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John Gatins

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John Gatins
Born (1968-04-16) April 16, 1968 (age 56)[1]
New York City, U.S.
Alma materVassar College (1990)
Occupation(s)screenwriter, actor, director
Years active1993–present

John Gatins (born April 16, 1968[1]) is an American screenwriter, director, and actor. For writing the drama film Flight (2012), he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.

Gatins made his directorial feature debut by filming his screenplay for Dreamer (2005), and also wrote or co-wrote Coach Carter (2005), Real Steel (2011), Kong: Skull Island and Power Rangers (2017). As an actor, he has collaborated three times with Eddie Murphy, on Norbit (2007), Meet Dave (2008) and A Thousand Words (2012).

Early life and education

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Gatins was born in Manhattan, New York, where his father worked as a New York City police officer.[2] Later, his family relocated to the Poughkeepsie area, where Gatins went on to attend Arlington High School[3] and Vassar College.[2] He graduated in 1990 with a degree in drama.[2]

Career

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After graduation, Gatins moved to Los Angeles with the intention of pursuing acting.[2] His first role was in the low budget 1993 horror film Witchboard 2: The Devil's Doorway, followed by a role in the 1994 movie Pumpkinhead II: Blood Wings.[2] As he won small roles in larger-budget productions, including 1999's Varsity Blues and 2002's Big Fat Liar,[2] Jeremy Kramer, a fellow Vassar grad and employee at Fox, paid him $1,000 to write a teen comedy by the name of Smells Like Teen Suicide.[4] Varsity Blues was directed by Brian Robbins and produced by Michael Tollin, the latter of whom would, in 2001, direct Gatins's first screenplay, a romantic comedy entitled Summer Catch, while Robbins produced it.[2] Tollin returned in 2002 to direct Gatins's second screenplay, a dramedy called Hardball.[2] While continuing to act, Gatins wrote Coach Carter which was released in 2005.[2] The same year, he presented his first directorial effort, Dreamer, which he also wrote.[2]

At the suggestion of Steven Spielberg, Gatins was brought in to work on Real Steel, a science fiction film based on a 1956 Richard Matheson short story.[5] Gatins considered the draft of the screenplay which he received when he began working on the project to be very dark, and he adapted it to focus more on the family aspects, such as the film's father-son relationship, about which he was accustomed to writing in his previous works.[5] Real Steel was released October 7, 2011.[5]

Since 1999, Gatins had been working on Flight, an original screenplay which, by 2009, was 149 pages.[4] Robert Zemeckis picked up the script; and the resulting film, starring Denzel Washington, was released to critical acclaim in 2012.[4] Gatins received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Writing (Original Screenplay) at the 85th Academy Awards for his screenplay.[6]

DreamWorks tapped Gatins to write a sequel to Real Steel before the film was released based on positive test screenings of the movie.[7] He and his brother, George Gatins, also adapted the Electronic Arts videogame series Need for Speed into an eponymous film.[8]

Gatins rewrote Kong: Skull Island (2017) for Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures.[9] He also rewrote the 2017 Power Rangers reboot film, incorporating aspects from previous drafts by Max Landis, Matt Sazama, Burk Sharpless, Michele Mulroney, and Kieran Mulroney.

In 2022, Gatins and Andrea Berloff have signed a creative partnership with Netflix.[10]

Filmography

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Year Title Writer Producer Notes
2000 Ready to Rumble No Co-producer
2001 Summer Catch Yes Co-producer
Hardball Yes No
2005 Coach Carter Yes No
Dreamer Yes No Also director
2011 Real Steel Yes No
2012 Flight Yes No Nominated- Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay
2014 Need for Speed Story Yes
2017 Kong: Skull Island Story No
Power Rangers Yes Executive
2024 Little Wing Yes Yes

Uncredited script revisions

Acting roles

Year Title Role Notes
1993 Witchboard 2: The Devil's Doorway Russel
1994 Pumpkinhead II: Blood Wings Young Caspar Dixon Direct-to-video
1995 Leprechaun 3 Scott McCoy
1998 Gods and Monsters Kid Saylor Uncredited
Another Day in Paradise Phil
1999 Varsity Blues Smiling Man
2002 Impostor Patient-Soldier
Big Fat Liar Tow Truck Driver
2006 The Shaggy Dog Homeless Guy
2007 Norbit Attendant
2008 Meet Dave Air Traffic Controller
2009 Harmony and Me Homeless Tom
2010 Fred: The Movie Car Wash Clerk #1 TV movie
Terriers Beach Bum Episode "Hail Mary"
2011 Real Steel Kingpin
Fred 2: Night of the Living Fred Dishwasher
2012 A Thousand Words Valet
2017 Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Jeff Channington Episode "Getting Over Jeff"[11]
2019 Lying and Stealing Aton Eisenstadt

Thanks

References

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  1. ^ a b "'Flight': Screenwriter John Gatins confronts his fears". Los Angeles Times. November 2, 2012. Archived from the original on October 3, 2018. Retrieved April 17, 2020. the 44-year-old Gatins
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "John Gatins Biography". Tribute Entertainment Media Group. January 7, 2013. Archived from the original on January 9, 2013. Retrieved January 8, 2013.
  3. ^ "Poughquag's own John Gatins among Oscar nominees". Poughkeepsie Journal. January 11, 2013. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved January 11, 2013.
  4. ^ a b c Appelo, Tim (December 20, 2012). "Oscar Hopeful John Gatins on 'Flight' (Q&A)". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on January 1, 2013. Retrieved January 8, 2013.
  5. ^ a b c Campbell, Josie (September 29, 2011). "Gatins, Montford And Murphy Bet On The Family Drama Of Real Steel". Spinoff Online. Archived from the original on October 13, 2012. Retrieved January 12, 2013.
  6. ^ "FLIGHT". The Oscars. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on January 12, 2013. Retrieved January 11, 2013.
  7. ^ Fleming, Mike Jr. (April 14, 2011). "DreamWorks Revs Up 'Real Steel' Sequel". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on September 29, 2012. Retrieved January 12, 2013.
  8. ^ Graser, Marc; Jeff Sneider; Justin Kroll (April 12, 2012). "EA feeling the 'Need for Speed' movie". Variety. Archived from the original on February 11, 2013. Retrieved January 11, 2013.
  9. ^ Fleming, Mike Jr. (October 30, 2014). "King Kong Tale 'Skull Island' Gets Rewrite From 'Flight' Scribe John Gatins". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on July 1, 2020. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
  10. ^ Lang, Brent (October 4, 2022). "Oscar-Nominated Screenwriters Andrea Berloff, John Gatins Form Creative Partnership With Netflix (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Archived from the original on October 6, 2022. Retrieved October 6, 2022.
  11. ^ Shoemaker, Allison (December 8, 2017). "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend gives us the gift of a sad, sweet mid-season finale". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on December 9, 2017. Retrieved December 10, 2017.
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