David Klass
Encyclopedia
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 novelist. He has written more than 40 screenplay
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
s for Hollywood studios and published 14 young adult
Youth
Youth is the time of life between childhood and adulthood . Definitions of the specific age range that constitutes youth vary. An individual's actual maturity may not correspond to their chronological age, as immature individuals could exist at all ages.-Usage:Around the world, the terms "youth",...
novels. His screenplays are primarily character-based thrillers for adults, while his novels often tell the stories of teenagers in crisis.
Biography
Klass was born in VermontVermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
and raised in Leonia, NJ, the son of Sheila Solomon Klass, English professor and author, and Dr. Morton Klass, professor of anthropology at Barnard College
Barnard College
Barnard College is a private women's liberal arts college and a member of the Seven Sisters. Founded in 1889, Barnard has been affiliated with Columbia University since 1900. The campus stretches along Broadway between 116th and 120th Streets in the Morningside Heights neighborhood in the borough...
and brother of science fiction author Philip Klass, who wrote under the name William Tenn
William Tenn
William Tenn was the pseudonym of Philip Klass , a British-born American science fiction author, notable for many stories with satirical elements.-Early life:...
. David Klass received his BA in History from Yale
YALE
RapidMiner, formerly YALE , is an environment for machine learning, data mining, text mining, predictive analytics, and business analytics. It is used for research, education, training, rapid prototyping, application development, and industrial applications...
in 1982, and later graduated from USC School of Cinema-Television (1989). Klass lives in 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...
with his wife, Giselle Benatar, and their two children.
Novels
Klass’s writing career began with the novel The Atami Dragons, inspired by his experiences as an English teacher in Japan. His 1994 book California Blue gathered very positive reviews for its quiet yet compelling treatment of environmental issues. In 2001 Klass published You don’t know meYou Don't Know Me (novel)
You Don't Know Me is a coming-of-age novel by David Klass which tells the tale of a young boy who is abused and faces pressure in his school. It was first published in 2001.- Plot summary :...
, which uses an edgy first-person narrative to tell the story of a teenage boy’s life with an abusive stepfather-to-be. The book has been published in 18 languages, was named an ALA Best Book For Young Adults, and continues to be popular with young adult audiences in the United States and internationally.
Firestorm is the first book of the Caretaker Trilogy, a series of science fiction thrillers with an ecological theme. Firestorm was the first book ever endorsed by Greenpeace
Greenpeace
Greenpeace is a non-governmental environmental organization with offices in over forty countries and with an international coordinating body in Amsterdam, The Netherlands...
and was praised by critics for its combination of entertainment value and environmental message, garnering an American Library Association (ALA) Best Book citation, a starred review from Publisher's Weekly, and a favorable review by the New York Times Book Review. The story focuses on Jack Danielson, a teenager sent back from the future to save the world’s oceans.
Whirlwind, the second book in the Caretaker Trilogy, tells the story of Jack’s efforts to save the Amazon rain forest; published in March 2008 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. The third book in the trilogy is Timelock, published in fall 2009.
Firestorm has been optioned by Warner Bros. and the production company Thunder Road. A screenplay for the movie version is now in active development.
Screenplays
Klass has also written more than 40 Hollywood screenplays, including the adaptation of James PattersonJames Patterson
James B. Patterson is an American author of thriller novels, largely known for his series about American psychologist Alex Cross...
's Kiss the Girls
Kiss the Girls
Kiss the Girls is a psychological thriller novel by American writer James Patterson, the second to star his recurrent character Alex Cross, an African-American psychologist.-Plot summary:...
for the movie version
Kiss the Girls (film)
Kiss the Girls is a 1997 American thriller film directed by Gary Fleder and starring Morgan Freeman, Cary Elwes and Ashley Judd. The screenplay by David Klass is based on the best-selling novel Kiss the Girls by James Patterson.-Plot:Washington, D.C...
starring Morgan Freeman
Morgan Freeman
Morgan Freeman is an American actor, film director, aviator and narrator. He is noted for his reserved demeanor and authoritative speaking voice. Freeman has received Academy Award nominations for his performances in Street Smart, Driving Miss Daisy, The Shawshank Redemption and Invictus and won...
and Ashley Judd
Ashley Judd
Ashley Judd is an American television and film actress, who has played lead roles in films including Ruby in Paradise, Kiss the Girls, Double Jeopardy, Where the Heart Is and High Crimes...
. His most recent produced screenplay was the remake of Walking Tall
Walking Tall (2004 film)
Walking Tall is a 2004 remake of the 1973 film of the same name. It stars Dwayne Johnson and Johnny Knoxville. Like the original film, it was based on real-life Sheriff Buford Pusser, however, the main character's name was changed to "Chris Vaughn"...
starring The Rock. Klass wrote the screenplay for the thriller Desperate Measures starring Michael Keaton
Michael Keaton
Michael John Douglas , better known by the stage name Michael Keaton, is an American actor known for his early comedic roles, most notably his performance as the title character of Tim Burton's Beetlejuice . Keaton is also famous for his dramatic portrayal of Bruce Wayne/Batman in Tim Burton's...
and Andy García
Andy García
Andrés Arturo García Menéndez , professionally known as Andy García, is a Cuban American actor. He became known in the late 1980s and 1990s, having appeared in several successful Hollywood films, including The Godfather: Part III, The Untouchables, Internal Affairs and When a Man Loves a Woman...
, which was based on his original idea. With his sister, Judy Klass, he adapted Julia Alvarez
Julia Álvarez
Julia Alvarez is a Dominican-American poet, novelist, and essayist. Born in New York of Dominican descent, she spent the first ten years of her childhood in the Dominican Republic, until her father's involvement in a political rebellion forced her family to flee the country.Alvarez rose to...
's novel In the Time of the Butterflies
In the Time of the Butterflies
In the Time of the Butterflies is a historical novel by Julia Alvarez, relating an account of the Mirabal sisters during the time of the Trujillo regime in the Dominican Republic. The book is written in the first and third person, by and about the Mirabal sisters...
into the 2001 movie
In the Time of the Butterflies (film)
In the Time of the Butterflies is a 2001 feature film, produced for the Showtime television network, directed by Mariano Barroso based on the Julia Álvarez book of the same name...
starring Salma Hayek
Salma Hayek
Salma Valgarma Hayek Jiménez de Pinault is a Mexican film actress, director and producer. She received an Oscar nomination for Best Actress for her role as Frida Kahlo in the film Frida.-Early life:...
and Edward James Olmos
Edward James Olmos
Edward James Olmos is an American actor and director. Among his most memorable roles are William Adama in the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica, Lt...
.
Filmography
- Kiss the GirlsKiss the Girls (film)Kiss the Girls is a 1997 American thriller film directed by Gary Fleder and starring Morgan Freeman, Cary Elwes and Ashley Judd. The screenplay by David Klass is based on the best-selling novel Kiss the Girls by James Patterson.-Plot:Washington, D.C...
(1997) - Desperate Measures (1998)
- Runaway Virus (2000)
- In the Time of the ButterfliesIn the Time of the Butterflies (film)In the Time of the Butterflies is a 2001 feature film, produced for the Showtime television network, directed by Mariano Barroso based on the Julia Álvarez book of the same name...
(2001) - Walking TallWalking Tall (2004 film)Walking Tall is a 2004 remake of the 1973 film of the same name. It stars Dwayne Johnson and Johnny Knoxville. Like the original film, it was based on real-life Sheriff Buford Pusser, however, the main character's name was changed to "Chris Vaughn"...
(2004)