John Curran (born September 11, 1960) is an American film director and screenwriter.

Life and career

Born in

Utica, New York Utica () is the county seat of Oneida County, New York, United States. The tenth-most populous city in New York, its population was 65,283 in the 2020 census. It is located on the Mohawk River in the Mohawk Valley at the foot of the Adiro ...

, Curran studied illustration and design at

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...

, then worked as an illustrator, graphic designer, and production designer in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

before moving to

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

in 1986. There he worked on television commercials before writing and directing the short film ''Down Rusty Down''. For his debut feature film, the 1998 drama ''Praise'', he was nominated for the

Australian Film Institute Award for Best Direction The AACTA Award for Best Direction is an award presented by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA), a non-profit organisation whose aim is to "identify, award, promote and celebrate Australia's greatest achievements in film ...

and won the

Film Critics Circle of Australia The Film Critics Circle of Australia (FCCA) is an association of cinema critics and reviewers. It includes journalists in "media, television, major national and state papers, radio, national and state, online and freelance writers, Australian ...

Award for Best Director and the International Critics' Award at the

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world. Founded in 1976, the festival takes place every year in early September. The organi ...

. Six years passed before Curran tackled his next project, the independent film '' We Don't Live Here Anymore'', for which he was nominated for the Grand Special Prize at the

Deauville American Film Festival The Deauville American Film Festival () is a yearly film festival devoted to Cinema of the United States, American cinema, which has taken place since 1975 in Deauville, France. It was established by Lionel Chouchan, André Halimi, and then ...

and the Grand Jury Prize at the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...

. He followed this two years later with '' The Painted Veil'', the third screen adaptation of the 1925 novel by

W. Somerset Maugham William Somerset Maugham ( ; 25 January 1874 – 16 December 1965) was an English writer, known for his plays, novels and short stories. Born in Paris, where he spent his first ten years, Maugham was schooled in England and went to a German un ...

. He wrote the screenplay for '' The Killer Inside Me'', the second film adaptation of the 1952 novel by Jim Thompson. Directed by

Michael Winterbottom Michael Winterbottom (born 29 March 1961) is an English film director. He began his career working in British television before moving into features. Three of his films—''Welcome to Sarajevo'', ''Wonderland (1999 film), Wonderland'' and ''24 ...

and starring

Jessica Alba Jessica Marie Alba ( ; born April 28, 1981) is an American actress and businesswoman. She began her acting career at age 13 in ''Camp Nowhere'', followed up by ''The Secret World of Alex Mack'' (both 1994), and rose to prominence at age 19 as ...

Kate Hudson Kate Garry Hudson (born April 19, 1979) is an American actress and singer. Born to singer Bill Hudson (singer), Bill Hudson and actress Goldie Hawn, Hudson made her film debut in the 1998 drama ''Desert Blue'', which was followed by supporting ...

Casey Affleck Casey Affleck (born Caleb Casey McGuire Affleck-Boldt; August 12, 1975) is an American actor. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Casey Affleck, various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film ...

, and

Bill Pullman William Pullman (born December 17, 1953) is an American actor. After graduating with a Master of Fine Arts degree in theater, he was an adjunct professor at Montana State University before deciding to pursue acting. Pullman made his film debut i ...

, it was filmed in

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

. He also is set to direct ''The Beautiful and Damned'', a Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald biopic starring

Keira Knightley Keira Christina Knightley ( ; born 26 March 1985) is an English actress. Known for her work in independent films and Blockbuster (entertainment), blockbusters, particularly Historical drama, period dramas, she has received List of awards and no ...

. In October 2012, he began filming an adaptation of Robyn Davidson's ''Tracks'', starring

Mia Wasikowska Mia Wasikowska ( ; born 25 October 1989) is an Australian actress. She made her screen debut on the Australian television drama '' All Saints'' in 2004, followed by her feature film debut in '' Suburban Mayhem'' (2006). She first became known t ...

, in Australia. He lives in

Pittsford, New York Pittsford is an incorporated town in Monroe County, New York. A suburb of Rochester, its population was 30,617 at the time of the 2020 census. Formerly part of the town of Northfield, Pittsford was settled in 1789 and incorporated in 1796. T ...

Filmography

Feature films

* ''

Praise Praise as a form of social interaction expresses recognition, reassurance or admiration. Praise is expressed verbally as well as by body language (facial expression and gestures). Verbal praise consists of a positive evaluations of another's ...

'' (1998) - Director * '' We Don't Live Here Anymore'' (2004) - Director * '' The Painted Veil'' (2006) - Director/Executive producer * '' The Killer Inside Me'' (2010) - Writer * ''

Stone In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...

'' (2010) - Director * '' Tracks'' (2013) - Director * '' Chappaquiddick'' (2017) - Director * ''The Beautiful and the Damned'' (TBA) - Director * ''Mercy Road'' (2023) - Director

Short films

* ''Down Rusty Down'' (1996) - Director

References

External links

*
''Real Time/On Screen'' interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Curran, John American male screenwriters Writers from Utica, New York Syracuse University alumni 1960 births Living people People from Pittsford, New York Film directors from New York (state) Screenwriters from New York (state)