Ken Nolan (/ˈnoʊlən/) is an American screenwriter and novelist best known for adapting the 2001 biographical war film Black Hawk Down[1] from the non-fiction book of the same name.[2]
Ken Nolan | |
|---|---|
| Born | Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Education | University of Oregon |
| Genre | War, biographical, historical fiction, thriller, military fiction, action adventure |
| Notable works | Black Hawk Down The Company Transformers: The Last Knight |
| Notable awards | WGA Award for Television |
Life and career
editNolan was born in Detroit and raised in Buffalo, New York and Portland, Oregon.[3] He applied twice to the UCLA Film School but was turned down both times.[4] He ultimately attended the University of Oregon, earning an English degree. He moved to Los Angeles, California in the early 1990s to pursue a career as a screenwriter, working at Richard Dreyfuss' company using The Screenwriter's Workbook by Syd Field as a guide.[5] He wrote several screenplays before breaking through in 1994, writing a series of spec scripts for Warner Bros. and Universal Pictures.
His first produced screenplay was an adaptation of Mark Bowden's 1999 non-fiction book Black Hawk Down, which was ultimately made into an Academy Award-winning film of the same name by Ridley Scott.[6] He initially wrote a 60-page treatment and writing a total of eight drafts before Scott was attached to the project by producer Jerry Bruckheimer.[7] Nolan was one of several writers (including Steven Zaillian,[8] Stephen Gaghan, Eric Roth[9])[10] who contributed to the final shooting script, though he was the only one to receive on-screen credit.
Nolan's next major project was the TNT miniseries The Company, for which he received a Writers Guild of America Award for Television: Long Form – Adapted.[11] In early 2015, he published his first novel, The Spawn.[12][13]
He replaced Ehren Kruger as the writer of the Transformers film series, penning the latest entry Transformers: The Last Knight and the as-yet untitled spin-off film.[14] Nolan wrote Only the Brave, a 2017 drama film which, like Black Hawk Down, is a work of historical fiction based on true events.
Works
editFilm
- Black Hawk Down (2001)
- Transformers: The Last Knight (2017)
- Only the Brave (2017)
- Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (additional literary material) (2023)
- The Amateur (2025)
Television
- The Company (2007)
- The Spawn (2015)
References
edit- ^ "FROM SCRIPT TO SCREEN: 'Black Hawk Down' – Script Magazine". Script Magazine. January 21, 2016. Retrieved September 15, 2017.
- ^ "Ken Nolan". www.writersstore.com. Retrieved September 15, 2017.
- ^ "Writing "Black Hawk Down"". Screenwriting from Iowa. April 3, 2010. Retrieved September 15, 2017.
- ^ "Writing "Black Hawk Down"". Screenwriting from Iowa. April 3, 2010. Retrieved September 15, 2017.
- ^ "Writing "Black Hawk Down"". Screenwriting from Iowa. April 3, 2010. Retrieved September 15, 2017.
- ^ "FROM SCRIPT TO SCREEN: 'Black Hawk Down' – Script Magazine". Script Magazine. January 21, 2016. Retrieved September 15, 2017.
- ^ "Writing "Black Hawk Down"". Screenwriting from Iowa. April 3, 2010. Retrieved September 15, 2017.
- ^ "FROM SCRIPT TO SCREEN: 'Black Hawk Down' – Script Magazine". Script Magazine. January 21, 2016. Retrieved September 15, 2017.
- ^ Boggs, Carl (July 5, 2017). The Hollywood War Machine: U.S. Militarism and Popular Culture. Routledge. ISBN 9781351543606.
- ^ Niemi, Robert (2006). History in the Media: Film and Television. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 9781576079522.
- ^ "2008 Writers Guild Awards Winners Announced". Writers Guild of America, West. Archived from the original on April 23, 2008. Retrieved July 9, 2016.
- ^ "Ken Nolan". Simon & Schuster.
- ^ Nolan, Ken (February 15, 2015). The Spawn. Permuted Platinum. ISBN 9781618685131.
- ^ "TRANSFORMERS: Akiva Goldsman Adds Ken Nolan and Geneva Robertson to Writers' Room". Collider. June 4, 2015. Retrieved September 15, 2017.