Mark Andrus, born December 13, 1955 in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

, is an American

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

. After receiving a

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

from UC Riverside, Andrus decided to take a creative writing class while waiting to hear from the law schools to which he had applied. Impressed by his work, instructor

Tomás Rivera Tomás Rivera (December 22, 1935 – May 16, 1984) was a Mexican American author, poet, and educator. He was born in Texas to migrant farm workers, and worked in the fields as a young boy. However, he achieved social mobility through education� ...

encouraged him to enroll in the

Master of Professional Writing Program A Master of Professional Writing Program is a type of graduate degree program in professional writing. Chatham University in Pennsylvania has an online MPW program. The University of Southern California's MPW program ended in May 2016, at which poin ...

at the

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...

.Tloose.com
Andrus later joined Castle Rock Entertainment, where he received his first screen credit for the 1991 romantic fantasy ''Late for Dinner''. Shortly after, Andrus wrote ''Old Friends'', a screenplay about the vilest man in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and his gay neighbor. Initially

Kevin Kline Kevin Delaney Kline (born October 24, 1947) is an American actor. He is the recipient of an Academy Award and three Tony Awards. In addition, he has received nominations for two British Academy Film Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards, and five ...

Ralph Fiennes Ralph Nathaniel Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes ( ; born 22 December 1962) is an English actor, film producer, and director. A Shakespeare interpreter, he excelled onstage at the Royal National Theatre before having further success at the Royal Shak ...

Holly Hunter Holly Patricia Hunter (born March 20, 1958) is an American actress. For her performance as Ada McGrath in the 1993 drama film '' The Piano'', Hunter won the Academy Award for Best Actress. She earned three additional Academy Award nominations for ...

, and producer

Laura Ziskin Laura Ellen ZiskinGale Research Company (2002). ''Contemporary theatre, film, and television,'' p. 388. Gale Research Co., (March 3, 1950 – June 12, 2011) was an American film producer, known as the executive producer of '' Pretty Woman'' (199 ...

expressed interest, but after many meetings the project fell into limbo for three years until

James L. Brooks James Lawrence Brooks (born May 9, 1940) is an American director, producer, screenwriter and co-founder of Gracie Films. His television and film work includes ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'', ''Taxi'', ''The Simpsons'', '' Broadcast News'', ''As G ...

became involved. The two collaborated on a rewrite that became '' As Good as It Gets'', which won the duo the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay and the Southeastern Film Critics Association Award for Best Original Screenplay. The two also shared nominations for the

Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay The Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay is the Academy Award for the best screenplay not based upon previously published material. It was created in 1940 as a separate writing award from the Academy Award for Best Story. Beginning with th ...

and the

Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay The Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay – Motion Picture is a Golden Globe Award given by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Winners and nominees 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s See also * Ac ...

. Andrus also wrote the original scripts '' Life as a House'' and '' Georgia Rule'', which won him and director Garry Marshall the Entertainment Industries Council PRISM Award for Best Feature Film, and the adaptation of '' Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood''. Andrus lives in

San Juan Capistrano, California San Juan Capistrano (Spanish for " St. John of Capistrano") is a city in Orange County, California, located along the Orange Coast. The population was 34,593 at the 2010 census. San Juan Capistrano was founded by the Spanish in 1776, when St ...

Filmography

* '' Late for Dinner'' (1991) * ''As Good as it Gets'' (1997) * '' Life as a House'' (2001) * ''Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood'' (adaptation) (2002) * '' Georgia Rule'' (2007) * '' And So It Goes'' (2014) * '' Otherhood'' (2019)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Andrus, Mark American male screenwriters Writers Guild of America Award winners Living people 1955 births University of California, Riverside alumni University of Southern California alumni Writers from Los Angeles Screenwriters from California