John August

He hosts the popular screenwriting podcast Scriptnotes with Craig Mazin, maintains an eponymous screenwriting blog and develops screenwriter-targeted software through his company, Quote-Unquote Apps.^[1][2]


August is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, voting in the Writers branch.^[3] In 2016, he was awarded the WGAw's Valentine Davies Award for his dignified contributions to the entertainment industry and the community-at-large, and has been nominated for a BAFTA and a Grammy.^[4]

Career[edit]

August's debut film was 1999's critically acclaimed crime-comedy Go,^[10] directed by Doug Liman, for which he also served as co-producer and second unit director.^[11] The film performed moderately at the box office, but was well received, and has since become a cult classic.^[12]


After Go finished filming, August and Melissa McCarthy, who had a small role in the film, ran into each other in a coffee shop, and August told McCarthy that he had written a short film with her in mind.^[13] The short film, God, was shot after Go, but finished and released before.^[14] It has been credited as one of the early showcases of McCarthy's comedic talent.^[13]


August created his first television show, D.C., in 2000 for The WB. The series was produced by Law & Order creator Dick Wolf, with August serving as co-executive producer.^[15] Seven episodes were produced, though only four aired. In the same year, August also wrote the animated science fiction feature Titan A.E., and the McG-directed Charlie's Angels.^[15]


In the fall of 1998, while Go was still in post-production, August had acquired the film rights to Daniel Wallace's novel Big Fish after reading it as a not-yet published manuscript.^[16] His adaptation became the 2003 Tim Burton film of the same name and earned August a 2003 BAFTA Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay.^[17]


He returned to the world of Charlie's Angels to write its sequel, 2003's Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle. August has spoken about the difficult production process for the film.^[18]


He reunited with Big Fish director Burton in 2005 for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, an adaptation of Roald Dahl's classic children's book. August had written to Dahl as part of a third grade class project, and received a postcard reply. Though the reply was a form letter, August still had it, decades later, when he adapted the book.^[19] He earned a 2006 Grammy nomination for his lyrics for “Wonka's Welcome Song” from the film.^[20]


He collaborated for a third time with Burton on the stop-motion animated fantasy Corpse Bride, also released in 2005. The two films were in production simultaneously, with actors including Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter and Christopher Lee appearing in both.^[21] The film marked the third of five produced collaborations to date between August and Burton.


August made his feature directorial debut in 2007 with science fiction psychological thriller The Nines, starring Ryan Reynolds, Melissa McCarthy, Hope Davis and Elle Fanning. The film, which August also wrote, premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival^[22] and Venice Film Festival's Critics' Week.^[23] One of McCarthy's characters in the film, Margaret, is the same one she played in August's 1998 short film God.^[24]


In 2010, he partnered with game designer Jordan Mechner to pitch an adaptation of Mechner's Prince of Persia. August served as an executive producer on the resulting film, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, directed by Mike Newell and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer.^[25]


He reunited with Burton again in 2012 for the stop-motion fantasy horror comedy Frankenweenie, a remake of Burton's 1984 short film of the same name. August also received story credit on Burton's Dark Shadows adaptation.^[26]


August returned to Big Fish for a 2013 Broadway musical adaptation, with music and lyrics by Andrew Lippa, directed and choreographed by Susan Stroman.^[27] The musical has subsequently been adapted all over the world, including a 2017 run on London's West End starring Kelsey Grammer.^[28]


August co-wrote the screenplay for Walt Disney Pictures' live action musical fantasy film Aladdin (2019), alongside director Guy Ritchie.^[29]


In July 2016, August signed a deal to write a three-book series aimed at middle-grade children, inspired by his experience as a Boy Scout. The first book in the series, Arlo Finch in the Valley of Fire, was published on February 6, 2018 by Roaring Brook Press, an imprint of the Macmillan Children's Publishing Group.^[30] Its origins and creation were documented in August's podcast Launch.^[31] Arlo Finch in the Lake of the Moon published in 2019, and the final book in the series followed in 2020.