Jeffrey D. Nathanson (born October 12, 1965) is an American screenwriter, director, and producer.

Early life and education

Nathanson was born on October 12, 1965, in

Los Angeles County, California Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the List of the most populous counties in the United States, most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, ...

. He attended the

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduates and 2,983 graduate students enrolled in 2021–2022. It is part of the U ...

as an English major from 1983 to 1985. While at UC Santa Barbara, he worked on the school's newspaper, the '' Daily Nexus'', and has stated that the courses he took at UC Santa Barbara led him to want to become a screenwriter. He later enrolled in the screenwriting program at the

AFI Conservatory The AFI Conservatory is a private not-for-profit graduate film school in the Hollywood Hills district of Los Angeles. Students (called "Fellows") learn from the masters in a collaborative, hands-on production environment with an emphasis on ...

for one year.

Career

He is best known for his work on the ''

Rush Hour A rush hour (American English, British English) or peak hour (Australian English) is a part of the day during which traffic congestion on roads and crowding on public transport is at its highest. Normally, this happens twice every weekday: o ...

'' sequels '' Rush Hour 2'' and ''

Rush Hour 3 ''Rush Hour 3'' is a 2007 American buddy action comedy film directed by Brett Ratner, written by Jeff Nathanson, and starring Jackie Chan, Chris Tucker, Max von Sydow, Hiroyuki Sanada, Noémie Lenoir, Yvan Attal and Youki Kudoh. It is the thi ...

'', ''

Catch Me If You Can ''Catch Me If You Can'' is a 2002 American Biographical film, biographical crime film, crime Comedy drama, comedy-drama film directed and produced by Steven Spielberg and starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks with Christopher Walken, Martin ...

'', '' The Terminal'', and '' The Last Shot''. He co-wrote a story draft for the film ''

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull ''Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull'' is a 2008 American action-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg and the fourth installment in the ''Indiana Jones'' series. Released and taking place 19 years after the previous ...

'' (2008) with

George Lucas George Walton Lucas Jr. (born May 14, 1944) is an American filmmaker. Lucas is best known for creating the '' Star Wars'' and '' Indiana Jones'' franchises and founding Lucasfilm, LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic and THX. He served as c ...

; the film was directed by

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg (; born December 18, 1946) is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Sp ...

. He wrote the screenplay for '' Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales'' (2017), on which he also received a story by co-credit, the latter with

Terry Rossio Terry Rossio (born July 2, 1960) is an American screenwriter. He co-wrote the films '' Aladdin'', ''Shrek'', and all five of the ''Pirates of the Caribbean'' series. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for ''Shrek ...

. He wrote the script for the 2019 CGI ''The Lion King'' remake for Disney, directed by

Jon Favreau Jonathan Kolia Favreau (; born October 19, 1966) is an American actor and filmmaker. As an actor, Favreau has appeared in films such as '' Rudy'' (1993), '' PCU'' (1994), '' Swingers'' (1996), ''Very Bad Things'' (1998), '' Deep Impact'' (1998) ...

. On October 3, 2017, it was reported that Nathanson would be penning a script for a biographical film directed by

Brett Ratner Brett Ratner (born March 28, 1969) is an American film director and producer. He directed the ''Rush Hour'' film series, '' The Family Man'', '' Red Dragon'', '' X-Men: The Last Stand'', and ''Tower Heist''. He is also a producer of several film ...

based on the life of the ''

Playboy ''Playboy'' is an American men's Lifestyle magazine, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from H ...

'' founder

Hugh Hefner Hugh Marston Hefner (April 9, 1926 – September 27, 2017) was an American magazine publisher. He was the founder and editor-in-chief of ''Playboy'' magazine, a publication with revealing photographs and articles which provoked charges of obsc ...

, who will be portrayed by

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

winner

Jared Leto Jared Joseph Leto ( ; born December 26, 1971) is an American actor and musician. Known for his method acting in a variety of roles, he has received numerous accolades over a career spanning three decades, including an Academy Award and a Gold ...

, but the biopic was put indefinitely on hold and was confirmed that Leto would not portray the ''

'' founder following an emergence of sexual harassment allegations against Ratner on November 2, 2017.

Honors and awards

Nathanson was nominated for a Best Original Screenplay

British Academy of Film and Television Arts British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

Award for his work on ''Catch Me If You Can''.

Screenwriting filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nathanson, Jeff Living people 1965 births 21st-century American male writers AFI Conservatory alumni American film directors American film producers American male screenwriters Male screenwriters University of California, Santa Barbara alumni 21st-century American screenwriters