Allison Burnett (born December 16, 1958) 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. ...

, film director, 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 ...

Early life and education

Allison Burnett was born in

Ithaca, New York Ithaca is a city in the Finger Lakes region of New York, United States. Situated on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake, Ithaca is the seat of Tompkins County and the largest community in the Ithaca metropolitan statistical area. It is named ...

. He graduated from

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

Evanston, Illinois Evanston ( ) is a city, suburb of Chicago. Located in Cook County, Illinois, United States, it is situated on the North Shore along Lake Michigan. Evanston is north of Downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, ...

Allison Burnett (Author of Undiscovered Gyrl)
/ref> before attending

Juilliard The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most elit ...

where he studied playwriting.

Film

1990s

Burnett's first

screenplay ''ScreenPlay'' is a television drama anthology series broadcast on BBC2 between 9 July 1986 and 27 October 1993. Background After single-play anthology series went off the air, the BBC introduced several showcases for made-for-television, f ...

to be produced was the kick-boxing prison drama, '' Bloodfist III: Forced to Fight'' (1992), which he co-wrote with Charles Mattera. He also wrote Gregory Hines' directorial debut, ''Bleeding Hearts'' (1994), and the film ''

Red Meat In gastronomy, red meat is commonly red when raw and a dark color after it is cooked, in contrast to white meat, which is pale in color before and after cooking. In culinary terms, only flesh from mammals or fowl (not fish) is classified a ...

'' (1997), which he directed, starring

John Slattery John M. Slattery Jr. (born August 13, 1962) is an American actor and director widely known for his role as Roger Sterling Jr. in the AMC drama series ''Mad Men'' (2007–15), for which he was nominated four times for the Primetime Emmy Award fo ...

Jennifer Grey Jennifer Grey (born March 26, 1960) is an American actress. She made her acting debut with the film ''Reckless'' (1984), and had her breakthrough with the teen comedy film '' Ferris Bueller's Day Off'' (1986). She subsequently earned worldwide ...

, and Lara Flynn Boyle.

2000s

Burnett's next film was '' Autumn in New York'' (2000), starring

Richard Gere Richard Tiffany Gere ( ; born August 31, 1949) is an American actor. He began in films in the 1970s, playing a supporting role in '' Looking for Mr. Goodbar'' (1977) and a starring role in ''Days of Heaven'' (1978). He came to prominence with ...

and

Winona Ryder Winona Laura Horowitz (born October 29, 1971), professionally known as Winona Ryder, is an American actress. Originally playing quirky roles, she rose to prominence for her more diverse performances in various genres in the 1990s. She has recei ...

. This was followed by the Lifetime Original Movie ''Perfect Romance'' (2004), ''

Feast of Love ''Feast of Love'' is a 2007 American drama film directed by Robert Benton, and starring an ensemble cast that includes Morgan Freeman, Greg Kinnear, Radha Mitchell, Billy Burke, Selma Blair, Alexa Davalos, Toby Hemingway, and Jane Alexander. T ...

'' (2007) based on the book by Charles Baxter and starring

Morgan Freeman Morgan Freeman (born June 1, 1937) is an American actor, director, and narrator. He is known for his distinctive deep voice and various roles in a wide variety of film genres. Throughout his career spanning over five decades, he has received ...

and

Greg Kinnear Gregory Buck Kinnear (born June 17, 1963) is an American actor. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in ''As Good as It Gets'' (1997). Kinnear has appeared in many popular films, including '' Sabrina'' (19 ...

, and

Resurrecting the Champ ''Resurrecting the Champ'' is a 2007 American sports drama film directed by Rod Lurie and written by Michael Bortman and Allison Burnett, based on a ''Los Angeles Times Magazine'' article entitled "Resurrecting the Champ" by J. R. Moehringer. Th ...

(2007), written with Michael Bortman and starring Samuel L. Jackson and Josh Hartnett. In 2008, Burnett wrote, with Robert Fyvolent and Mark Brinker, the crime thriller '' Untraceable'' (2008) starring

Diane Lane Diane Colleen Lane (born January 22, 1965) is an American actress. Born and raised in New York City, Lane made her screen debut at age 14 in George Roy Hill's 1979 film '' A Little Romance''. The two films that could have catapulted her to st ...

. The following year, Burnett wrote the remake of '' Fame''.

2010s

Burnett had two films released in 2012. The first was '' Underworld Awakening'' (2012), co-written with

Len Wiseman Len Ryan Wiseman (born March 4, 1973) is an American filmmaker. He is best known for his work on the ''Underworld'' series, '' Live Free or Die Hard'', and the 2012 film '' Total Recall''. Wiseman runs the production company Sketch Films. Earl ...

, John Hlavin, and

J. Michael Straczynski Joseph Michael Straczynski (; born July 17, 1954) is an American filmmaker and comic book writer. He is the founder of Synthetic Worlds Ltd. and Studio JMS and is best known as the creator of the science fiction television series ''Babylon 5'' ...

, the fourth film in the ''

Underworld The underworld, also known as the netherworld or hell, is the supernatural world of the dead in various religious traditions and myths, located below the world of the living. Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underwo ...

'' series starring

Kate Beckinsale Kathrin Romany Beckinsale (born 26 July 1973) is an English actress and model. After some minor television roles, her film debut was ''Much Ado About Nothing'' (1993) while a student at the University of Oxford. She appeared in British costume ...

. The following month, '' Gone'' (2012) was released, starring

Amanda Seyfried Amanda Michelle Seyfried ( ; born December 3, 1985) is an American actress. Born and raised in Allentown, Pennsylvania, she began modeling at age 11 and ventured into acting at 15, with recurring roles as Lucy Montgomery on the CBS soap opera ...

. In 2013 Burnett directed his second film, '' Ask Me Anything'' (2013) based on his novel ''Undiscovered Gyrl''. The film stars

Britt Robertson Brittany Leanna Robertson (born April 18, 1990) is an American actress. She is known for her lead role in '' The First Time'' (2012), and has appeared in the films ''Tomorrowland'' (2015), '' The Space Between Us'' (2017), ''A Dog's Purpose'' ...

Justin Long Justin Jacob Long (born June 2, 1978) is an American actor, comedian, director and screenwriter. Long is known for his film roles, notably appearing in '' Jeepers Creepers'' (2001), ''Dodgeball'' (2004), '' Accepted'' (2006), ''Idiocracy'' (2 ...

Christian Slater Christian Michael Leonard Slater (born August 18, 1969) is an American actor and producer. He made his film debut with a leading role in ''The Legend of Billie Jean'' (1985) and gained wider recognition for his breakthrough role as Jason "J.D." D ...

Robert Patrick Robert Hammond Patrick (born November 5, 1958) is an American actor. Known for portraying villains and honorable authority figures, he is a Saturn Award winner with four other nominations. Patrick dropped out of college when drama class sparked ...

, and

Martin Sheen Ramón Antonio Gerardo Estévez (born August 3, 1940), known professionally as Martin Sheen, is an American actor. He first became known for his roles in the films ''The Subject Was Roses'' (1968) and ''Badlands'' (1973), and later achieved wid ...

. In 2019 Burnett directed the sequel to '' Ask Me Anything'', ''Another Girl'', starring Sammi Hanratty and

Peter Gadiot Peter Gadiot (; born 2 January 1986) is a British actor. He portrayed the role of James Valdez in the hit USA Network show '' Queen of the South''. He also played Cyrus in ABC's '' Once Upon a Time in Wonderland'' and Adam in Showtime’s ''Y ...

, based on his 2015 novella of the same name.

Fiction

Burnett's first novel, ''Christopher: A Tale of Seduction'' was published in 2003 by

Broadway Books Broadway Books, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a Division of Random House, Inc., released its first list in Fall, 1996. Broadway was founded in 1995 as a unit of Bantam Doubleday Dell a unit of Bertelsmann. Bertelsmann acquired Rando ...

. It was a finalist for the 2004 Pen Center Literary Award. In 2006, Burnett wrote a sequel to ''Christopher'' titled ''The House Beautiful'', published by

Carroll & Graf Carroll & Graf Publishers was an American publishing company based in New York City, New York, known for publishing a wide range of fiction and non-fiction by both new and established authors, as well as issuing reprints of previously hard-to ...

, followed in 2009 by the novel '' Undiscovered Gyrl'', published by

Vintage Books Vintage Books is a trade paperback publishing imprint of Penguin Random House originally established by Alfred A. Knopf in 1954. The company was purchased by Random House in April 1960, and a British division was set up in 1990. After Random Ho ...

. In 2011 Burnett wrote the second sequel to his novel ''Christopher'', titled ''Death By Sunshine'', published by Writers Tribe Books. Burnett released his fifth novel, ''The Escape of Malcolm Poe'' in 2014. He released a sequel novella to ''Undiscovered Gyrl'', titled ''Another Girl'', in 2015.

Filmography

Novels

References

* * * *

External links

Allison Burnett
at Official Site * {{DEFAULTSORT:Burnett, Allison 1958 births Living people American male screenwriters Writers from Ithaca, New York Northwestern University alumni Juilliard School alumni Film directors from New York (state) 21st-century American novelists American male novelists 21st-century American male writers Novelists from New York (state) Screenwriters from New York (state) 21st-century American screenwriters