Michael Arndt
Encyclopedia
Michael Arndt is an American screenwriter.
After graduating from New York University
, Arndt was a script reader for some time before choosing to write screenplays instead. He is best known for his first produced screenplay Little Miss Sunshine
, for which he received multiple awards including the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.
Arndt is also well known for his second screenplay from the film Toy Story 3
, for which he also received multiple awards and nominations including nomination for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. This making Arndt the first ever screenwriter to be nominated for both Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and Best Adapted Screenplay for his first two screenplays.
, and as a result he lived in various countries, including Sri Lanka
and India; he also lived in Virginia
for a time. Ardnt graduated from Langley High School in McLean, Virginia, and also attended The Potomac School
. He attended New York University and graduated from its film school. Ardnt was a script reader for some time, and was a personal assistant to actor Matthew Broderick
until late 1999, when he chose to begin writing screenplays
full-time.
" due to his concern of the story being "just too small and "indie
" to get any real attention from Hollywood
". After the Endeavor Talent Agency read the script in July 2001, however, producers Albert Berger and Ron Yerxa subsequently gave the script to commercial and music video directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris
, who were immediately attracted to the project. Dayton and Faris were signed on by producer Marc Turtletaub, who purchased the script from Arndt for $150,000, on December 21, 2001.
The project was set up at Focus Features
, where it was in various stages of pre-production
for approximately three years. During that time, Arndt was fired when he objected to centralizing the story on Richard Hoover (played by Greg Kinnear
in the film), only to be re-hired within a month after the new writer hired by Focus left the project. Arndt resumed work on the script, which continued through production and into post-production
: "The final scene of the movie [...] was written and shot about eight weeks before [its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival
on January 20, 2006]", he said. Following its theatrical release on August 18, 2006, Little Miss Sunshine won many prizes and awards. Arndt won multiple Best Original Screenplay awards for Little Miss Sunshine, from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts
, and the Writers Guild of America
. He was later invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Arndt began collaborating with Lee Unkrich
and other Pixar
personnel on the screenplay for Toy Story 3
in 2006, working from a treatment
by Andrew Stanton
, who co-wrote the two preceding films in the series. He has been nominated for Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for his work for Toy Story 3, and becoming the first ever screenwriter to be nominated for both Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and Best Adapted Screenplay for his first two screenplays.
He is currently screenwriting upcoming films such as Midnight, Monster Squad and Used Guys. He is also in talks with Warner Bros. Pictures and Alcon Entertainment
to write a script for the upcoming film adaptation of Sesame Street
, set for release in theaters on Christmas day 2015.
After graduating from New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
, Arndt was a script reader for some time before choosing to write screenplays instead. He is best known for his first produced screenplay Little Miss Sunshine
Little Miss Sunshine
Little Miss Sunshine is a 2006 American comedy-drama film. The road movie's plot follows a family's trip to a children's beauty pageant.Little Miss Sunshine was the directorial film debut of the husband-wife team of Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris. The screenplay was written by first-time writer...
, for which he received multiple awards including the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.
Arndt is also well known for his second screenplay from the film Toy Story 3
Toy Story 3
Toy Story 3 is a 2010 American 3D computer-animated comedy-adventure film, and the third installment in the Toy Story series. It was produced by Pixar and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It was directed by Lee Unkrich. The film was released worldwide from June through October in Disney Digital...
, for which he also received multiple awards and nominations including nomination for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. This making Arndt the first ever screenwriter to be nominated for both Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and Best Adapted Screenplay for his first two screenplays.
Early life
Arndt's father was a member of the Foreign ServiceUnited States Foreign Service
The United States Foreign Service is a component of the United States federal government under the aegis of the United States Department of State. It consists of approximately 11,500 professionals carrying out the foreign policy of the United States and aiding U.S...
, and as a result he lived in various countries, including Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
and India; he also lived in Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
for a time. Ardnt graduated from Langley High School in McLean, Virginia, and also attended The Potomac School
The Potomac School
The Potomac School is an independent K–12 coeducational college preparatory school in McLean, Virginia, USA located on one campus, three miles from Washington, D.C. Founded in 1904, the School emphasizes academic, athletic and artistic excellence together with character development and...
. He attended New York University and graduated from its film school. Ardnt was a script reader for some time, and was a personal assistant to actor Matthew Broderick
Matthew Broderick
Matthew Broderick is an American film and stage actor who, among other roles, played the title character in Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Adult Simba in The Lion King film series, and Leo Bloom in the film and Broadway productions of The Producers.He has won two Tony Awards, one in 1983 for his...
until late 1999, when he chose to begin writing screenplays
Screenwriting
Screenwriting is the art and craft of writing scripts for mass media such as feature films, television productions or video games. It is a freelance profession....
full-time.
Screenwriting career
Arndt wrote the first draft of Little Miss Sunshine in three days between May 23–26, 2000. From that initial draft, he made approximately 100 revisions over the course of a year, requesting input from friends and family. Arndt considered directing the film himself "as a no-budget, DV featureDigital cinema
Digital cinema refers to the use of digital technology to distribute and project motion pictures. A movie can be distributed via hard drives, optical disks or satellite and projected using a digital projector instead of a conventional film projector...
" due to his concern of the story being "just too small and "indie
Independent film
An independent film, or indie film, is a professional film production resulting in a feature film that is produced mostly or completely outside of the major film studio system. In addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies, independent films are also produced...
" to get any real attention from Hollywood
Major film studios
A major film studio is a movie production and distribution company that releases a substantial number of films annually and consistently commands a significant share of box-office revenues in a given market...
". After the Endeavor Talent Agency read the script in July 2001, however, producers Albert Berger and Ron Yerxa subsequently gave the script to commercial and music video directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris
Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris
Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris are a team of American music video directors, also husband and wife, that received critical acclaim for their feature film directorial debut, Little Miss Sunshine....
, who were immediately attracted to the project. Dayton and Faris were signed on by producer Marc Turtletaub, who purchased the script from Arndt for $150,000, on December 21, 2001.
The project was set up at Focus Features
Focus Features
Focus Features is the art house films division of NBC Universal's Universal Pictures, and acts as both a producer and distributor for its own films and a distributor for foreign films....
, where it was in various stages of pre-production
Pre-production
Pre-production or In Production is the process of preparing all the elements involved in a film, play, or other performance.- In film :...
for approximately three years. During that time, Arndt was fired when he objected to centralizing the story on Richard Hoover (played by Greg Kinnear
Greg Kinnear
Gregory "Greg" Kinnear is an American actor and television personality who first rose to stardom in 1991. He has appeared in more than 20 motion pictures, and was nominated for an Academy Award for his role in As Good as It Gets.-Early life:Kinnear was born in Logansport, Indiana, the son of...
in the film), only to be re-hired within a month after the new writer hired by Focus left the project. Arndt resumed work on the script, which continued through production and into post-production
Post-production
Post-production is part of filmmaking and the video production process. It occurs in the making of motion pictures, television programs, radio programs, advertising, audio recordings, photography, and digital art...
: "The final scene of the movie [...] was written and shot about eight weeks before [its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
on January 20, 2006]", he said. Following its theatrical release on August 18, 2006, Little Miss Sunshine won many prizes and awards. Arndt won multiple Best Original Screenplay awards for Little Miss Sunshine, from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is a professional honorary organization dedicated to the advancement of the arts and sciences of motion pictures...
, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts
British Academy of Film and Television Arts
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is a charity in the United Kingdom that hosts annual awards shows for excellence in film, television, television craft, video games and forms of animation.-Introduction:...
, and the Writers Guild of America
Writers Guild of America
The Writers Guild of America is a generic term referring to the joint efforts of two different US labor unions:* The Writers Guild of America, East , representing TV and film writers East of the Mississippi....
. He was later invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Arndt began collaborating with Lee Unkrich
Lee Unkrich
Lee Unkrich is an American director and film editor. He is a longtime member of the creative team at Pixar, where he started in 1994 as a film editor. He later began directing, first as co-director of Toy Story 2...
and other Pixar
Pixar
Pixar Animation Studios, pronounced , is an American computer animation film studio based in Emeryville, California. The studio has earned 26 Academy Awards, seven Golden Globes, and three Grammy Awards, among many other awards and acknowledgments. Its films have made over $6.3 billion worldwide...
personnel on the screenplay for Toy Story 3
Toy Story 3
Toy Story 3 is a 2010 American 3D computer-animated comedy-adventure film, and the third installment in the Toy Story series. It was produced by Pixar and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It was directed by Lee Unkrich. The film was released worldwide from June through October in Disney Digital...
in 2006, working from a treatment
Film treatment
A film treatment is a piece of prose, typically the step between scene cards and the first draft of a screenplay for a motion picture, television program, or radio play. It is generally longer and more detailed than an outline , and it may include details of directorial style that an outline omits...
by Andrew Stanton
Andrew Stanton
Andrew Stanton is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, and occasional voice actor based at Pixar Animation Studios. His film work includes writing and directing Finding Nemo and WALL-E; both films earned him the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.-Life and career:Stanton was...
, who co-wrote the two preceding films in the series. He has been nominated for Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for his work for Toy Story 3, and becoming the first ever screenwriter to be nominated for both Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and Best Adapted Screenplay for his first two screenplays.
He is currently screenwriting upcoming films such as Midnight, Monster Squad and Used Guys. He is also in talks with Warner Bros. Pictures and Alcon Entertainment
Alcon Entertainment
Alcon Entertainment, LLC is an American film production company, founded in 1997 by film producers Broderick Johnson and Andrew Kosove. Since its establishment, Alcon Entertainment has developed and financed films that are ultimately distributed by Warner Bros., following a ten-year motion picture...
to write a script for the upcoming film adaptation of Sesame Street
Sesame Street
Sesame Street has undergone significant changes in its history. According to writer Michael Davis, by the mid-1970s the show had become "an American institution". The cast and crew expanded during this time, including the hiring of women in the crew and additional minorities in the cast. The...
, set for release in theaters on Christmas day 2015.
Filmography
- Little Miss SunshineLittle Miss SunshineLittle Miss Sunshine is a 2006 American comedy-drama film. The road movie's plot follows a family's trip to a children's beauty pageant.Little Miss Sunshine was the directorial film debut of the husband-wife team of Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris. The screenplay was written by first-time writer...
(2006) (screenplay) - won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay - Toy Story 3Toy Story 3Toy Story 3 is a 2010 American 3D computer-animated comedy-adventure film, and the third installment in the Toy Story series. It was produced by Pixar and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It was directed by Lee Unkrich. The film was released worldwide from June through October in Disney Digital...
(2010) (screenplay) - nominated for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay - Rock of Ages (2012) (screenplay)
- Phineas and Ferb (2013)
- The Untitled Pixar Movie That Takes You Inside The Mind (2014) (screenplay)
- Sesame StreetSesame StreetSesame Street has undergone significant changes in its history. According to writer Michael Davis, by the mid-1970s the show had become "an American institution". The cast and crew expanded during this time, including the hiring of women in the crew and additional minorities in the cast. The...
(2015) (screenplay, in talks)
External links
- Interview with Michael Arndt about writing Little Miss Sunshine