Stephen Gaghan
Encyclopedia
Stephen Gaghan is an American
screenwriter
and director
. He is noted for writing the screenplay for Steven Soderbergh
's film Traffic
, based on a Channel 4 series
, for which he won the Academy Award, as well as Syriana
which he wrote and directed.
or Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
, 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
, 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
and the Philadelphia Daily News
, whose career inspired Gaghan's own professional pursuits. As he wrote in a 2001 article in Newsweek
, "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 [my father] at this number..."
In his final days of high school before graduation, Gaghan was expelled for driving a go-cart through the halls of the school. During the release of Traffic
, 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 and was a member of Delta Tau Delta
fraternity.
He attended Babson College
in Massachusetts.
He also started a catalog company, Fallen Empire Inc., which he hoped would support his writing career.
(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 Havoc
(2005), The Alamo
(2004) and Rules of Engagement
(2000), as well as a handful of episodes of various television series. Gaghan turned down the chance to adapt Dan Brown
's novel, The Da Vinci Code
.
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
and New York Undercover
.
As a filmmaker, Gaghan is generally regarded as one of the two precursors of the style known as hyperlink cinema
, along with the Alejandro González Iñarritu
/Guillermo Arriaga
writer-director team of Amores Perros
, 21 Grams
and Babel. Most especially, Syriana's convoluted narrative, which mimics the confusion and lack of information of the characters yet manages to capture the complexity and feel of being in its particular milieu, is considered a prime example of the hyperlink film.
Gaghan played himself in the Entourage
season 4 premiere "Welcome to the Jungle".
His next project is a film adaptation of Malcolm Gladwell
's book Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking
.
He has also been hired by Warner Bros.
to write the screenplay of the Dead Spy Running franchise written by author Jon Stock
.
(b. 1982), an American fashion designer. Together they have a daughter. Gaghan has a son and a daughter from a prior relationship with actress Michael McCraine.
. He will write
and executive produce
an hour-long project for the network. He's also attached to direct the potential pilot
if his feature schedule permits.
, Writers Guild of America Awards, Golden Globe Award
, and an Academy Award.
People of the United States
The people of the United States, also known as simply Americans or American people, are the inhabitants or citizens of the United States. The United States is a multi-ethnic nation, home to people of different ethnic and national backgrounds...
screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
and director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
. He is noted for writing the screenplay for Steven Soderbergh
Steven Soderbergh
Steven Andrew Soderbergh is an American film producer, screenwriter, cinematographer, editor, and an Academy Award-winning film director. He is best known for directing commercial Hollywood films like Erin Brockovich, Traffic, and the remake of Ocean's Eleven, but he has also directed smaller less...
's film Traffic
Traffic (2000 film)
Traffic is a 2000 American crime drama film directed by Steven Soderbergh and written by Stephen Gaghan. It explores the illegal drug trade from a number of perspectives: a user, an enforcer, a politician and a trafficker. Their stories are edited together throughout the film, although some of the...
, based on a Channel 4 series
Traffik
Traffik is a 1989 British television serial about the illegal drugs trade. Its three stories are interwoven, with arcs told from the perspectives of Pakistani growers and manufacturers, German dealers, and British users. It was nominated for six BAFTA Awards, winning three...
, for which he won the Academy Award, as well as Syriana
Syriana
Syriana is a 2005 geopolitical thriller film written and directed by Stephen Gaghan, and executive produced by George Clooney, who also stars in the film with an ensemble cast. Gaghan's screenplay is loosely adapted from Robert Baer's memoir See No Evil...
which he wrote and directed.
Childhood and education
Born in either Louisville, KentuckyLouisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
or Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, 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 School
Kentucky Country Day 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. Today KCD is recognized as a regional leader in educational...
, 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 (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
and the Philadelphia Daily News
Philadelphia Daily News
The Philadelphia Daily News is a tabloid newspaper that serves Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The newspaper is owned by Philadelphia Media Holdings which also owns Philadelphia's other major newspaper The Philadelphia Inquirer. The Daily News began publishing on March 31, 1925, under...
, whose career inspired Gaghan's own professional pursuits. As he wrote in a 2001 article in Newsweek
Newsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
, "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 [my father] at this number..."
In his final days of high school before graduation, Gaghan was expelled for driving a go-cart through the halls of the school. During the release of Traffic
Traffic (2000 film)
Traffic is a 2000 American crime drama film directed by Steven Soderbergh and written by Stephen Gaghan. It explores the illegal drug trade from a number of perspectives: a user, an enforcer, a politician and a trafficker. Their stories are edited together throughout the film, although some of the...
, 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 and was a member of Delta Tau Delta
Delta Tau Delta
Delta Tau Delta is a U.S.-based international secret letter college fraternity. Delta Tau Delta was founded in 1858 at Bethany College, Bethany, Virginia, . It currently has around 125 student chapters nationwide, as well as more than 25 regional alumni groups. Its national community service...
fraternity.
He attended Babson College
Babson College
Babson College is a private business school located in Wellesley, Massachusetts near Boston.- History :Babson College was founded by Roger Babson on September 3, 1919, as the Babson Institute. It was renamed "Babson College" in 1969...
in Massachusetts.
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 has also directed and written the screenplays for SyrianaSyriana
Syriana is a 2005 geopolitical thriller film written and directed by Stephen Gaghan, and executive produced by George Clooney, who also stars in the film with an ensemble cast. Gaghan's screenplay is loosely adapted from Robert Baer's memoir See No Evil...
(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 Havoc
Havoc (film)
Havoc is a 2005 American film about the lives of wealthy Los Angeles, California teenagers whose exposure to hip hop culture inspires them to imitate the gangster lifestyle...
(2005), The Alamo
The Alamo (2004 film)
The Alamo is a 2004 American war film about the Battle of the Alamo during the Texas Revolution. The film was directed by Texan John Lee Hancock, produced by Ron Howard, Brian Grazer, and Mark Johnson, and distributed by Touchstone Pictures....
(2004) and Rules of Engagement
Rules of Engagement (film)
Rules of Engagement is a 2000 American film directed by William Friedkin and starring Tommy Lee Jones and Samuel L. Jackson. Jackson plays Marine Colonel Terry Childers, who is brought to court-martial on charges of disobeying the rules of engagement in a military incident at an American embassy...
(2000), as well as a handful of episodes of various television series. Gaghan turned down the chance to adapt Dan Brown
Dan Brown
Dan Brown is an American author of thriller fiction, best known for the 2003 bestselling novel, The Da Vinci Code. Brown's novels, which are treasure hunts set in a 24-hour time period, feature the recurring themes of cryptography, keys, symbols, codes, and conspiracy theories...
's novel, The Da Vinci Code
The Da Vinci Code
The Da Vinci Code is a 2003 mystery-detective novel written by Dan Brown. It follows symbologist Robert Langdon and Sophie Neveu as they investigate a murder in Paris's Louvre Museum and discover a battle between the Priory of Sion and Opus Dei over the possibility of Jesus having been married to...
.
In his television writing career, he won an 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...
for co-writing a NYPD Blue
NYPD Blue
NYPD Blue is an American television police drama set in New York City, exploring the internal and external struggles of the fictional 15th precinct of Manhattan...
episode entitled Where's Swaldo, in 1997. In addition to NYPD Blue, he has also written for The Practice
The Practice
The Practice is an American legal drama created by David E. Kelley centering on the partners and associates at a Boston law firm. Running for eight seasons from 1997 to 2004, the show won the Emmy in 1998 and 1999 for Best Drama Series, and spawned the successful and lighter spin-off series Boston...
and New York Undercover
New York Undercover
New York Undercover is an American police drama that aired on the FOX television network from 1994 to 1998. The series starred Malik Yoba as Detective J.C. Williams and Michael DeLorenzo as Detective Eddie Torres, two undercover detectives in New York City's 4th Precinct who were assigned to...
.
As a filmmaker, Gaghan is generally regarded as one of the two precursors of the style known as hyperlink cinema
Hyperlink cinema
Hyperlink cinema is a term coined by author Alissa Quart, who used the term in her review of the film Happy Endings for the film journal Film Comment in 2005. Film critic Roger Ebert popularized the term when reviewing the film Syriana in 2005...
, along with the Alejandro González Iñarritu
Alejandro González Iñárritu
Alejandro González Iñárritu is a Mexican film director.González Iñárritu is the first Mexican director to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director and by the DGA of America for Best Director. He is also the first and only Mexican born director to have won the Prix de la mise en scene...
/Guillermo Arriaga
Guillermo Arriaga
Guillermo Arriaga Jordán is a Mexican author, screenwriter, director and producer. Self-defined as “a hunter who works as a writer,” he authored Amores Perros, received a BAFTA Best Screenplay nomination for 21 Grams, and received the 2005 Cannes Best Screenplay Award for The Three Burials of...
writer-director team of Amores Perros
Amores perros
Amores perros is a 2000 neorealist Mexican film, directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu. Amores Perros is the first movie in Iñárritu's trilogy of death, and was followed by 21 Grams and Babel. It is a triptych; an anthology film, sometimes referred to as the "Mexican Pulp Fiction," containing...
, 21 Grams
21 Grams
21 Grams is a 2003 American drama film directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu and written by Guillermo Arriaga. It stars Sean Penn, Naomi Watts, Danny Huston, and Benicio del Toro....
and Babel. Most especially, Syriana's convoluted narrative, which mimics the confusion and lack of information of the characters yet manages to capture the complexity and feel of being in its particular milieu, is considered a prime example of the hyperlink film.
Gaghan played himself in the Entourage
Entourage (TV series)
Entourage is an American comedy-drama television series that premiered on HBO on July 18, 2004 and concluded on September 11, 2011, after eight seasons...
season 4 premiere "Welcome to the Jungle".
His next project is a film adaptation of Malcolm Gladwell
Malcolm Gladwell
Malcolm Gladwell, CM is a Canadian journalist, bestselling author, and speaker. He is currently based in New York City and has been a staff writer for The New Yorker since 1996...
's book Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking
Blink (book)
Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking is a 2005 book by Malcolm Gladwell. It presents in popular science format research from psychology and behavioral economics on the adaptive unconscious; mental processes that work rapidly and automatically from relatively little information...
.
He has also been hired by Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
to write the screenplay of the Dead Spy Running franchise written by author Jon Stock
Jon Stock
Jon Stock is a British author and journalist. He was educated at Sherborne School in Dorset and at Magdalene College, Cambridge, England. He lives in Wiltshire with his wife and three children. He has three brothers one of whom is Andrew Stock currently president of the Society of Wildlife...
.
Personal life
On May 19, 2007, at St. Thomas Church in New York City, Gaghan married Minnie MortimerMinnie Mortimer
Marian Fountain "Minnie" Mortimer , \Was born and raised on Manhattan's Upper East side where she attended The Brearley School and the Convent of the Sacred Heart.Mortimer's high school years where spent at St...
(b. 1982), an American fashion designer. Together they have a daughter. Gaghan has a son and a daughter from a prior relationship with actress Michael McCraine.
Writer
- SyrianaSyrianaSyriana is a 2005 geopolitical thriller film written and directed by Stephen Gaghan, and executive produced by George Clooney, who also stars in the film with an ensemble cast. Gaghan's screenplay is loosely adapted from Robert Baer's memoir See No Evil...
(2005) (written by) - HavocHavoc (film)Havoc is a 2005 American film about the lives of wealthy Los Angeles, California teenagers whose exposure to hip hop culture inspires them to imitate the gangster lifestyle...
(2005) (screenplay) (story) - The AlamoThe Alamo (2004 film)The Alamo is a 2004 American war film about the Battle of the Alamo during the Texas Revolution. The film was directed by Texan John Lee Hancock, produced by Ron Howard, Brian Grazer, and Mark Johnson, and distributed by Touchstone Pictures....
- Abandon (2002) (written by)
- TrafficTraffic (2000 film)Traffic is a 2000 American crime drama film directed by Steven Soderbergh and written by Stephen Gaghan. It explores the illegal drug trade from a number of perspectives: a user, an enforcer, a politician and a trafficker. Their stories are edited together throughout the film, although some of the...
- Rules of EngagementRules of Engagement (film)Rules of Engagement is a 2000 American film directed by William Friedkin and starring Tommy Lee Jones and Samuel L. Jackson. Jackson plays Marine Colonel Terry Childers, who is brought to court-martial on charges of disobeying the rules of engagement in a military incident at an American embassy...
- SleepwalkersSleepwalkers (TV series)Sleepwalkers was a science fiction series which began airing on NBC in late 1997. It told the story of a team of researchers who used technology to enter the dreams of psychiatric patients in order to diagnose their problems....
(1997) TV series (unknown episodes) - The PracticeThe PracticeThe Practice is an American legal drama created by David E. Kelley centering on the partners and associates at a Boston law firm. Running for eight seasons from 1997 to 2004, the show won the Emmy in 1998 and 1999 for Best Drama Series, and spawned the successful and lighter spin-off series Boston...
- NYPD BlueNYPD BlueNYPD Blue is an American television police drama set in New York City, exploring the internal and external struggles of the fictional 15th precinct of Manhattan...
- American GothicAmerican GothicAmerican Gothic is a painting by Grant Wood, in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. Wood's inspiration came from a cottage designed in the Gothic Revival style with a distinctive upper window and a decision to paint the house along with "the kind of people I fancied should live in that...
- New York UndercoverNew York UndercoverNew York Undercover is an American police drama that aired on the FOX television network from 1994 to 1998. The series starred Malik Yoba as Detective J.C. Williams and Michael DeLorenzo as Detective Eddie Torres, two undercover detectives in New York City's 4th Precinct who were assigned to...
Personal appearances
- EntourageEntourage (TV series)Entourage is an American comedy-drama television series that premiered on HBO on July 18, 2004 and concluded on September 11, 2011, after eight seasons...
- The Henry Rollins ShowThe Henry Rollins ShowThe Henry Rollins Show was a weekly talk show hosted by Henry Rollins on the Independent Film Channel . The show featured Rollins' monologues, interviews with celebrities and uncensored musical performances. The show was canceled after the wrap of its second season.-Sections:Each episode features...
- Film '72
- Sunday Morning Shootout
- The Charlie Rose Show
- The Big StoryThe Big StoryThe Big Story, which debuted in 2000, was an American news/talk television program on the Fox News Channel, hosted by John Gibson and Heather Nauert weekdays. It was taken off in March 2008, replaced with America's Election Headquarters, an hour of news related to the 2008 United States...
- HBO First Look
- Hollywood HighHollywood HighHollywood High is a creative writing game released in 1996 by Theatrix Interactive. It is the sequel to Theatrix's Hollywood, which featured only animal cartoon characters. The game features a choice of 37 scenes and multiple human cartoon characters. Users input text and watch the characters read it...
(2003) (TV) .... Himself - The 73rd Academy Awards73rd Academy AwardsThe 73rd Academy Awards honored the best films of 2000 and was held on March 25, 2001. It was the last Academy Awards to take place at the Los Angeles Shrine Auditorium...
- Inside Traffic: The Making of 'Traffic'
Future projects
Gaghan is returning to his TV roots with a seven-figure deal at ABCAmerican Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
. He will write
Head writer
A head writer is a person who oversees the team of writers on a television or radio series. The title is common in the soap opera genre, as well as with sketch comedies and talk shows that feature monologues and comedy skits, but in prime time series this function is generally performed by an...
and executive produce
Executive producer
An executive producer is a producer who is not involved in any technical aspects of the film making or music process, but who is still responsible for the overall production...
an hour-long project for the network. He's also attached to direct the potential pilot
Television pilot
A "television pilot" is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell the show to a television network. At the time of its inception, the pilot is meant to be the "testing ground" to see if a series will be possibly desired and successful and therefore a test episode of an...
if his feature schedule permits.
Awards & nominations
Gaghan has won an Emmy AwardEmmy 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...
, Writers Guild of America Awards, Golden Globe Award
Golden Globe Award
The Golden Globe Award is an accolade bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign...
, and an Academy Award.
External links
- Stephen Gaghan interview on Charlie Rose
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minnie_Mortimer