Christopher Wilkinson (born March 29, 1950) is an American screenwriter, producer, and director. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for Nixon (1995).[1] He also wrote the screenplays for Ali (2001)[2] and Copying Beethoven (2006), the latter of which he also produced.[3] Most of his scripts are historically based and co-written with Stephen J. Rivele.

Christopher Wilkinson
Born (1950-03-29) March 29, 1950 (age 73)
NationalityAmerican
Alma materTemple University
Occupation(s)Screenwriter, producer, director
Years active1979–present
SpouseCathy Guisewite (1997-2011)
Children2

Early life and education edit

Wilkinson was born in New York City and raised in Philadelphia. He began his career as a musician before attending film school at Temple University.[4]

Career edit

Wilkinson has written several biopics with frequent writing partner Stephen J. Rivele, starting with Nixon (1995)[5] and including Ali (2001)[2] and Copying Beethoven (2006).[3][6] He was a writer and executive producer on Pawn Sacrifice (2014) and Miles Ahead (2015), and wrote and directed the PBS film Virtuosity (2014).

Wilkinson worked on the screenplays for Mercury, a biopic about Queen lead singer Freddie Mercury,[7] the long-planned All Eyez on Me, about rapper Tupac Shakur,[8][9][10] and Birth of the Dragon, inspired by the real-life no-rules fight between Bruce Lee and Chinese kung fu master Wong Jack Man.[11]

Personal life edit

Wilkinson lives in Los Angeles, California, with his son.[12] He was formerly married to cartoonist Cathy Guisewite (creator of the comic strip Cathy).

Filmography edit

  • Echoes (1980) - writer/director/producer
  • Engine 2, Ladder 3 (1982) - writer/director/producer
  • The River (1984) - second unit director
  • Nuts (1987) - writer (uncredited)
  • Penrod (1990) - writer/director/producer
  • Nobody's Home (1990) - writer/director/producer
  • For the Boys (1991) - second unit director/associate producer
  • Intersection (1994) - second unit director/post-production supervisor
  • Nixon (1995) - writer
  • Ali (2001) - writer
  • Copying Beethoven (2006) - writer/producer
  • Virtuosity (2014)[13][14] - writer/director/producer
  • Pawn Sacrifice (2014) - writer/executive producer
  • Miles Ahead (2015) - writer/executive producer
  • Birth of the Dragon (2016) - writer/producer
  • All Eyez on Me (2017) - writer
  • Gemini Man (2019) - co-writer

References edit

External links edit