| Birth name | Steven Ernest Bernard Zaillian |
|---|---|
| Birth date | January 30, 1953 (age 73) |
| Birth place | Fresno, California, U.S. |
| Alma mater | San Francisco State University |
| Occupation | Screenwriter · film director · film producer · film editor |
| Years active | 1977–present[1] |
| Spouse | Elizabeth Zaillian |
Steven Ernest Bernard Zaillian[1] (born January 30, 1953) is an American screenwriter, film director and producer. He won an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, a WGA Award, and a Golden Globe Award for his screenplay for the film Schindler's List (1993) and has earned Oscar nominations for the films Awakenings, Gangs of New York, Moneyball and The Irishman. He was presented with the Distinguished Screenwriter Award at the 2009 Austin Film Festival and the Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement from the Writers Guild of America in 2011. Zaillian is the founder of Film Rites, a film production company.
He also created, wrote and directed the limited series The Night Of (2016) and Ripley (2024), the latter for which he won a Primetime Emmy Award[2] and a Peabody Award.[3]
Early life and education
Steven Zaillian was born in Fresno, California, the son of Jim Zaillian, a radio news reporter, and his wife. Zaillian is of Armenian descent.[4][5] He attended Sonoma State University, and graduated from San Francisco State University in 1975 with a degree in Cinema.[1]
Career
Steven Zaillian is known for writing screenplays that often deal with tragedy and drama. Zaillian has written screenplays for many notable films. Zaillian wrote the screenplay for the 1990 film Awakenings. His most notable work is the 1993 screenplay for the film Schindler's List, for which he won an Academy Award. The Schindler’s List screenplay was voted the 49th best screenplay of all time by the Writers Guild of America West, the 32nd best of all time by IMDb, and the 49th best by filmsite.org. Zaillian directed and wrote the 1993 film Searching for Bobby Fischer, for which he earned critical and commercial acclaim. Zaillian also wrote and directed the 1998 film A Civil Action and wrote the screenplays for the films Gangs of New York in 2002, and American Gangster in 2007. In 2007, in partnership with Mandate Pictures, he signed a deal with Columbia Pictures.[6] Zaillian co-wrote the screenplay for Moneyball in 2011 with Aaron Sorkin. Zaillian also wrote the screenplay for the 2011 film The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. His most recent work includes creating, directing, writing, and producing the 2016 Emmy-winning HBO miniseries The Night Of and writing the screenplay for the 2019 Netflix film The Irishman.
Personal life
He lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Elizabeth Zaillian. They have two sons together.[7]
Filmography
Film
Television
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Executive Producer | Creator | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | The Night Of | |||||
| 2024 | Ripley |
Executive producer only
- Welcome to the Rileys (2010)
- The Cold Light of Day (2012)
- The Current War (2017)
- My Dinner with Hervé (2018)
Editor
- Breaker! Breaker! (1977)
- Kingdom of the Spiders (1977)
- Starhops (1978)
- Below the Belt (1980)
Awards and nominations
References
- ^ "Blue" Gene Tyranny (2015). "Steven Zaillian". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 5, 2015. Retrieved January 4, 2015.
- ^ "'Ripley' Director Steve Zaillian Takes Home Emmy For Outstanding Directing For A Limited Or Anthology Series Or Movie". Deadline. September 16, 2024.
- ^ "Ripley". The Peabody Awards. Retrieved 2025-05-21.
- ^ "Armenia's tragedy was long in coming to the movie screen". Los Angeles Times. November 18, 2002. Retrieved January 13, 2020.
- ^ Setencich, Eli (March 23, 1994). "'Schindler's' screenwriter goes back to dad's vision". Fresno Bee. p. B1. Retrieved July 26, 2022. – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Garrett, Diane (2007-05-01). "Zaillian signs deal with Columbia". Variety. Retrieved 2021-01-07..
- ^ "Steven Zaillian biography". Tribute. Retrieved May 18, 2012.