Zach Dean is an American

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

and film producer, best known for writing the films '' Deadfall'', ''

The Tomorrow War ''The Tomorrow War'' is a 2021 American military science-fiction action film directed by Chris McKay, written by Zach Dean, and starring Chris Pratt. It was produced by David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, Don Granger, David S. Goyer, Jules Daly, a ...

'', ''

Fast X ''Fast X'' is a 2023 American action film directed by Louis Leterrier from a screenplay written by Dan Mazeau and Justin Lin, both of whom also co-wrote the story with Zach Dean. It is the sequel to ''F9 (film), F9'' (2021), the tenth main ins ...

'', and '' The Gorge''.

Early life

Dean is a

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

native. He was born in

Traverse City Traverse City ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Grand Traverse County, although it partly extends into Leelanau County. The city's population was 15,678 at the 2020 census, while the four-county Traverse C ...

and grew up near

Interlochen Interlochen ( ') is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Grand Traverse County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 census, the population was 694, up from 583 at the 2010 census. The community is located w ...

attending Interlochen Arts Academy. He earned a master's in writing from

New York University Tisch School of the Arts The New York University Tisch School of the Arts (commonly referred to as Tisch) is the performing, cinematic, and media arts school of New York University. Founded on August 17, 1965, as the School of the Arts at New York University, Tisch ...

in 2005. Before selling his first script, he taught digital film production and screenwriting at

Riverdale Country School Riverdale Country School is a co-educational, independent, college-preparatory day school in New York City serving pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade. It is located on two campuses covering more than in the Riverdale section of the Bronx, Ne ...

The Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

. He has also worked as a bartender, carpenter, and casino dealer.

Career

Dean's first produced screenplay was for the 2012 heist film '' Deadfall'', directed by

Stefan Ruzowitzky Stefan Ruzowitzky is an Austrian film director and screenwriter. Early life and education Ruzowitzky was born in Vienna. He studied drama and history at the University of Vienna and started directing music videos, for example for 'N Sync, an ...

, and starring

Eric Bana Eric Martin Andrew Banadinović (born 9 August 1968), known professionally as Eric Bana (), is an Australian actor. He began his career in the sketch-comedy series '' Full Frontal'' before gaining notice in the comedy drama '' The Castle'' (199 ...

Olivia Wilde Olivia Wilde (born Olivia Jane Cockburn, , March 10, 1984) is an American actress and director. She played Thirteen (House), Remy "Thirteen" Hadley on the medical-drama television series ''House (TV series), House'' (2007–2012), and appeared ...

, and

Charlie Hunnam Charles Matthew Hunnam (; born 10 April 1980) is an English actor. He portrayed Jax Teller in the FX (TV channel), FX drama series ''Sons of Anarchy'' (2008–2014), for which he was twice nominated for the Critics' Choice Television Award for ...

. In 2005, Dean was on

JetBlue Flight 292 JetBlue Flight 292 was a scheduled flight from Hollywood Burbank Airport, Bob Hope Airport in Burbank, California, to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City. On September 21, 2005, Captain Scott Burke executed an emergency landin ...

from Burbank to New York when the passengers were informed that the plane's landing gear had malfunctioned. As the plane circled around for hours, Dean contemplated his mortality and vowed to write a screenplay about family, which would become the script for ''Kin'' (later renamed ''Deadfall''). Dean wrote the 2017 sci-fi action thriller '' 24 Hours to Live'', directed by

Brian Smrz Brian Smrz (; born ), also Brian Delaney Smrz, is a Hollywood stunt coordinator and second unit director of projects such as '' Mission: Impossible 2'', ''Live Free or Die Hard'', ''Taxi'', ''Eagle Eye'', ''Night at the Museum'', '' Windtalkers'' ...

and starring

Ethan Hawke Ethan Green Hawke (born November 6, 1970) is an American actor, author, and film director. He made his film debut in ''Explorers (film), Explorers'' (1985), before making a breakthrough performance in ''Dead Poets Society'' (1989). Hawke starr ...

. He wrote the sci-fi action time travel thriller ''

'' (originally titled ''Ghost Draft''), which is directed by

Chris McKay Christopher McKay (born November 11, 1973) is an American filmmaker and animator. He is best known for directing and editing three seasons of ''Robot Chicken'' and two seasons of '' Moral Orel''. He made his feature directorial debut with '' T ...

and stars

Chris Pratt Christopher Michael Pratt (born June 21, 1979) is an American actor. His films as a leading actor have grossed over $14.1billion worldwide, making him the fifth-highest-grossing film star of all time. Pratt was named by ''Time'' as one of t ...

Yvonne Strahovski Yvonne Jaqueline Strzechowski (born 30 July 1982), known professionally as Yvonne Strahovski (), is an Australian actress. She is known for roles as Sarah Walker in the spy comedy drama series '' Chuck'' (2007–2012), Hannah McKay in the dra ...

J. K. Simmons Jonathan Kimble Simmons (born January 9, 1955) is an American actor. Considered one of the most prolific and well-established character actors of his generation, he has amassed over 200 screen and stage credits since his 1986 debut. He won th ...

, and

Betty Gilpin Betty Gilpin (born July 21, 1986) is an American actress. She is best known for portraying Debbie "Liberty Belle" Eagan in the Netflix comedy series '' GLOW'' (2017–2019), for which she was nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards for Outsta ...

. Originally scheduled to be released by

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...

Amazon Studios Amazon MGM Studios is an American film and television production and distribution company owned by Amazon, and headquartered at the Culver Studios complex in Culver City, California. Launched on November 16, 2010, it took its current name on O ...

acquired the rights to the film in a deal worth approximately $200 million, and release it on

Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...

on July 2, 2021. Several of his screenplays have made The Black List survey of Hollywood's most-liked unproduced scripts. ''Beast'', about a reformed criminal with a violent past, made the list in 2013. The

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

film ''Atlantic Wall'', with

Bradley Cooper Bradley Charles Cooper (born January 5, 1975) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is the recipient of various accolades, including a British Academy Film Award and three Grammy Awards. In addition, he has been nominated for twelve Acade ...

attached to star and Gavin O'Connor to direct, made the list in 2015. ''Voyagers'', a biopic for

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

which tells the love story of

Carl Sagan Carl Edward Sagan (; ; November 9, 1934December 20, 1996) was an American astronomer, planetary scientist and science communicator. His best known scientific contribution is his research on the possibility of extraterrestrial life, including e ...

and

Ann Druyan Ann Druyan ( ; born June 13, 1949) is an American documentary producer and director specializing in the communication of science. She co-wrote the 1980 PBS documentary series ''Cosmos'', hosted by Carl Sagan, whom she married in 1981. She i ...

, was on the 2016 Black List. ''The Gorge'' was on the 2020 Black List, and was purchased in 2020 by Skydance. In June 2024, Dean was revealed to have written the story treatment for ''

Fast XI ''Fast & Furious'', also known as ''The Fast and the Furious'', is an American action media franchise centered on a series of films revolving around street racing, heists, and spies. The franchise also includes short films, a television seri ...

''. Other yet-to-be-produced screenplays include the sci-fi film ''Canary'', which was purchased in 2018 by

Imagine Entertainment Imagine Entertainment, formerly Imagine Films Entertainment, also known simply as Imagine (stylized in all caps as IMAGINE), is an American film and television production company founded in November 1985 by producer Brian Grazer and director Ron ...

to be directed by

Ron Howard Ronald William Howard (born March 1, 1954) is an American filmmaker and actor. Howard started his career as a child actor before transitioning to directing films. Over his six-decade career, Howard has received List of awards and nominations r ...

; ''Methuselah'', at Warner Bros., based on the character from the

Old Testament The Old Testament (OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew and occasionally Aramaic writings by the Isr ...

; and the action-thriller ''Layover''.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dean, Zach Living people 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American screenwriters American male screenwriters Film producers from Michigan People from Traverse City, Michigan Screenwriters from Michigan Screenwriting instructors Survivors of aviation accidents or incidents Tisch School of the Arts alumni Year of birth missing (living people)