John Curran (director)
Encyclopedia
John Curran is an American
film director
and screenwriter
.
Born in Utica, New York
, Curran studied illustration and design at Syracuse University
, then worked as an illustrator, graphic design
er, and production designer
in Manhattan
before moving to Sydney
, Australia
in 1986. There he worked on television commercials
before writing and directing the short film
Down Rusty Down. For his debut feature film
, the 1998 drama Praise, he was nominated for the Australian Film Institute Award for Best Direction
and won the Film Critics Circle of Australia
Award for Best Director and the International Critics' Award at the Toronto International Film Festival
.
Six years passed before Curran tackled his next project, the independent film
We Don't Live Here Anymore
, for which he was nominated for the Grand Special Prize at the Deauville American Film Festival
and the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival
. He followed this two years later with The Painted Veil
, the third screen adaptation of the 1925 novel by W. Somerset Maugham
.
He wrote the screenplay for The Killer Inside Me
, the second film adaptation of the 1952 novel
by Jim Thompson
. Directed by Michael Winterbottom
and starring Jessica Alba
, Kate Hudson
, Casey Affleck
, and Bill Pullman
, it currently is filming in Oklahoma
. He also is set to direct The Beautiful and the Damned, a Zelda
and F. Scott Fitzgerald
biopic starring Keira Knightley
.
Credits
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
film 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:...
and 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:...
.
Born in Utica, New York
Utica, New York
Utica is a city in and the county seat of Oneida County, New York, United States. The population was 62,235 at the 2010 census, an increase of 2.6% from the 2000 census....
, Curran studied illustration and design at Syracuse University
Syracuse University
Syracuse University is a private research university located in Syracuse, New York, United States. Its roots can be traced back to Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1832, which also later founded Genesee College...
, then worked as an illustrator, graphic design
Graphic design
Graphic design is a creative process – most often involving a client and a designer and usually completed in conjunction with producers of form – undertaken in order to convey a specific message to a targeted audience...
er, and production designer
Production designer
In film and television, a production designer is the person responsible for the overall look of a filmed event such as films, TV programs, music videos or adverts. Production designers have one of the key creative roles in the creation of motion pictures and television. Working directly with the...
in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
before moving to Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
in 1986. There he worked on television commercials
Television advertisement
A television advertisement or television commercial, often just commercial, advert, ad, or ad-film – is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization that conveys a message, typically one intended to market a product...
before writing and directing the short film
Short subject
A short film is any film not long enough to be considered a feature film. No consensus exists as to where that boundary is drawn: the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes or less, including all...
Down Rusty Down. For his debut feature film
Feature film
In the film industry, a feature film is a film production made for initial distribution in theaters and being the main attraction of the screening, rather than a short film screened before it; a full length movie...
, the 1998 drama Praise, he was nominated for the Australian Film Institute Award for Best Direction
Australian Film Institute Award for Best Direction
The Australian Film Institute Award for Best Direction is an award in the annual Australian Film Institute Awards.-Previous winners:*1971 – Homesdale *1972 – Stork...
and won the Film Critics Circle of Australia
Film Critics Circle of Australia
The Film Critics Circle of Australia is a group of cinema critics that judge Australian films.-External links:**...
Award for Best Director and the International Critics' Award at the Toronto International Film Festival
Toronto International Film Festival
The Toronto International Film Festival is a publicly-attended film festival held each September in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In 2010, 339 films from 59 countries were screened at 32 screens in downtown Toronto venues...
.
Six years passed before Curran tackled his next project, the independent film
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...
We Don't Live Here Anymore
We Don't Live Here Anymore
We Don't Live Here Anymore is a 2004 drama film directed by John Curran. It is based on the short stories We Don't Live Here Anymore and Adultery by Andre Dubus.Set in Washington state, the film was shot around Vancouver.-Cast:...
, for which he was nominated for the Grand Special Prize at the Deauville American Film Festival
Deauville American Film Festival
The Deauville American Film Festival is a yearly film festival devoted to American cinema, taking place since 1975 in Deauville, France. It was established by Lionel Chouchan and André Halimi....
and the Grand Jury Prize 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...
. He followed this two years later with The Painted Veil
The Painted Veil (2006 film)
The Painted Veil is a 2006 Chinese-American drama film directed by John Curran. The screenplay by Ron Nyswaner is based on the 1925 novel of the same title by W. Somerset Maugham...
, the third screen adaptation of the 1925 novel by W. Somerset Maugham
W. Somerset Maugham
William Somerset Maugham , CH was an English playwright, novelist and short story writer. He was among the most popular writers of his era and, reputedly, the highest paid author during the 1930s.-Childhood and education:...
.
He wrote the screenplay for The Killer Inside Me
The Killer Inside Me (2010 film)
The Killer Inside Me is a 2010 American film adaptation of the 1952 novel of the same name by Jim Thompson. The film is directed by Michael Winterbottom and stars Casey Affleck, Kate Hudson, and Jessica Alba. At its release, it was criticised for its graphic depiction of violence directed toward...
, the second film adaptation of the 1952 novel
The Killer Inside Me
The Killer Inside Me is a 1952 novel by American writer Jim Thompson published by Fawcett Publications. In the introduction to the anthology Crime Novels: American Noir of the 1950s, it is described as "one of the most blistering and uncompromising crime novels ever written."- Plot summary :The...
by Jim Thompson
Jim Thompson (writer)
James Myers Thompson was an American author and screenwriter, known for his pulp crime fiction....
. Directed by Michael Winterbottom
Michael Winterbottom
Michael Winterbottom is a prolific English filmmaker who has directed seventeen feature films in the past fifteen years. He began his career working in British television before moving into features...
and starring Jessica Alba
Jessica Alba
Jessica Marie Alba is an American television and film actress. She began her television and movie appearances at age 13 in Camp Nowhere and The Secret World of Alex Mack . Alba rose to prominence as the lead actress in the television series Dark Angel...
, Kate Hudson
Kate Hudson
Kate Garry Hudson is an American actress. She came to prominence in 2001 after winning a Golden Globe and receiving several nominations, including a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, for her role in Almost Famous. She then starred in the hit film How to Lose a Guy in 10...
, Casey Affleck
Casey Affleck
Caleb Casey McGuire Affleck-Boldt , better known as Casey Affleck, is an American actor and film director. Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, he played supporting roles in mainstream hits like Good Will Hunting and Ocean's Eleven as well as in critically acclaimed independent films such as...
, and Bill Pullman
Bill Pullman
William James "Bill" Pullman is an American film, television, and stage actor. Pullman made his film debut in the supporting role of Earl Mott in the 1986 film Ruthless People. He has since gone on to star in other films, including Spaceballs, Independence Day, Lost Highway, Casper and Scary Movie 4...
, it currently is filming in Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
. He also is set to direct The Beautiful and the Damned, a Zelda
Zelda Fitzgerald
Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald , born Zelda Sayre in Montgomery, Alabama, was an American novelist and the wife of writer F. Scott Fitzgerald. She was an icon of the 1920s—dubbed by her husband "the first American Flapper"...
and F. Scott Fitzgerald
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald was an American author of novels and short stories, whose works are the paradigm writings of the Jazz Age, a term he coined himself. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century. Fitzgerald is considered a member of the "Lost...
biopic starring Keira Knightley
Keira Knightley
Keira Christina Knightley born 26 March 1985) is an English actress and model. She began acting as a child and came to international notice in 2002 after co-starring in the film Bend It Like Beckham...
.
Credits
- Down Rusty Down (1996) - Director (Short Film)
- 'Praise (1998) - Director
- We Don't Live Here AnymoreWe Don't Live Here AnymoreWe Don't Live Here Anymore is a 2004 drama film directed by John Curran. It is based on the short stories We Don't Live Here Anymore and Adultery by Andre Dubus.Set in Washington state, the film was shot around Vancouver.-Cast:...
(2004) - Director/Writer - The Painted VeilThe Painted Veil (2006 film)The Painted Veil is a 2006 Chinese-American drama film directed by John Curran. The screenplay by Ron Nyswaner is based on the 1925 novel of the same title by W. Somerset Maugham...
(2006) - Director/Executive Producer - The Killer Inside MeThe Killer Inside Me (2010 film)The Killer Inside Me is a 2010 American film adaptation of the 1952 novel of the same name by Jim Thompson. The film is directed by Michael Winterbottom and stars Casey Affleck, Kate Hudson, and Jessica Alba. At its release, it was criticised for its graphic depiction of violence directed toward...
(2010) - Writer - StoneStone (2010 film)Stone is a 2010 American drama directed by John Curran and starring Robert De Niro, Edward Norton and Milla Jovovich. Most of the filming was done in Washtenaw County, Michigan.-Plot synopsis:...
(2010) - Director - The Beautiful and the DamnedThe Beautiful And The DamnedThe Beautiful and the Damned may refer to:*The Beautiful and Damned, F. Scott Fitzgerald's second novel.*The Beautiful and the Damned, album by Lash....
(TBA) - Director