Graham John Yost (born September 5, 1959) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

film and television screenwriter. His best-known works are the films ''

Speed In everyday use and in kinematics, the speed (commonly referred to as ''v'') of an object is the magnitude of the change of its position over time or the magnitude of the change of its position per unit of time; it is thus a scalar quanti ...

'', '' Broken Arrow'', and '' Hard Rain'' and the TV series '' Justified''.

Early life, family and education

Yost was born in

Etobicoke Etobicoke (, ) is an administrative district of, and one of six municipalities amalgamated into, the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Comprising the city's west-end, Etobicoke was first settled by Europeans in the 1790s, and the municipalit ...

in the Toronto metropolitan area. He is the son of Canadian television personality

Elwy Yost Elwy McMurran Yost, (July 10, 1925 – July 21, 2011) was a Canadian television host, best known for hosting CBC Television's weekday '' Passport to Adventure'' series from 1965 to 1967, TVOntario's weekday ''Magic Shadows'', from 1974 until t ...

, the longtime host of the public broadcaster

TVOntario TVO Media Education Group (often abbreviated as TVO and stylized on-air as tvo) is a publicly funded English-language educational television network and media organization serving the Canadian province of Ontario. It is operated by the Ontario ...

's '' Saturday Night at the Movies''. He graduated from the

University of Toronto Schools University of Toronto Schools (UTS) is an independent secondary day school affiliated with the University of Toronto in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The school follows a specialized academic curriculum, and admission is determined by competitive ex ...

and

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

Career

Yost wrote for the TV sitcom ''

Herman's Head ''Herman's Head'' is an American sitcom that aired on the Fox network from September 8, 1991, until April 21, 1994. The series was created by Andy Guerdat and Steve Kreinberg, and produced by Witt/Thomas Productions in association with Touchsto ...

'' and 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 ...

miniseries '' Band of Brothers''. In 2002, he created the television drama series ''

Boomtown A boomtown is a community that undergoes sudden and rapid population and economic growth, or that is started from scratch. The growth is normally attributed to the nearby discovery of a precious resource such as gold, silver, or oil, although ...

''. He created the short-lived

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

drama ''

Raines ''Raines'' is a seven-episode American police procedural television show starring Jeff Goldblum as a police detective who hallucinates the victims whose murders he is investigating. Created by Graham Yost, the series was short-lived, airing ...

'' (2007). Yost teamed with

Tom Hanks Thomas Jeffrey Hanks (born July 9, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. Known for both his comedic and dramatic roles, he is one of the most popular and recognizable film stars worldwide, and is regarded as an American cultural icon. Ha ...

and

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg (; born December 18, 1946) is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Spie ...

, along with two of his fellow ''Boomtown'' writers Michelle Ashford and Larry Andries, to write and direct episodes of the HBO miniseries '' The Pacific''. Yost is the creator and executive producer of the FX series '' Justified''. He was an executive producer on the FX show ''

The Americans ''The Americans'' is an American historical drama, period spy fiction, spy drama television series created by Joe Weisberg that aired on the FX (TV channel), FX television network for six seasons from January 30, 2013, to May 30, 2018. Weisberg ...

''. In 2016, he took over as head writer and executive producer of the

Amazon Studios Amazon Studios is an American television and film producer and distributor that is a subsidiary of Amazon. It specializes in developing television series and distributing and producing films. It was started in late 2010. Content is distributed th ...

series ''

Sneaky Pete ''Sneaky Pete'' is an American crime drama series created by David Shore and Bryan Cranston. The series follows Marius Josipović (Giovanni Ribisi), a released convict who adopts the identity of his cellmate, Pete Murphy, to avoid his past life. ...

''. In May 2014, it was reported that Yost would develop a project for

WGN America WGN America was an American subscription television network that was owned by the Nexstar Media Group, and was the company's only wholly owned, national cable-originated television channel. The channel in its final form under the WGN branding ran ...

. Based on the

Alex Kershaw Alex Kershaw (born 1966) is an English journalist, public speaker and the author of several best-selling books, including ''The Liberator'', ''The First Wave'', ''The Bedford Boys'' and ''The Longest Winter''. Early life Born in York, England, ...

book ''Avenue of Spies'', it would be set in Nazi-occupied Paris at the start of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Awards and nominations

Yost won

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

s for his involvement in the miniseries ''From the Earth to the Moon'' and ''The Pacific'', which was also nominated for a Golden Globe Award. He also won a Golden Globe for his work on the HBO miniseries ''Band of Brothers'', for which he was one of the writers.

Credits

*''

Hey Dude ''Hey Dude'' is an American Western comedy series that aired from July 14, 1989 to August 30, 1991 with a total of 65 half-hour episodes produced over five seasons. The show was originally broadcast on Nickelodeon. The series, aimed primarily ...

'' (1989–1991) (story editor; wrote 13 episodes) *''

'' (1991) (wrote "The Last Boy Scout") *''

The Powers That Be In idiomatic English, "the powers that be" (sometimes initialized as TPTB) is a phrase used to refer to those individuals or groups who collectively hold authority over a particular domain. Within this phrase, the word ''be'' is an archaic vari ...

'' (1992–1993) (4 episodes) *''

'' (1994) (writer) *'' Broken Arrow'' (1996) (written by) *'' Speed 2: Cruise Control'' (1997) (characters) *''

Firestorm A firestorm is a conflagration which attains such intensity that it creates and sustains its own wind system. It is most commonly a natural phenomenon, created during some of the largest bushfires and wildfires. Although the term has been used ...

'' (1998) (rewrite) *'' Hard Rain'' (1998) (written by) *''

From the Earth to the Moon ''From the Earth to the Moon: A Direct Route in 97 Hours, 20 Minutes'' (french: De la Terre à la Lune, trajet direct en 97 heures 20 minutes) is an 1865 novel by Jules Verne. It tells the story of the Baltimore Gun Club, a post-American Civil W ...

'' (1998) (supervising producer; wrote 2 episodes and directed "Spider") *''Challenger'' (2000) (writer) *''

Mission to Mars ''Mission to Mars'' is a 2000 American science fiction adventure film directed by Brian De Palma, written by Jim Thomas, John Thomas, and Graham Yost, and suggested by Disney's Mission to Mars (attraction), theme park attraction of the same nam ...

'' (2000) (screenplay) *''

Planet of the Apes ''Planet of the Apes'' is an American science fiction media franchise consisting of films, books, television series, comics, and other media about a world in which humans and intelligent apes clash for control. The franchise is based on Frenc ...

'' (2001) (uncredited co-writing) *'' Band of Brothers'' (2001) (wrote 2 episodes) *''

The Last Castle ''The Last Castle'' is a 2001 American action drama film directed by Rod Lurie, starring Robert Redford, James Gandolfini, Mark Ruffalo and Delroy Lindo. The film portrays a struggle between inmates and the warden of a military prison, based o ...

'' (2001) (screenplay) *''

Young Arthur Young Arthur was a pilot episode for a 2002 Universal Television, NBC TV drama about the childhood of King Arthur. The pilot was directed by Mikael Salomon and written by Remi Aubuchon and Graham Yost. It was not picked up as a full series. Bac ...

'' (2002) (writer) *''

'' (2002–2003) (series creator and executive producer; wrote 6 episodes) *'' Summerland'' (2004) (wrote "Skipping School") *''Sixty Minute Man'' (2006) (writer) *''

'' (2007) (series creator and executive producer; wrote "Pilot") *'' The Pacific'' (2010) (co-executive producer; directed and co-wrote "Gloucester/Pavuvu/Banika" with Robert Schenkkan) *'' Justified'' (2010–2015) (series creator and executive producer; wrote 12 episodes) *''

Falling Skies ''Falling Skies'' is an American science fiction television series set in a Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction, post-apocalyptic era, created by Robert Rodat and Executive producer#Motion pictures and television, executive produced by Steve ...

'' (2011) (executive producer; wrote "The Armory") *''

'' (2013–2018) (executive producer) *''

'' (2015–2018) (executive producer; wrote 7 episodes) *''

The Grizzlies ''The Grizzlies'' is a 2018 Canadian sports drama film, directed by Miranda de Pencier. Based on a true story, the film depicts a youth lacrosse team that was set up to help combat an onslaught of youth suicide in the community of Kugluktuk, Nu ...

'' (2018) (writer) *''

Slow Horses ''Slow Horses'' is a spy thriller television series based on the ''Slough House'' series of novels by Mick Herron. The series premiered on Apple TV+ on 1 April 2022. Season two premiered on December 2, 2022. In June 2022, the series was renewed ...

'' (2022) (executive producer)

References

External links

*
Graham Yost
at filmreference.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Yost, Graham 1959 births Living people Canadian male screenwriters People from Etobicoke Writers from Toronto Trinity College (Canada) alumni University of Toronto alumni Canadian television writers Canadian television producers Showrunners 20th-century Canadian screenwriters 21st-century Canadian screenwriters 20th-century Canadian male writers 21st-century Canadian male writers