 novel ''Schindler's Ark'' by Australian novelist Thomas Keneally. The film fo ...

'' (1993) and has earned Oscar nominations for the films ''

Awakenings ''Awakenings'' is a 1990 American drama film directed by Penny Marshall. It is written by Steven Zaillian, who based his screenplay on Oliver Sacks's 1973 memoir ''Awakenings''. It tells the story of neurologist Dr. Malcolm Sayer (Robin Williams ...

'', ''

Gangs of New York ''Gangs of New York'' is a 2002 American epic historical drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Jay Cocks, Steven Zaillian and Kenneth Lonergan, based on Herbert Asbury's 1927 book ''The Gangs of New York''. The film stars Le ...

'', '' Moneyball'' and ''

The Irishman ''The Irishman'' (subtitled onscreen as ''I Heard You Paint Houses'') is a 2019 American epic gangster film directed and produced by Martin Scorsese and written by Steven Zaillian, based on the 2004 nonfiction book '' I Heard You Paint Hou ...

''. He was presented with the Distinguished Screenwriter Award at the 2009

Austin Film Festival Austin Film Festival (AFF), founded in 1994, is an organization in Austin, Texas, that focuses on writers’ creative contributions to film. Initially, AFF was called the Austin Heart of Film Screenwriters Conference and functioned to launch the ...

and the

Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement The Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement (also known as the Screen Laurel Award) is a lifetime achievement award given by the Writers Guild of America. It is given "to that member of the Guild who, in the opinion of the current Board of Dir ...

from the

Writers Guild of America The Writers Guild of America is the joint efforts of two different US labor unions representing TV and film writers: * The Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE), headquartered in New York City and affiliated with the AFL–CIO * The Writers Guil ...

in 2011. Zaillian is the founder of Film Rites, a film production company. In 2016, he created, wrote and directed the

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 ...

limited series ''

The Night Of ''The Night Of'' is a 2016 American eight-part crime drama television miniseries based on the first season of ''Criminal Justice'', a 2008 British series. The miniseries was written by Richard Price and Steven Zaillian (based on the original ''C ...

''.

Early life

Steven Zaillian was born in

Fresno, California Fresno () is a major city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley region. It covers about and had a population of 542,107 in 2020, makin ...

, the son of Jim Zaillian, a radio news reporter. Zaillian is of

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

descent. He attended

Sonoma State University Sonoma State University (SSU, Sonoma State, or Sonoma) is a public university in Rohnert Park in Sonoma County, California, US. It is one of the smallest members of the California State University (CSU) system. Sonoma State offers 92 Bachelor's d ...

, graduated from

San Francisco State University San Francisco State University (commonly referred to as San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a public research university in San Francisco. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers 118 different b ...

in 1975 with a degree in Cinema.

Personal life

He lives in

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' ...

with his wife Elizabeth Zaillian and their two children, Nicholas and Charles Zaillian.

Career

Steven Zaillian is known for writing screenplays that often deal with tragedy and drama. Zaillian has written screenplays for many notable films. Zaillian wrote the screenplay for the 1990 film ''

''. His most notable work is the 1993 screenplay for the film ''

'', for which he won an Academy Award. The ''Schindler’s List'' screenplay was voted the 49th best screenplay of all time by the

Writers Guild of America West The Writers Guild of America West (WGAW) is a labor union representing film, television, radio, and new media writers. It was formed in 1954 from five organizations representing writers, including the Screen Writers Guild. It has around 20,000 m ...

, the 32nd best of all time by

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, ...

, and the 49th best by

filmsite.org Filmsite is a film-review website established in 1996 by senior editor and film critic-historian Tim Dirks, and continues to be managed and edited by him for over two decades. Overview The site contains over 300 detailed reviews of English langu ...

. Zaillian directed and wrote the 1993 film ''

Searching for Bobby Fischer ''Searching for Bobby Fischer'', released in the United Kingdom as ''Innocent Moves'', is a 1993 American Drama (film and television), drama film written and directed by Steven Zaillian in his List of directorial debuts, directorial debut. Starr ...

'', for which he earned critical and commercial acclaim. Zaillian also wrote and directed the 1998 film ''

A Civil Action ''A Civil Action'' is a 1995 non-fiction book by Jonathan Harr about a water contamination case in Woburn, Massachusetts, in the 1980s. The book became a best-seller. It won the National Book Critics Circle Award for nonfiction. The case is ...

'' and wrote the screenplays for films ''

'' in 2002, and ''American Gangster'' in 2007. In 2007, in partnership with

Mandate Pictures Mandate Pictures was a full-service film production company acquired by Lionsgate in 2007. History In 2005, Mandate Pictures was officially formed when the Los Angeles–based Senator International completed a management buyout from German indie ...

, he signed a deal with

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

.. Zaillian co-wrote the screenplay for '' Moneyball'' in 2011 with

Aaron Sorkin Aaron Benjamin Sorkin (born June 9, 1961) is an American playwright, screenwriter and film director. Born in New York City, he developed a passion for writing at an early age. Sorkin has earned an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, five Primetime E ...

. Zaillian also wrote the screenplay for the 2011 film ''

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo ''The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo'' (original title in sv, Män som hatar kvinnor , lit=''Men Who Hate Women'') is a psychological thriller novel by Swedish author and journalist Stieg Larsson (1954–2004). It was published posthumously in 2 ...

''. His most recent work includes creating, directing, writing, and producing the 2016 Emmy-winning

miniseries ''

'' and writing the screenplay for the 2019

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 ...

film ''

''.

Filmography

Film

Television

Executive producer only

* ''

Welcome to the Rileys ''Welcome to the Rileys'' is a 2010 independent drama film directed by Jake Scott, written by Ken Hixon, and starring Kristen Stewart, James Gandolfini and Melissa Leo. The film debuted at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. Plot Ever since the death ...

'' (2010) * '' The Cold Light of Day'' (2012) * ''

The Current War ''The Current War'' is a 2017 American historical drama film inspired by the 19th-century competition between Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse over which electric power delivery system would be used in the United States (often referred to ...

'' (2017) * ''

My Dinner with Hervé ''My Dinner with Hervé'' is an American television drama film written and directed by Sacha Gervasi, based on the later days of actor Hervé Villechaize. The film stars Peter Dinklage as Villechaize, Jamie Dornan as a struggling journalist, and ...

'' (2018)

Editor

* ''

Breaker! Breaker! ''Breaker! Breaker!'' is a 1977 American action film directed by Don Hulette and starring Chuck Norris. Plot J.D. (Chuck Norris), a trucker from California, returns from the road to learn that an old friend was assaulted and paralyzed by Sergea ...

'' (1977) * ''

Kingdom of the Spiders ''Kingdom of the Spiders'' is a 1977 American science fiction horror film directed by John "Bud" Cardos and produced by Igo Kantor and Jeffrey M. Sneller. The screenplay is credited to Richard Robinson and Alan Caillou, from an original story ...

'' (1977) * ''

Starhops ''Starhops'' is 1978 exploitation film directed by Barbara Peeters. It was based on a script by Stephanie Rothman, writing under a pseudonym, and was edited by Steve Zaillian, who later became an Oscar-winning screenwriter. Premise Three carh ...

'' (1978)

Awards

References

External links

* * *
Writings at One for the Table
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zaillian, Steven 1953 births Living people American film editors Film producers from California American male screenwriters Best Adapted Screenplay Academy Award winners Best Adapted Screenplay BAFTA Award winners American writers of Armenian descent Writers from Fresno, California San Francisco State University alumni Writers Guild of America Award winners Film directors from California Best Screenplay Golden Globe winners Screenwriters from California 20th-century American screenwriters 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American screenwriters 21st-century American male writers