Christopher Wilkinson
Christopher Wilkinson (born March 29, 1950) is an American screenwriter, producer, and director. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for Nixon (1995).[1] He also wrote the screenplays for Ali (2001)[2] and Copying Beethoven (2006), the latter of which he also produced.[3] Most of his scripts are historically based and co-written with Stephen J. Rivele.
Christopher Wilkinson | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 29, 1950 New York, New York, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Temple University |
| Occupation(s) | Screenwriter, producer, director |
| Years active | 1979–present |
| Spouse | Cathy Guisewite (1997-2011) |
| Children | 2 |
Early life and education
Wilkinson was born in New York City and raised in Philadelphia. He began his career as a musician before attending film school at Temple University.[4]
Career
Wilkinson has written several biopics with frequent writing partner Stephen J. Rivele, starting with Nixon (1995)[5] and including Ali (2001)[2] and Copying Beethoven (2006).[3][6] He was a writer and executive producer on Pawn Sacrifice (2014) and Miles Ahead (2015), and wrote and directed the PBS film Virtuosity (2014).
Wilkinson worked on the screenplays for Mercury, a biopic about Queen lead singer Freddie Mercury,[7] the long-planned All Eyez on Me, about rapper Tupac Shakur,[8][9][10] and Birth of the Dragon, inspired by the real-life no-rules fight between Bruce Lee and Chinese kung fu master Wong Jack Man.[11]
Personal life
Wilkinson lives in Los Angeles, California, with his son.[12] He was formerly married to cartoonist Cathy Guisewite (creator of the comic strip Cathy).
Filmography
- Echoes (1980) - writer/director/producer
- Engine 2, Ladder 3 (1982) - writer/director/producer
- The River (1984) - second unit director
- Nuts (1987) - writer (uncredited)
- Penrod (1990) - writer/director/producer
- Nobody's Home (1990) - writer/director/producer
- For the Boys (1991) - second unit director/associate producer
- Intersection (1994) - second unit director/post-production supervisor
- Nixon (1995) - writer
- Ali (2001) - writer
- Copying Beethoven (2006) - writer/producer
- Virtuosity (2014)[13][14] - writer/director/producer
- Pawn Sacrifice (2014) - writer/executive producer
- Miles Ahead (2015) - writer/executive producer
- Birth of the Dragon (2016) - writer/producer
- All Eyez on Me (2017) - writer
- Gemini Man (2019) - co-writer
References
- “The Oscars: A Scorecard,” The New York Times, March 25, 1996.
- Claude Brodesser, “Smith laces up for ‘Ali’,” Variety, May 15, 2001.
- Michael Wilmington, “Movie review: ‘Copying Beethoven’,” Archived 2013-10-29 at the Wayback Machine Chicago Tribune, November 9, 2006.
- Chris Wehner, “10 Questions with Nixon & Ali Screenwriter Chris Wilkinson,” Archived 2010-11-27 at the Wayback Machine Screenwriter's Utopia, March 29, 2005.
- Janet Maslin, “Stone’s Embrace of a Despised President,” The New York Times, December 20, 1995.
- Manohla Dargis, “Handmaiden to a Maestro and Midwife to His Symphony,” The New York Times, November 10, 2006.
- Jeff Sneider, “Frears frontrunner to helm Freddie Mercury pic,” Variety, May 9, 2012.
- Daniel Kreps, “Tupac Movie to Focus on Rapper’s Final Day,” Rolling Stone, August 27, 2010.
- Claude Brodesser-Akner, “A New Tupac Shakur Biopic Will Answer Why He Was Killed, If Not By Whom,” Vulture, August 26, 2010.
- Chris Coplan, “Tupac biopic finally going into production,” Consequence of Sound, September 19, 2013.
- Borys Kit, “Bruce Lee Origin Story Heading to Big Screen,” The Hollywood Reporter, February 19, 2013.
- Biography for Christopher Wilkinson, IMDb. Accessed October 10, 2013.
- New National PBS Air Date for Cliburn Documentary,Virtuosity June 4, 2015
- Virtuosity: The Van Cliburn International Piano Competition makes Music a grueling competition sport July 28, 2015