Stephen Gaghan
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Stephen Gaghan (; born May 6, 1965) is an American screenwriter and
director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...
. He is noted for writing the screenplay for Steven Soderbergh's film ''
Traffic Traffic comprises pedestrians, vehicles, ridden or herded animals, trains, and other conveyances that use public ways (roads) for travel and transportation. Traffic laws govern and regulate traffic, while rules of the road include traffi ...
'', based on a Channel 4 series, for which he won the
Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay The Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay is the Academy Award for the best screenplay Film adaptation, adapted from previously established material. The most frequently adapted media are novels, but other adapted narrative formats include st ...
, as well as ''
Syriana ''Syriana'' is a 2005 American political thriller film written and directed by Stephen Gaghan, loosely based on Robert Baer's 2003 memoir '' See No Evil''. The film stars an ensemble cast consisting of George Clooney, Matt Damon, Jeffrey Wrig ...
'' which he wrote and directed. He also wrote and directed the thriller '' Abandon'' and the family film '' Dolittle'', and directed the drama ''
Gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...
''.


Childhood and education

Gaghan was born in
Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...
, the son of the former Elizabeth Jane Whorton and her first husband, Stephen Gaghan (d. 1980), and a stepson of Tom Haag. Gaghan attended
Kentucky Country Day School Kentucky Country Day (KCD) is an independent co-educational college preparatory day school for junior kindergarten through 12th grade located in Louisville, Kentucky. It is located in northeastern Jefferson County on a large suburban campus. ...
, a college preparatory school in Louisville. He was an All-State soccer player where he held the assist record at the school for nearly three decades. He is a grandson of Jerry Gaghan, a newspaper columnist and drama critic for ''
Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' and the '' Philadelphia Daily News''. Gaghan wrote in a 2001 article in ''
Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely ...
'', "I also wanted to be a writer, like my grandfather, who carried a card in his wallet that read, "If you find me, call my son
y father Y, or y, is the twenty-fifth and penultimate letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. According to some authorities, it is the sixth (or sevent ...
at this number..." In his final days of high school before graduation, Gaghan was expelled for driving a
go-cart A go-kart, also written as go-cart (often referred to as simply a kart), is a type of sports car, close wheeled car, open-wheel car or quadracycle. Go-karts come in all shapes and forms, from non-motorised models to high-performance racing ...
through the halls of the school. During the release of ''
Traffic Traffic comprises pedestrians, vehicles, ridden or herded animals, trains, and other conveyances that use public ways (roads) for travel and transportation. Traffic laws govern and regulate traffic, while rules of the road include traffi ...
'', a critic commented on one of the teen characters in the movie who is a drug addict and a straight-A student, calling it unrealistic, which Gaghan defended by stating that he had straight A's while he was addicted to drugs and alcohol. As Gaghan wrote in an article published in ''Newsweek'' in February 2001, "I wasn't much different from my peers, except where they could stop drinking after three or six or 10 drinks, I couldn't stop and wouldn't stop until I had progressed through marijuana, cocaine, heroin and, finally, crack and freebase--which seem for so many people to be the last stop on the elevator." Gaghan has stated that he began dealing with his addictions in 1997. "Over one long, five-day weekend, I had three separate heroin dealers get arrested," he said. "My dealer, my backup dealer and my backup-backup dealer. I was left alone, and I just hit that place, that total incomprehensible demoralization. That was the end of it; up five days straight, locked in the bathroom, convinced there was nowhere else to go, I had to kill myself, I'm going to kill myself. I just couldn't take another minute of it." He attended the
University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a public land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentucky, the university is one of the state ...
and was a member of
Delta Tau Delta Delta Tau Delta () is a United States-based international Greek letter college fraternity. Delta Tau Delta was founded at Bethany College, Bethany, Virginia, (now West Virginia) in 1858. The fraternity currently has around 130 collegiate chapter ...
fraternity. He was a student on the Fall 1986 Voyage of the "
Semester at Sea Semester at Sea (SaS) is a study-abroad program which was founded in 1963 and managed by the Institute for Shipboard Education (ISE) in Fort Collins, Colorado. Colorado State University is the current academic sponsor and the program is condu ...
" Study Abroad Program where he attended classes on board the SS Universe and sailed around the world. He eventually graduated from Babson College in 1988 with a degree in screenwriting. He also started a catalog company, Fallen Empire Inc., which he hoped would support his writing career.


Career

Gaghan wrote the screenplay for ''Traffic'', for which he won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay in 2000. In addition to ''Traffic'', Gaghan also directed and wrote the screenplays for ''
Syriana ''Syriana'' is a 2005 American political thriller film written and directed by Stephen Gaghan, loosely based on Robert Baer's 2003 memoir '' See No Evil''. The film stars an ensemble cast consisting of George Clooney, Matt Damon, Jeffrey Wrig ...
'' (2005) and '' Abandon'' (2002), the former receiving comparable critical acclaim to ''Traffic'', while the latter turned out to be a total fiasco. Other writing credits include ''
Rules of Engagement Rules of engagement (ROE) are the internal rules or directives afforded military forces (including individuals) that define the circumstances, conditions, degree, and manner in which the use of force, or actions which might be construed as pro ...
'' (2000), ''
Havoc High Altitude Venus Operational Concept (HAVOC) is a set of crewed NASA mission concepts to the planet Venus. All human portions of the missions would be conducted from lighter-than-air craft or from orbit. Background Venus is a planet with a r ...
'' (2005), and '' The Alamo'' (2004), as well as a handful of episodes of various television series. Gaghan turned down the chance to adapt
Dan Brown Daniel Gerhard Brown (born June 22, 1964) is an American author best known for his thriller novels, including the Robert Langdon novels ''Angels & Demons'' (2000), '' The Da Vinci Code'' (2003), ''The Lost Symbol'' (2009), '' Inferno'' (2013), ...
's novel, ''
The Da Vinci Code ''The Da Vinci Code'' is a 2003 mystery thriller novel by Dan Brown. It is Brown's second novel to include the character Robert Langdon: the first was his 2000 novel ''Angels & Demons''. ''The Da Vinci Code'' follows symbologist Robert Lang ...
''. In his television writing career, he won an Emmy Award for co-writing a '' NYPD Blue'' episode entitled ''Where's Swaldo'', in 1997. In addition to ''NYPD Blue'', he has also written for ''
The Practice ''The Practice'' is an American legal drama television series created by David E. Kelley centering on partners and associates at a Boston law firm. The show ran for eight seasons on ABC, from March 4, 1997, to May 16, 2004. It won an Emmy in ...
'' and ''
New York Undercover ''New York Undercover'' is an American police drama that aired on the Fox television network from September 8, 1994, to February 11, 1999. The series starred Malik Yoba as Detective J.C. Williams and Michael DeLorenzo as Detective Eddie Torre ...
''. His next project is a film adaptation of
Malcolm Gladwell Malcolm Timothy Gladwell (born 3 September 1963) is an English-born Canadian journalist, author, and public speaker. He has been a staff writer for ''The New Yorker'' since 1996. He has published seven books: '' The Tipping Point: How Little ...
's book, '' Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking''. He has also been hired by
Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...
to write the screenplay of the ''Dead Spy Running'' franchise written by author Jon Stock. He is also set to direct crime thriller ''Candy Store''. On January 19, 2017, it was announced that
Ubisoft Ubisoft Entertainment SA (; ; formerly Ubi Soft Entertainment SA) is a French video game publisher headquartered in Saint-Mandé with development studios across the world. Its video game franchises include '' Assassin's Creed'', ''Far Cry'', ...
had hired Gaghan to direct the film adaptation of the popular video game ''
The Division ''The Division'' is an American police procedural drama television series created by Deborah Joy LeVine starring Bonnie Bedelia. The series focuses on a team of female detectives and police officers in the San Francisco Police Department. The s ...
'', but it was announced later that Gaghan was no longer attached to the project.


Personal life

Gaghan has a son, Gardner, (b. 1999) and a daughter, Elizabeth, who goes by the nickname of Betsy, (b. 2001) from a previous relationship with actress Michael McCraine, whom he met in 1997 while at a recovery meeting. On May 19, 2007, Gaghan married Marion "Minnie" Mortimer. Together they have a daughter, Tuesday, (b. February 2, 2009), and a son, Johnny (b. May 20, 2014).


Filmography


Film

Uncredited revisions * '' I Still Know What You Did Last Summer'' (1998) * '' Black Hawk Down'' (2001) * ''
Phone Booth A telephone booth, telephone kiosk, telephone call box, telephone box or public call box is a tiny structure furnished with a payphone and designed for a telephone user's convenience; usually the user steps into the booth and closes the booth ...
'' (2002) * '' After Earth'' (2013)


Television


Acting roles


Video games

*'' Call of Duty: Ghosts'' (2013)


Personal appearances

* ''
Entourage An entourage () is an informal group or band of people who are closely associated with a (usually) famous, notorious, or otherwise notable individual. The word can also refer to: Arts and entertainment * L'entourage, French hip hop / rap collecti ...
'' * ''
The Henry Rollins Show ''The Henry Rollins Show'' was a weekly talk show hosted by musician Henry Rollins on the Independent Film Channel (IFC). The show featured Rollins' monologues, interviews with celebrities and uncensored musical performances. The show was cancele ...
'' * '' Film '72'' * '' Sunday Morning Shootout'' * ''
The Charlie Rose Show ''Charlie Rose'' (also known as ''The Charlie Rose Show'') is an American television interview and talk show, with Charlie Rose as executive producer, executive editor, and host. The show was syndicated on PBS from 1991 until 2017 and is owned ...
'' * '' The Big Story'' * '' HBO First Look'' * '' Hollywood High'' (2003) *
73rd Academy Awards The 73rd Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best of 2000 in film and took place on March 25, 2001, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, beginning at 5:30 p.m. PST ...
* ''Inside Traffic: The Making of Traffic''


References


External links

*
Stephen Gaghan interview on Charlie Rose
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaghan, Stephen 1965 births Living people Mortimer family of New York American television writers American male screenwriters Babson College alumni Best Adapted Screenplay Academy Award winners Best Adapted Screenplay BAFTA Award winners Primetime Emmy Award winners Edgar Award winners Writers from Louisville, Kentucky Writers Guild of America Award winners American mystery writers Best Screenplay Golden Globe winners English-language film directors American male novelists American male television writers Novelists from Kentucky Film directors from Kentucky