Steven Knight

Steven Knight
Born 1959 (age 58–59)
Birmingham, England, U.K.
Alma mater University College London
Occupation Screenwriter, film director

Steven Knight (born 1959) is an English screenwriter and film director. Knight has written the screenplays for the films Closed Circuit, Dirty Pretty Things and Eastern Promises, and also directed as well as written the films Locke and Hummingbird (a.k.a. Redemption).

Knight is also one of three creators of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, a game show that has been remade and aired in around 160 countries worldwide, and has written for BBC's Commercial Breakdown, The Detectives, Peaky Blinders and Taboo.

Personal life

Knight read English at University College London (UCL). He has two children.

Screenplays

Knight is best known for screenplays he wrote for the films Dirty Pretty Things and Eastern Promises. His work on the screenplay for Dirty Pretty Things earned him the Edgar Award for Best Motion Picture Screenplay and London Film Critics Circle award for British Screenwriter of the Year.[1] The screenplay was also nominated for several other awards including the Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay[2] and the BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay.[3]

Knight also wrote the screenplay for the 2013 film Closed Circuit, which was directed by John Crowley and which starred Eric Bana and Rebecca Hall.

Knight also wrote a draft of a screenplay based on the book Shutter Island written by Dennis Lehane, but the draft that was used for the movie of the same name was written by Laeta Kalogridis.[4]

Recent films based on screenplays that Knight has written include The Hundred-Foot Journey directed by Lasse Hallström, based on the book of the same name by Richard C. Morais, and starring Helen Mirren, Seventh Son, an adventure story starring Jeff Bridges, Julianne Moore, Djimon Hounsou, Kit Harington and Jason Scott Lee, as well as the film Pawn Sacrifice, based on U.S. chess champion Bobby Fischer, with Tobey Maguire playing Fischer in the film. He also wrote the screenplay of World War Z II. [5]

Directing

In addition to his writing, Knight has directed two films: Hummingbird (2013), starring Jason Statham, and Locke (2014), starring Tom Hardy. Locke won a British Independent Film Award in 2013 for Best Screenplay. Knight has also directed several episodes of the TV series he frequently wrote for, The Detectives. In 2018 his third self-directed film, the thriller Serenity (also written by Knight) starring Matthew McConaughey, Diane Lane, and Anne Hathaway, will be released.

TV series

Knight also created the TV series Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? in the UK (alongside Mike Whitehill and David Briggs) and also is the creator of the TV series Show do Milhão and All About Me.

Knight has written for TV series in the UK including Peaky Blinders, BBC's Commercial Breakdown (with Jimmy Carr), The Detectives, Comedy Playhouse (the episode "Wild Oats" in 1993), Frankie's On..., Auntie's Big Bloomers, and Canned Carrott.

Filmography

Year Title Credit
1989 Commercial Breakdown Writer
1990–1992 Canned Carrott Writer
1993–1997 The Detectives Director (4 episodes), writer (13 episodes)
1998–2010 Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? Creator, Writer (4 episodes)
2001 Gypsy Woman Screenwriter
2002 Dirty Pretty Things Screenwriter
2002–2004 All About Me Creator, writer (2 episodes)
2006 Amazing Grace Screenwriter
2007 Eastern Promises Screenwriter
2013 Hummingbird Director, screenwriter
2013 Closed Circuit Screenwriter
2013–present Peaky Blinders Creator, screenwriter, executive producer
2013 Locke Director, screenwriter
2014 The Hundred-Foot Journey Screenwriter
2014 Seventh Son Screenwriter
2014 Pawn Sacrifice Screenwriter
2015 Burnt Screenwriter
2016 Allied Screenwriter, executive producer
2017–present Taboo Creator, screenwriter, executive producer
2017 Woman Walks Ahead Screenwriter
2017 November Criminals Screenwriter, executive producer
2018 The Girl in the Spider's Web Screenwriter
2019 Serenity Director, screenwriter
TBA Untitled World War Z sequel Screenwriter

References

  1. ↑ British Screenwriter of the Year Archived 2007-02-21 at the Wayback Machine., London Film Critics Circle. Accessed July 29, 2008.
  2. ↑ 76th Academy Awards Nominees and Winners Archived March 27, 2008, at the Wayback Machine., Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Accessed July 29, 2008.
  3. ↑ Film Nominations 2002, British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Accessed July 29, 2008.
  4. ↑ Shutter Island, Variety. Accessed July 29, 2008.
  5. ↑ ‘World War Z’ Slate Wiped Clean
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.