Curtis Hanson Biography (3)

Producer-director Curtis Hanson began his career as a screenwriter. His writing credits include the multiple award-winning Canadian feature The Silent Partner, White Dog (co-written with director Sam Fuller) and Never Cry Wolf.

In 1987, Hanson directed his screenplay for The Bedroom Window. He followed this by directing two more contemporary thrillers, Bad Influence and The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, and the Meryl Streep action-adventure film The River Wild.

Most recently, Hanson directed, produced and co-wrote (with Brian Helgeland) the screenplay for L.A. Confidential, based on the epic crime novel by James Ellroy. In addition to winning 1997 Academy Awards for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress (Kim Basinger), the film won the Best Adapted Screenplay Award from the Writers Guild of America as well as Best Picture, Best Director and Best Screenplay awards from such associations as the New York Film Critics Circle, the National Society of Film Critics and the Los Angeles Film Critics Association. In fact, it was the first film ever to win Best Picture and Best Director from every major critics organization.

Hanson is also very interested in film preservation and for the last year has served as the Chairman of the UCLA Film and Television Archive.

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