George Donald Mancini (born January 25, 1963) is an American screenwriter, director, and producer. He is best known for creating and writing the ''Child's Play'' franchise (1988–present).

Career

Having been a horror fan since his childhood, Mancini's inspiration for '' Child's Play'' were films like ''

Trilogy of Terror ''Trilogy of Terror'' is a 1975 American made-for-television anthology horror film directed by Dan Curtis and starring Karen Black. It features three segments, each based on unrelated short stories by Richard Matheson. The first follows a col ...

'' and ''

The Twilight Zone ''The Twilight Zone'' is an American media franchise based on the anthology series, anthology television series created by Rod Serling in which characters find themselves dealing with often disturbing or unusual events, an experience described ...

'' episode " Living Doll"; aware of the "killer doll" as a horror trope, Mancini realized that the concept had never been executed as a feature-length film with animatronic effects work. As a film student at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

in the mid-1980s, Mancini was amused by the popularity of the

Cabbage Patch Kids Cabbage Patch Kids are a line of cloth dolls with plastic heads first produced by Coleco Industries in 1982. They were inspired by the Little People soft sculptured dolls sold by Xavier Roberts as collectibles. The brand was renamed 'Cabbage ...

line of dolls, and that the ubiquitous dolls were disappearing from toy shelves and prompting physical fights between parents. Mancini's father had worked in the advertising industry all his life, and he knew how effective marketing could result in consumer bedlam. Based on this, Mancini wanted to write a dark satire about how marketing affected children, with his first effort being as the co-writer of '' Child's Play'' (1988). Mancini wrote all seven films in the original ''Child's Play'' film series, and was the executive producer of ''

Bride of Chucky ''Bride of Chucky'' is a 1998 American black comedy slasher film written by Don Mancini and directed by Ronny Yu. The fourth installment in the ''Child's Play'' franchise, it stars Jennifer Tilly, Brad Dourif, John Ritter, Katherine Heigl, and ...

'' and ''

Cult of Chucky ''Cult of Chucky'' is a 2017 American supernatural slasher film written and directed by Don Mancini. The seventh installment of the ''Child's Play'' franchise, following the 2013 film ''Curse of Chucky'', it stars Fiona Dourif, Michael Therriau ...

''. He began directing ''Child's Play'' franchise entries with ''

Seed of Chucky ''Seed of Chucky'' is a 2004 black comedy slasher film. It is the fifth film in the ''Child's Play'' series, following ''Bride of Chucky''. The film was written and directed by Don Mancini in his directorial debut, and stars Jennifer Tilly, R ...

'' (2004), followed by ''

Curse of Chucky ''Curse of Chucky'' is a 2013 American slasher film and the sixth installment of the ''Child's Play'' franchise. The film was written and directed by Don Mancini, who created the franchise and wrote the first six films. It stars Fiona Dourif, ...

'' (2013) and ''Cult'' (2017), and was the creator, writer, and director of the '' Chucky'' TV series. He was not involved with the 2019 reboot. In 2007, he won the EyeGore award for career contributions to the horror genre. He sometimes goes by the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

Kit Dubois. Mancini attended St. Christopher's School in

Richmond, Virginia Richmond ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city (United States), independent city since 1871. ...

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university, research university system in the U.S. state of California. Headquartered in Oakland, California, Oakland, the system is co ...

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

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

(

Brad Dourif Bradford Claude Dourif (; born March 18, 1950) is an American actor. He is known for voicing Chucky in the ''Child's Play'' franchise (1988–present), portraying Gríma Wormtongue in ''The Lord of the Rings'' film series, and his Academy A ...

was among his teachers) in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

Personal life

Mancini grew up in

. He attended the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

, studying film. He is

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

. He has described consciously incorporating

queer ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are non-heterosexual or non- cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against LGBTQ people in the late 19th century. From the late 1980s, queer activists began to ...

elements into the ''Child's Play'' films; his experiences as a gay man, including receiving bullying and abuse from his father because of it, informed Mancini's creative direction on the ''Chucky'' TV series, which features a gay protagonist.

Filmography

Awards

References

External links

*
Campblood.org Interview with Don Mancini
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mancini, Don 1963 births American film producers American male screenwriters American writers of Italian descent Child's Play (franchise) Columbia University alumni English-language film directors Film directors from Virginia American gay writers American horror film directors American LGBTQ film directors LGBTQ people from Virginia Living people Screenwriters from Virginia St. Christopher's School (Richmond, Virginia) alumni University of California, Los Angeles alumni Writers from Richmond, Virginia American LGBTQ screenwriters 20th-century American LGBTQ people 21st-century American LGBTQ people