Allison Burnett (born December 16, 1958) is an American screenwriter, film director, and novelist.

Early life and education

Allison Burnett was born in

Ithaca, New York Ithaca () is a city in and the county seat of Tompkins County, New York, United States. Situated on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake in the Finger Lakes region of New York (state), New York, Ithaca is the largest community in the Ithaca metrop ...

. He graduated from

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

Evanston, Illinois Evanston is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States, situated on the North Shore (Chicago), North Shore along Lake Michigan. A suburb of Chicago, Evanston is north of Chicago Loop, downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skok ...

Allison Burnett (Author of Undiscovered Gyrl)
/ref> before attending

Juilliard The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became the Juilliard School, named aft ...

where he studied playwriting.

Film

1990s

Burnett's first

screenplay A screenplay, or script, is a written work produced for a film, television show (also known as a '' teleplay''), or video game by screenwriters (cf. ''stage play''). Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of w ...

to be produced was the kick-boxing prison drama, '' Bloodfist III: Forced to Fight'' (1992), which he co-wrote with Charles Mattera. He also wrote

Gregory Hines Gregory Oliver Hines (February 14, 1946 – August 9, 2003) was an American dancer, actor, choreographer, and singer. He is one of the most celebrated tap dancers of all time. As an actor, he is best known for '' Wolfen'' (1981), '' The Cotton C ...

' directorial debut, ''Bleeding Hearts'' (1994), and the film ''

Red Meat In gastronomy, red meat is commonly red when raw (and a dark color after it is cooked), in contrast to white meat, which is pale in color before (and after) cooking. In culinary terms, only flesh from mammals or fowl (not fish) is classified ...

'' (1997), which he directed, starring

John Slattery John M. Slattery Jr. (born August 13, 1962) is an American actor and director. He is known for his role as Roger Sterling in the AMC drama series ''Mad Men'' (2007–15), for which he was nominated 4 times for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outsta ...

Jennifer Grey Jennifer Grey (born March 26, 1960) is an American actress. She made her acting debut with the film Reckless (1984 film), ''Reckless'' (1984), and had her breakthrough with the teen comedy film ''Ferris Bueller's Day Off'' (1986). She earned wo ...

, and

Lara Flynn Boyle Lara Flynn Boyle (born March 24, 1970) is an American actress. She is known for playing Donna Hayward in the television series ''Twin Peaks'' (1990–1991). After appearing in Penelope Spheeris's comedy ''Wayne's World (film), Wayne's World'' (1 ...

2000s

Burnett's next film was '' Autumn in New York'' (2000), starring

Richard Gere Richard Tiffany Gere ( ; born August 31, 1949) is an American actor. He began appearing in films in the 1970s, playing a supporting role in ''Looking for Mr. Goodbar (film), Looking for Mr. Goodbar'' (1977) and a starring role in ''Days of Hea ...

and

Winona Ryder Winona Laura Horowitz (born ), known professionally as Winona Ryder, is an American actress. Having come to attention playing quirky characters in the late 1980s, she achieved success with her more dramatic performances in the 1990s. Ryder's L ...

. This was followed by the Lifetime Original Movie ''Perfect Romance'' (2004), '' Feast of Love'' (2007) based on the book by Charles Baxter and starring

Morgan Freeman Morgan Freeman (born June 1, 1937) is an American actor, producer, and narrator. In a career spanning six decades, he has received numerous accolades, including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award, as well as a nomination for a Tony ...

and

Greg Kinnear Gregory Buck Kinnear (born June 17, 1963) is an American actor and former talk show host. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in '' As Good as It Gets'' (1997). Kinnear has appeared in many popular films, ...

, and Resurrecting the Champ (2007), written with Michael Bortman and starring Samuel L. Jackson and

Josh Hartnett Joshua Daniel Hartnett (born July 21, 1978) is an American actor. He began his career on American Broadcasting Company, ABC's drama series ''Cracker (American TV series), Cracker'' (1997–1998), after which he became known as a teen idol thro ...

. In 2008, Burnett wrote, with Robert Fyvolent and Mark Brinker, the crime thriller '' Untraceable'' (2008) starring

Diane Lane Diane Lane (born January 22, 1965) is an American actress. Her accolades include nominations for an Academy Award, three Primetime Emmy Awards, and three Golden Globe Awards. Lane made her film debut in George Roy Hill's 1979 film '' A Littl ...

. The following year, Burnett wrote the remake of '' Fame''.

2010s

Burnett had two films released in 2012. The first was '' Underworld Awakening'' (2012), co-written with

Len Wiseman Len Ryan Wiseman (born March 4, 1973) is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. He is best known for his work on the ''Underworld (film series), Underworld'' series (2003–2016), ''Live Free or Die Hard'' (2007), and the Total ...

, John Hlavin, and

J. Michael Straczynski Joseph Michael Straczynski, known as J. Michael Straczynski (; born July 17, 1954) is an American filmmaker and comic book writer. He is the founder of Synthetic Worlds Ltd. and Studio JMS and is known as the creator of the science fiction televi ...

, the fourth film in the ''

Underworld The underworld, also known as the netherworld or hell, is the supernatural world of the dead in various religious traditions and myths, located below the world of the living. Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underworld. ...

'' series starring

Kate Beckinsale Kathrin Romany Beckinsale (born 26 July 1973) is an English actress. The only child of actors Richard Beckinsale and Judy Loe, she debuted in the series premiere of the 1975 daytime drama ''Couples.'' In 1993, she made her theatrical film deb ...

. The following month, '' Gone'' (2012) was released, starring Amanda Seyfried. In 2013, Burnett directed his second film, '' Ask Me Anything'' (2013) based on his novel ''Undiscovered Gyrl''. The film stars

Britt Robertson Brittany Leanna Robertson-Floyd (née Robertson; born April 18, 1990), known professionally as Britt Robertson, is an American actress. She has appeared in the films '' The First Time'' (2012), ''Tomorrowland'' (2015), '' The Space Between Us'' ...

Justin Long Justin Jacob Long (born June 2, 1978) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for his film roles, particularly in comedy and horror films, notably appearing in ''Galaxy Quest'' (1999), ''Jeepers Creepers (2001 film), Jeepers Creepers'' ( ...

Christian Slater Christian Michael Leonard Slater (born August 18, 1969) is an American actor. He made his film debut with a leading role in '' The Legend of Billie Jean'' (1985) and gained wider recognition for his breakout role as Jason "J.D." Dean, a sociopath ...

Robert Patrick Robert Hammond Patrick (born November 5, 1958) is an American actor. Known for portraying villains and authority figures, Patrick is a Saturn Award winner with four other nominations. Patrick dropped out of college when drama class sparked his ...

, and

Martin Sheen Ramón Gerard Antonio Estévez (born August 3, 1940), known professionally as Martin Sheen, is an American actor. His work spans over six decades of television and film, and his accolades include three Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and ...

. In 2019, Burnett directed the sequel to '' Ask Me Anything'', ''Another Girl'', starring Sammi Hanratty and Peter Gadiot, based on his 2015 novella of the same name.

Fiction

Burnett's first novel, ''Christopher: A Tale of Seduction'' was published in 2003 by

Broadway Books Broadway Books is an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc.. It released its first list in Fall 1996. Broadway was founded in 1995 as a unit of Bantam Doubleday Dell, a unit of Bertelsmann. Bertelsmann acquire ...

. It was a finalist for the 2004 Pen Center Literary Award. In 2006, Burnett wrote a sequel to ''Christopher'' titled ''The House Beautiful'', published by Carroll & Graf, followed in 2009 by the novel '' Undiscovered Gyrl'', published by

Vintage Books Vintage Books is a trade paperback publishing imprint of Penguin Random House originally established by Alfred A. Knopf in 1954. The company was acquired by Random House in April 1960, and a British division was set up in 1990. After Random Ho ...

. In 2011, Burnett wrote the second sequel to his novel ''Christopher'', titled ''Death By Sunshine'', published by Writers Tribe Books. Burnett released his fifth novel, ''The Escape of Malcolm Poe,'' in 2014. He released a sequel novella to ''Undiscovered Gyrl'', titled ''Another Girl'', in 2015.

Filmography

Novels

References

* * * *

External links

Allison Burnett
at Official Site * {{DEFAULTSORT:Burnett, Allison 1958 births Living people American male screenwriters Writers from Ithaca, New York Northwestern University alumni Juilliard School alumni Film directors from New York (state) 21st-century American novelists American male novelists 21st-century American male writers Novelists from New York (state) Screenwriters from New York (state) 21st-century American screenwriters