Alston Ramsay is an American

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

speechwriter A speechwriter is a person who is hired to prepare and write speeches to be delivered by another person. Speechwriters are employed by many senior-level elected officials and executives in the government and private sectors. They can also be em ...

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

, and film producer. He is known for his work as a Pentagon speechwriter in the Bush and

Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. Ob ...

administrations and as a screenwriter for critically acclaimed feature films. Ramsay spent a year in

Kabul, Afghanistan Kabul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province. The city is divided for administration into 22 municipal districts. A 2025 estima ...

, on

General David Petraeus David Howell Petraeus (; born 7 November 1952) is a retired United States Army General (United States), general who served as the fourth director of the Central Intelligence Agency from September 2011 until his resignation in November 2012. Pri ...

’ senior staff. He wrote and produced the IFC film '' Midnighters'' which holds an 81% rating on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

. His second film, ''The Current Occupant'', is a tech-noir horror film about the

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

. The film was produced by

Blumhouse Blumhouse Productions, LLC, doing business as Blumhouse (; also known as BH Productions or simply BH), is an American independent film and television production company founded in 2000 by Jason Blum and Amy Israel. Blumhouse is known mainly fo ...

for the '' Into the Dark'' anthology series and released on

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in July 2020.

Early life and education

Ramsay grew up in a small town in North Carolina where his family worked in medical textiles. He attended

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...

, where he was

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is held accoun ...

of a campus journal. He graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. in American Government. He also has an M.B.A. from

UNC Kenan–Flagler Business School The UNC Kenan–Flagler Business School is the business school of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Founded in 1919, the school was renamed to its current name in 1991 in ...

. He frequently works with his older brother, film and television director

Julius Ramsay Julius Ramsay is an American film director, editor, and producer. He is known for directing two feature films and episodes of '' The Walking Dead'', ''The Purge'', and other television series. Ramsay has received multiple Emmy nominations. Ramsa ...

Career

Ramsay began his career as a

and

magazine editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, organization, and ...

before moving to

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

He spent four years as the deputy chief speechwriter for

Secretary of Defense A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divided ...

Robert Gates Robert Michael Gates (born September 25, 1943) is an American intelligence analyst and university president who served as the 22nd United States secretary of defense from 2006 to 2011. He was appointed by President George W. Bush and retained b ...

. He then worked for Commanding General

David Petraeus David Howell Petraeus (; born 7 November 1952) is a retired United States Army General (United States), general who served as the fourth director of the Central Intelligence Agency from September 2011 until his resignation in November 2012. Pri ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

as Petraeus' head writer and strategic analyst. Ramsay has also written speeches for former

Secretary of Homeland Security The United States secretary of homeland security is the head of the United States Department of Homeland Security, the federal department tasked with ensuring public safety in the United States. The secretary is a member of the Cabinet of the U ...

Jeh Johnson Jeh Charles Johnson ( "Jay"; born September 11, 1957) is an American lawyer and former government official. He was United States Secretary of Homeland Security from 2013 to 2017. From 2009 to 2012, Johnson was the general counsel of the Departm ...

, other four-star generals, presidential candidates, and Fortune 100 CEOs. After receiving his MBA, Ramsay moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

and wrote and produced the independent thriller film '' Midnighters''. Following its premiere at the Los Angeles Film Festival, the film was purchased and released by IFC in 2018. Ramsay's second feature film, ''The Current Occupant'', is a psychedelic institutional horror film based on his experiences working in politics. Actor Barry Watson stars as a patient in a mental asylum who believes that he is the

. Ramsay wrote the screenplay and worked as an Executive Producer on the film. ''The Current Occupant'' aired as an episode of the

horror Horror may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Genres *Horror fiction, a genre of fiction **Psychological horror, a subgenre of horror fiction **Christmas horror, a subgenre of horror fiction **Analog horror, a subgenre of horror fiction * ...

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and g ...

web television Streaming television is the digital distribution of television content, such as films and television series, streamed over the Internet. Standing in contrast to dedicated terrestrial television delivered by over-the-air aerial systems, cable te ...

series '' Into the Dark'' and served as the tenth episode of the show's second season. It was produced by

as a Hulu Original for

. Filming was completed two weeks before the COVID-19 pandemic suspended film production in the United States. A trailer was released on July 2, 2020 and the film premiered on July 17 on Hulu to favorable reviews.

Filmography

References

External links

* 1980s births Living people American television writers Date of birth missing (living people) People from Asheboro, North Carolina American television producers Year of birth missing (living people) University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni Screenwriters from North Carolina Dartmouth College alumni Journalists from North Carolina {{US-tv-bio-stub