Kenneth Lonergan
Encyclopedia
Kenneth Lonergan is an American
playwright, screenwriter, and director.
, New York City
, New York, Lonergan began writing in high school at the Walden School
(a defunct private school in Manhattan with a strong drama program).
His first play, The Rennings Children, was chosen for the Young Playwright's Festival in 1982 while he was still an undergraduate. He would go on to graduate from the NYU
Playwriting Program
and Fujifilm
.
(1996); it was followed by The Waverley Gallery (1999), based on his grandmother's Greenwich Village
Gallery, and later Lobby Hero (2002).
(1999). He was subsequently offered a job writing The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle
(2000).
Lonergan directed his own screenplay for You Can Count on Me
(2000); the film, which was executive produced by Martin Scorsese
, went on to be nominated for and receive numerous writing awards ; he went on to contribute to the screenplay for Gangs of New York
(2002). In 2005, filming took place for his second film as writer/director, Margaret (2011), starring Anna Paquin
, Matt Damon
, Matthew Broderick
, and his wife, J. Smith-Cameron
. The film spent over five years in post-production, resulting in multiple legal disputes.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
playwright, screenwriter, and director.
Background and education
Born in the BronxThe Bronx
The Bronx is the northernmost of the five boroughs of New York City. It is also known as Bronx County, the last of the 62 counties of New York State to be incorporated...
, 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...
, New York, Lonergan began writing in high school at the Walden School
Walden School (New York City)
__notoc__Walden School was a private day school in Manhattan, New York City that operated from 1914 until 1988, when it merged with the New Lincoln School; the merged school closed in 1991. Walden was known as an innovator in progressive education. The Walden School was founded in 1914 by Margaret...
(a defunct private school in Manhattan with a strong drama program).
His first play, The Rennings Children, was chosen for the Young Playwright's Festival in 1982 while he was still an undergraduate. He would go on to graduate from the NYU
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...
Playwriting Program
Politics and commercial work
After graduating from NYU, Lonergan worked as a speechwriter for the Environmental Protection Agency. He also wrote industrial shows—long-play commercials—for clients such as Weight WatchersWeight Watchers
Weight Watchers is an international company that offers various dieting products and services to assist weight loss and maintenance. Founded in 1963 by Brooklyn homemaker Jean Nidetch, it operates in about 30 countries around the world, generally under names that are local translations of “Weight...
and Fujifilm
Fujifilm
is a multinational photography and imaging company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.Fujifilm's principal activities are the development, production, sale and servicing of color photographic film, digital cameras, photofinishing equipment, color paper, photofinishing chemicals, medical imaging...
.
Drama
Lonergan's first theatrical success came with the play This is Our YouthThis is Our Youth
This Is Our Youth is a 1996 play by American dramatist and screenwriter Kenneth Lonergan.-Production history:Originally produced by The New Group, the play opened at the INTAR Theatre in New York City in October 1996. It later opened at the Douglas Fairbanks Theatre in November 1998...
(1996); it was followed by The Waverley Gallery (1999), based on his grandmother's Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village, , , , .in New York often simply called "the Village", is a largely residential neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. A large majority of the district is home to upper middle class families...
Gallery, and later Lobby Hero (2002).
Film
Lonergan's film career began with his screenplay for the gangland comedy Analyze ThisAnalyze This
Analyze This is a 1999 gangster comedy film directed by Harold Ramis, who co-wrote the screenplay with playwright Kenneth Lonergan and Peter Tolan. The film stars Robert De Niro as a mafioso and Billy Crystal as a psychiatrist...
(1999). He was subsequently offered a job writing The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle
The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle
The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle is a 2000 comedy film based on the television cartoon The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show by Jay Ward. The animated characters Rocky and Bullwinkle shared the screen with live actors portraying Fearless Leader , Boris Badenov , Natasha Fatale , and FBI agent Karen...
(2000).
Lonergan directed his own screenplay for You Can Count on Me
You Can Count on Me
You Can Count on Me is a 2000 American drama film starring Laura Linney, Mark Ruffalo, Rory Culkin, and Matthew Broderick. Written and directed by Kenneth Lonergan, it tells the story of Sammy, a single mother living in a small town, and her complicated relationships with family and friends...
(2000); the film, which was executive produced by Martin Scorsese
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...
, went on to be nominated for and receive numerous writing awards ; he went on to contribute to the screenplay for Gangs of New York
Gangs of New York
Gangs of New York is a 2002 historical film set in the mid-19th century in the Five Points district of New York City. It was directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Jay Cocks, Steven Zaillian, and Kenneth Lonergan. The film was inspired by Herbert Asbury's 1928 nonfiction book, The Gangs of New...
(2002). In 2005, filming took place for his second film as writer/director, Margaret (2011), starring Anna Paquin
Anna Paquin
Anna Helene Paquin is a Canadian-born New Zealand actress. Paquin's first critically successful film was The Piano, for which she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1994 at the age of 11 – the second youngest winner in history...
, Matt Damon
Matt Damon
Matthew Paige "Matt" Damon is an American actor, screenwriter, and philanthropist whose career was launched following the success of the film Good Will Hunting , from a screenplay he co-wrote with friend Ben Affleck...
, 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...
, and his wife, J. Smith-Cameron
J. Smith-Cameron
J. Smith-Cameron is an American actress.Smith-Cameron was born Jean Isabel Smith in Louisville, Kentucky, the daughter of architect Richard Sharpe Smith. She was raised in Greenville, South Carolina, and attended Florida State University where she was enrolled in the School of Theatre...
. The film spent over five years in post-production, resulting in multiple legal disputes.
Credits
- The Rennings Children (1982) one-act
- Betrayal by Everyone (1993) one-act (would become This is Our Youth)
- DougDougDoug is an American animated sitcom created by Jim Jinkins and co-produced by his studio, Jumbo Pictures . Doug centers on the surreal and imaginative exploits of its title character, Douglas "Doug" Funnie, who experiences common predicaments while attending middle school. The series lampoons...
: "Doug Throws a Party" (1994 television episode) writer - This is Our YouthThis is Our YouthThis Is Our Youth is a 1996 play by American dramatist and screenwriter Kenneth Lonergan.-Production history:Originally produced by The New Group, the play opened at the INTAR Theatre in New York City in October 1996. It later opened at the Douglas Fairbanks Theatre in November 1998...
(1996 play) writer - Two in the Morning (1997 film short) special thanks
- Analyze ThisAnalyze ThisAnalyze This is a 1999 gangster comedy film directed by Harold Ramis, who co-wrote the screenplay with playwright Kenneth Lonergan and Peter Tolan. The film stars Robert De Niro as a mafioso and Billy Crystal as a psychiatrist...
(1999 film) screenplay & story - The Waverley GalleryThe Waverley GalleryThe Waverly Gallery is a play by Kenneth Lonergan. It is considered a "memory play". The show, first produced in 2000, follows a grandson watching his grandmother slowly die from Alzheimer's disease. Charles Isherwood of Variety said, "The life trauma being depicted has an inherent pathos, and in...
(2000 play) writer - You Can Count on MeYou Can Count on MeYou Can Count on Me is a 2000 American drama film starring Laura Linney, Mark Ruffalo, Rory Culkin, and Matthew Broderick. Written and directed by Kenneth Lonergan, it tells the story of Sammy, a single mother living in a small town, and her complicated relationships with family and friends...
(2000 film) writer, director and cameo as Father Ron - The Adventures of Rocky and BullwinkleThe Adventures of Rocky and BullwinkleThe Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle is a 2000 comedy film based on the television cartoon The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show by Jay Ward. The animated characters Rocky and Bullwinkle shared the screen with live actors portraying Fearless Leader , Boris Badenov , Natasha Fatale , and FBI agent Karen...
(2000 film) writer - Lobby HeroLobby Hero-Production history:Lobby Hero was first performed at the Playwrights Horizons, on March 13, 2001. The cast was as follows:*Jeff - Glenn Fitzgerald*William - Dion Graham*Dawn - Heather Burns*Bill - Tate Donovan*Directed by Mark Brokaw...
(2001 play) writer - Analyze ThatAnalyze ThatAnalyze That is a 2002 mafia comedy film, and a sequel to the 1999 film Analyze This. The film was directed and co-written by Harold Ramis and stars Robert De Niro and Billy Crystal who respectively reprise their roles as mobster Paul Vitti and psychiatrist Ben Sobel.-Plot:Near the completion of...
(2002 film) characters - Gangs of New YorkGangs of New YorkGangs of New York is a 2002 historical film set in the mid-19th century in the Five Points district of New York City. It was directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Jay Cocks, Steven Zaillian, and Kenneth Lonergan. The film was inspired by Herbert Asbury's 1928 nonfiction book, The Gangs of New...
(2002 film) screenplay - True to You (2004) one-act premiered at TriBeCa Theater Festival
- The Starry Messenger (2009) writer
- Margaret (2011) writer, director
- Like Father (work in progress)
- The Once and Future KingThe Once and Future KingThe Once and Future King is an Arthurian fantasy novel written by T. H. White. It was first published in 1958 and is mostly a composite of earlier works written in a period between 1938 and 1941....
(adaption in progress) - Time and AgainTime and Again (novel)Time and Again is a 1970 illustrated novel by Jack Finney. The many illustrations in the book are real, though, as explained in an endnote, not all are from the 1882 period in which the actions of the book take place. It had long been rumored that Robert Redford would convert the book into a movie...
(adaption in progress)
Awards
- This is Our Youth
- Nominated for Drama Desk Award for Best Play.
- The Waverley Gallery
- Nominated for Pulitzer PrizePulitzer PrizeThe Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
2001.
- Nominated for Pulitzer Prize
- Lobby Hero
- Nominated for Drama Desk AwardDrama Desk AwardThe Drama Desk Awards, which are given annually in a number of categories, are the only major New York theater honors for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway compete against each other in the same category...
for Best Play. - Nominated for Outer Critics Circle AwardOuter Critics Circle AwardThe Outer Critics Circle Awards are presented annually for theatrical achievements both on and Off-Broadway and were begun during the 1949-1950 theater season. The awards are decided upon by theater critics who review for out-of-town newspapers, national publications, and other media outlets...
for Best Play and John Gassner Playwrighting Award. - Nominated for Olivier AwardLaurence Olivier AwardsThe Laurence Olivier Award is presented annually by the Society of London Theatre to recognise excellence in professional theatre. Named after the renowned British actor Laurence Olivier, they are given for West End shows and other productions staged in London...
for Best Play.
- Nominated for Drama Desk Award
- You Can Count On Me
- Winner of SundanceSundance Film FestivalThe 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...
Grand Jury Prize for Drama, 2000. - Winner of Waldo SaltWaldo SaltWaldo Miller Salt was an American screenwriter who was blacklisted by the Hollywood movie studio bosses during the era of McCarthyism.-Early life and career:...
Screenwriting Award, 2000. - Winner Los Angeles Film Critics AssociationLos Angeles Film Critics AssociationThe Los Angeles Film Critics Association was founded in 1975. Its main purpose is to present yearly awards to members of the film industry who have excelled in their fields. These awards are presented each January...
Award for Best Screenplay. - Winner of Writers Guild of America award for Best Screenplay, 2001.
- Winner of AFIAmerican Film InstituteThe American Film Institute is an independent non-profit organization created by the National Endowment for the Arts, which was established in 1967 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act...
Award for Best Film and Best New Writer. - National Board of ReviewNational Board of Review of Motion PicturesThe National Board of Review of Motion Pictures was founded in 1909 in New York City, just 13 years after the birth of cinema, to protest New York City Mayor George B. McClellan, Jr.'s revocation of moving-picture exhibition licenses on Christmas Eve 1908. The mayor believed that the new medium...
Top Ten films of 2001. - Nominated for Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, 2000.
- Nominated for Golden Globe AwardGolden Globe AwardThe 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...
for Best Screenplay, 2001. - Laura LinneyLaura LinneyLaura Leggett Linney is an American actress of film, television, and theatre. Linney has won three Emmy Awards, two Golden Globes, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. She has been nominated for three times for an Academy Award and once for a BAFTA Award...
was nominated for the Academy Award for best actress, and won best actress awards from the New York Film Critics CircleNew York Film Critics Circle AwardsNew York Film Critics' Circle Awards are given annually to honor excellence in cinema worldwide by an organization of film reviewers from New York City-based publications. It is considered one of the most important precursors to the Academy Awards....
, the Toronto Film Critics AssociationToronto Film Critics AssociationThe Toronto Film Critics Association is an organization of film reviewers from Toronto-based publications. As of 1999, the TFCA is member of FIPRESCI.-History:...
and the National Society of Film CriticsNational Society of Film CriticsThe National Society of Film Critics is an American film critic organization. As of December 2007 the NSFC had approximately 60 members who wrote for a variety of weekly and daily newspapers.-History:...
for her performance.
- Winner of Sundance
- Gangs of New York
- Nominated for Academy AwardAcademy AwardsAn Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
for Best Screenplay, 2002. - Nominated for Writers Guild of AmericaWriters Guild of AmericaThe 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....
Award for Best Original Screenplay.
- Nominated for Academy Award