Melisa Wallack
| Melisa Wallack | |
|---|---|
| Born |
1968 (age 47–48) Wayzata, Minnesota, US |
| Occupation | Screenwriter, film director |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Skidmore College |
| Spouse | Bernie Goldmann |
Melisa Wallack is an American screenwriter, film director, and former business manager. Wallack and fellow screenwriter Craig Borten were nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for the 2013 film Dallas Buyers Club.
Life and career
Wallack was born in Wayzata, Minnesota,[1][2] a small town outside Minneapolis.[3] She was one of six children.[3] She attended Skidmore College, earning a Bachelor of Arts in English and a Bachelor of Science in business.[4]
After college, she returned to Minneapolis, and in 1991 she and her sister Andrea Wallack founded Night Owl, a company specializing in document management and data discovery for larger companies. When the company expanded to the West Coast in 1995, Wallack moved to Los Angeles and, after "meeting a lot of writers", decided to become a screenwriter herself.[1][5] She partnered with Craig Borten to write the screenplay for Dallas Buyers Club, which was based on the true story of AIDS activist Ron Woodruff.[1] Although Wallack and Borten sold the script in the 1990s, the film did not enter production for several years and was released in 2013, almost 20 years after it had been written.[5] Dallas Buyers Club received numerous accolades, including an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay for Wallack and Borten.[5]
After selling the script for Dallas Buyers Club, Wallack was named one of Variety magazine's "10 screenwriters to watch" in 2005.[1] Her first feature film to be produced was Meet Bill, which Wallack wrote and directed with her husband, Bernie Goldmann, and which was released in 2007.[5] She created the story for the 2012 film Mirror Mirror, an adaptation of the Snow White fairy tale starring Julia Roberts.[4]
Wallack's future projects include the screenplay of Emily the Strange[4] and a rewrite of The Last Witch Hunter.[6]
Filmography
- Meet Bill (2007) – writer, director
- Mirror Mirror (2012) – screen story
- Dallas Buyers Club (2013) – writer
- The Last Witch Hunter (2015) – writer
References
- 1 2 3 4 Ross, Matthew (June 16, 2005). "Melisa Wallack". Variety. Retrieved September 6, 2014.
- ↑ Kerr, Euan (November 8, 2013). "The Minnesota writer behind the Cowboy of 'Dallas Buyers Club'". Minnesota Public Radio News. Retrieved October 18, 2014.
- 1 2 Borten, Craig; Wallack, Melisa (December 23, 2013). "Spirit of champions drove the 'Dallas Buyers Club' script". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 18, 2013.
- 1 2 3 "Melisa Wallack". Focus Features. Retrieved September 6, 2014.
- 1 2 3 4 "Melisa Wallack". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved September 6, 2014.
- ↑ Yamato, Jen (March 31, 2014). "'Dallas Buyers Club's Melisa Wallack To Polish Vin Diesel's 'Last Witch Hunter'". Yahoo! Movies. Retrieved September 6, 2014.