James Yoshimura
Encyclopedia
James Yoshimura is a Japanese American
writer and producer, best known for his screenwriting work on the NBC
series Homicide: Life on the Street
and the short-lived Fox series The Jury
, for which he served as a co-creator. He also co-wrote Homicide: The Movie, a made-for-television film that came out in 2000, after the series ended. Yoshimura has received two Emmy Award
nominations: one for Homicide: The Movie and one for the Homicide episode "Subway
", which also won a Peabody Award
for excellence in television broadcasting.
, Illinois
. He attended the Yale School of Drama
in New Haven
, Connecticut
, where he had a playwriting class with classmate and future comedian Lewis Black
. Yoshimura began his career writing for theater. Among his theater works were the plays "Union Boys", and "Mercenaries". The latter play was about three American mercenaries who are placed on trial following a defeated coup of a leftist island government. Although The New York Times
was critical of the play, which it said lacked adequate characterization, reviewer Frank Rich
compliments "its author's willingness to reach, as well as his flickers of talent: Mr. Yoshimura can write theatrical scenes, spin dark jokes and ask big questions."
Yoshimura met Tom Fontana
in 1988 at a mutual friend's housewarming party in Los Angeles
. Fontana accused Yoshimura of being a "snobby theater type" who looks down on television people. The two became friends after the party, however, and Yoshimura credits Fontana with getting him work and teaching him how to write for television.
Yoshimura went on to work with Fontana on Homicide: Life on the Street
, where Yoshimura served as a writer and later producer for the duration of the show's seven seasons. Many of the scripts Yoshimura wrote focused on one strong central story, rather than a large number of subplots. The first Homicide script he wrote was the first season episode "Son of a Gun
". Among the other scripts he wrote was the sixth season
episode "Subway
", which featured a man becoming pinned between a subway car and train platform, leaving him only about an hour to live. Yoshimura was inspired to write it based on an episode of the HBO hidden-camera documentary show Taxicab Confessions
, where a New York City
detective discussed a similar real-life event. The episode won a 1993 Peabody Award
for excellence in television broadcasting, and received two Emmy Award
nominations during the 50th Primetime Emmy Awards
season, including one for Yoshimura for Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series.
David Simon
, a writer and producer who worked on Homicide: Life on the Street, suggested Yoshimura as a possible writing partner when he was pitching the mini-series The Corner
to HBO executives, but writer David Mills was chosen instead. Yoshimura co-wrote the script for Homicide: The Movie, the made-for-television film that came out after the series ended. Yoshimura and his fellow co-writers, Fontana and Eric Overmyer
, conceived the story for the film in one weekend. Yoshimura and the co-writers received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries or Movie
, although the award ultimately went to Simon and Mills for The Corner.
Yoshimura co-created and wrote for the 2004 Fox series The Jury
, along with Homicide executive producers Barry Levinson
and Tom Fontana
.
Japanese American
are American people of Japanese heritage. Japanese Americans have historically been among the three largest Asian American communities, but in recent decades have become the sixth largest group at roughly 1,204,205, including those of mixed-race or mixed-ethnicity...
writer and producer, best known for his screenwriting work on the NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
series Homicide: Life on the Street
Homicide: Life on the Street
Homicide: Life on the Street is an American police procedural television series chronicling the work of a fictional version of the Baltimore Homicide Unit. It ran for seven seasons on NBC from 1993 to 1999, and was succeeded by a TV movie, which also acted as the de-facto series finale...
and the short-lived Fox series The Jury
The Jury (TV series)
The Jury is an American legal drama television series that was broadcast by the Fox Network in 2004. Each week, in the same New York City courtroom, a new 12-person jury deliberates over a criminal case...
, for which he served as a co-creator. He also co-wrote Homicide: The Movie, a made-for-television film that came out in 2000, after the series ended. Yoshimura has received two Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
nominations: one for Homicide: The Movie and one for the Homicide episode "Subway
Subway (Homicide: Life on the Street)
"Subway" is the seventh episode of the sixth season of the American police television drama Homicide: Life on the Street, and the 84th episode overall. It first aired on NBC in the United States on December 5, 1997.In the episode, John Lange becomes pinned between a subway train and the station...
", which also won a Peabody Award
Peabody Award
The George Foster Peabody Awards recognize distinguished and meritorious public service by radio and television stations, networks, producing organizations and individuals. In 1939, the National Association of Broadcasters formed a committee to recognize outstanding achievement in radio broadcasting...
for excellence in television broadcasting.
Biography
Yoshimura was born in ChicagoChicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
. He attended the Yale School of Drama
Yale School of Drama
The Yale School of Drama is a graduate professional school of Yale University providing training in every discipline of the theatre: acting, design , directing, dramaturgy and dramatic criticism, playwriting, stage management, sound design, technical design and production, and theater...
in New Haven
New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven is the second-largest city in Connecticut and the sixth-largest in New England. According to the 2010 Census, New Haven's population increased by 5.0% between 2000 and 2010, a rate higher than that of the State of Connecticut, and higher than that of the state's five largest cities, and...
, Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
, where he had a playwriting class with classmate and future comedian Lewis Black
Lewis Black
Lewis Niles Black is an American stand-up comedian, author, playwright, social critic and actor. He is known for his comedy style, which often includes simulating a mental breakdown, or an increasingly angry rant, ridiculing history, politics, religion, trends and cultural phenomena...
. Yoshimura began his career writing for theater. Among his theater works were the plays "Union Boys", and "Mercenaries". The latter play was about three American mercenaries who are placed on trial following a defeated coup of a leftist island government. Although The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
was critical of the play, which it said lacked adequate characterization, reviewer Frank Rich
Frank Rich
Frank Rich is an American essayist and op-ed columnist who wrote for The New York Times from 1980, when he was appointed its chief theatre critic, until 2011...
compliments "its author's willingness to reach, as well as his flickers of talent: Mr. Yoshimura can write theatrical scenes, spin dark jokes and ask big questions."
Yoshimura met Tom Fontana
Tom Fontana
Tom Fontana is an American writer and producer.-TV career:Fontana has been a writer/producer for such series as Oz , The Jury, The Beat, The Bedford Diaries, Homicide: Life on the Street, St...
in 1988 at a mutual friend's housewarming party in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. Fontana accused Yoshimura of being a "snobby theater type" who looks down on television people. The two became friends after the party, however, and Yoshimura credits Fontana with getting him work and teaching him how to write for television.
Yoshimura went on to work with Fontana on Homicide: Life on the Street
Homicide: Life on the Street
Homicide: Life on the Street is an American police procedural television series chronicling the work of a fictional version of the Baltimore Homicide Unit. It ran for seven seasons on NBC from 1993 to 1999, and was succeeded by a TV movie, which also acted as the de-facto series finale...
, where Yoshimura served as a writer and later producer for the duration of the show's seven seasons. Many of the scripts Yoshimura wrote focused on one strong central story, rather than a large number of subplots. The first Homicide script he wrote was the first season episode "Son of a Gun
Son of a Gun (Homicide: Life on the Street)
"Son of a Gun" is the third episode of the first season of the American police drama television series Homicide: Life on the Street. It originally aired on NBC in the United States on February 10, 1993. The teleplay was written by James Yoshimura based on a story by executive director Tom Fontana,...
". Among the other scripts he wrote was the sixth season
Homicide: Life on the Street (season 6)
The sixth season of Homicide: Life on the Street aired in the United States on the NBC television network from 1997-10-17 to 1998-05-08 and contained 23 episodes....
episode "Subway
Subway (Homicide: Life on the Street)
"Subway" is the seventh episode of the sixth season of the American police television drama Homicide: Life on the Street, and the 84th episode overall. It first aired on NBC in the United States on December 5, 1997.In the episode, John Lange becomes pinned between a subway train and the station...
", which featured a man becoming pinned between a subway car and train platform, leaving him only about an hour to live. Yoshimura was inspired to write it based on an episode of the HBO hidden-camera documentary show Taxicab Confessions
Taxicab Confessions
Taxicab Confessions is a television series of hidden camera documentaries that have aired on HBO since January 1995. In segments taped in New York City and Las Vegas, the taxi drivers are also producers who steer both the vehicle and the conversations with passengers.When passengers enter the cab,...
, where a New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
detective discussed a similar real-life event. The episode won a 1993 Peabody Award
Peabody Award
The George Foster Peabody Awards recognize distinguished and meritorious public service by radio and television stations, networks, producing organizations and individuals. In 1939, the National Association of Broadcasters formed a committee to recognize outstanding achievement in radio broadcasting...
for excellence in television broadcasting, and received two Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
nominations during the 50th Primetime Emmy Awards
50th Primetime Emmy Awards
The 50th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards were held Sunday, September 13, 1998. It was broadcast on NBC. Nominees and winners are listed below, winners are in bold.- Outstanding Comedy Series :*3rd Rock from the Sun, NBC*Ally McBeal, FOX...
season, including one for Yoshimura for Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series.
David Simon
David Simon
David Simon is an American author, journalist, and a writer/producer of television series. He worked for the Baltimore Sun City Desk for twelve years. He wrote Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets and co-wrote The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood with Ed Burns...
, a writer and producer who worked on Homicide: Life on the Street, suggested Yoshimura as a possible writing partner when he was pitching the mini-series The Corner
The Corner
The Corner is a 2000 HBO drama television miniseries based on the nonfiction book The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood by David Simon and Ed Burns and adapted for television by Simon and David Mills. It premiered on premium cable network HBO in the United States on April 16,...
to HBO executives, but writer David Mills was chosen instead. Yoshimura co-wrote the script for Homicide: The Movie, the made-for-television film that came out after the series ended. Yoshimura and his fellow co-writers, Fontana and Eric Overmyer
Eric Overmyer
Eric Overmyer is a writer and producer. He has written and/or produced numerous TV shows, including St. Elsewhere, Homicide: Life on the Street, Law & Order, The Wire, New Amsterdam, and Treme.-Biography:...
, conceived the story for the film in one weekend. Yoshimura and the co-writers received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries or Movie
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special
This is a list of the winners of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries, Movie or Dramatic Special.- Award winners:1970s*1979: The Jericho Mile – Michael Mann, Patrick Nolan1980s...
, although the award ultimately went to Simon and Mills for The Corner.
Yoshimura co-created and wrote for the 2004 Fox series The Jury
The Jury (TV series)
The Jury is an American legal drama television series that was broadcast by the Fox Network in 2004. Each week, in the same New York City courtroom, a new 12-person jury deliberates over a criminal case...
, along with Homicide executive producers Barry Levinson
Barry Levinson
Barry Levinson is an American screenwriter, film director, actor, and producer of film and television. His films include Good Morning, Vietnam, Sleepers and Rain Man.-Early life:...
and Tom Fontana
Tom Fontana
Tom Fontana is an American writer and producer.-TV career:Fontana has been a writer/producer for such series as Oz , The Jury, The Beat, The Bedford Diaries, Homicide: Life on the Street, St...
.