Christopher Wilkinson is an American screenwriter, producer, and director. He is best known for writing the Academy Award-nominated screenplay for Oliver Stone's film Nixon,“The Oscars: A Scorecard,” The New York Times, March 25, 1996. and for Ali, starring Will Smith.Claude Brodesser, “Smith laces up for ‘Ali’,” Variety, May 15, 2001.
Early life and education Wilkinson was born in New York City and raised in Philadelphia. He began his career as a musician while attending film school at Temple University.Chris Wehner, “10 Questions with Nixon & Ali Screenwriter Chris Wilkinson,” Screenwriter's Utopia, March 29, 2005.
Career Before working on feature films, Wilkinson wrote, produced, and directed documentaries, industrials, and commercials for EUE/Screen Gems, PBS, Center City Video, and Bell of Pennsylvania. During this period, he also worked as a cameraman for ESPN. After director Mark Rydell saw Wilkinson's documentary Engine 2, Ladder 3 during a directing seminar at the Maine Photographic Workshop, he hired Wilkinson as second unit director for his film The River (1984). Wilkinson would go on to run script development at Rydell's Concourse Productions, and direct the second units of his films For the Boys (1991) and Intersection (1994).
Wilkinson has written several films with Stephen J. Rivele. In 1992, they were hired to write three screenplays for George Harrison's HandMade Films, which cemented their partnership. They went on to write Nixon (1995), starring Anthony Hopkins,Janet Maslin, “Stone’s Embrace of a Despised President,” The New York Times, December 20, 1995. and Ali (2001), directed by Michael Mann. They wrote and produced Copying Beethoven (2006), starring Ed Harris,Michael Wilmington, “Movie review: ‘Copying Beethoven’,” Chicago Tribune, November 9, 2006.Manohla Dargis, “Handmaiden to a Maestro and Midwife to His Symphony,” The New York Times, November 10, 2006. and Birth of the Dragon (2016).Borys Kit, “Bruce Lee Origin Story Heading to Big Screen,” The Hollywood Reporter, February 19, 2013. They were also writers and executive producers on Ed Zwick's Pawn Sacrifice (2014) and Miles Ahead (2015), directed by and starring Don Cheadle.
On his own, Wilkinson wrote the pilot for the television series Fordlandia, to be directed by Werner Herzog, and the screenplay for the upcoming Ridley Scott film, The Dog Stars.
Personal life Wilkinson lives in Los Angeles, California.Biography for Christopher Wilkinson, IMDb. Accessed October 10, 2013. He was formerly married to cartoonist Cathy Guisewite (creator of the comic strip Cathy).
Filmography Film Year Title Writer Producer 1995 Nixon 2001 Ali 2006 Copying Beethoven 2014 Pawn Sacrifice 2015 Miles Ahead 2016 Birth of the Dragon 2026 The Dog Stars
Documentary film Year Title Director Writer Producer 1981 Engine 2, Ladder 3 2014 VirtuosityNew National PBS Air Date for Cliburn Documentary, Virtuosity June 4, 2015Virtuosity: The Van Cliburn International Piano Competition makes Music a grueling competition sport July 28, 2015
Uncredited rewrites The River (1984) Nuts (1987) Moneyball (2011) All Eyez on Me (2017) Bohemian Rhapsody (2018) A Star Is Born (2018) Gemini Man (2019)
Other credits Year Title 2nd UnitDirector Producer Notes 1984 The River 1991 For the Boys Played the part of Niles LaGuardia 1994 Intersection
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