Dustin Lance Black

Screenwriter 

Dustin Lance Black is a multi-talented writer, producer and director, having won the 2008 Academy Award and Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay for MILK, the Gus Van Sant-directed biopic of the late gay rights activist Harvey Milk. Recently, Black filmed his feature directorial debut WHAT'S WRONG WITH VIRGINIA, a drama that stars Jennifer Connelly and Ed Harris.

An honors graduate of UCLA's School of Film and Television, Black began his professional career as an art director on commercials, and quickly transitioned to directing documentaries, television series, commercials and music videos. Black's first two documentaries ON THE BUS (2001) and MY LIFE WITH COUNT DRACULA (2003) both debuted to acclaim and subsequent festival success. ON THE BUS, originally commissioned as a half-hour internet program about a group of young men traveling to the Burning Man Festival in Nevada, was re-edited into an independent feature by Black, and later developed a cult following amongst the festival's diverse fan base. MY LIFE WITH COUNT DRACULA, an in-depth look at the final days of Dr. Donald A. Reed, creator of the Count Dracula Society-turned-Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films, premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival in 2003. The success of these two projects, coupled with Black's narrative short film SOMETHING CLOSE TO HEAVEN (which was named one of the ten best shorts of 2001 and earned Black a spot on AMC's "Five Filmmakers to Watch" special), lead to a successful stint producing, directing and writing TLC's hit program FAKING IT, based upon the famous BBC series about ordinary citizens spending time in a field far removed from their normal lives. The program received notices for its unflinching sociological commentaries.

In 2004, Black signed on to draw on his devout Mormon childhood experiences in San Antonio, Texas as a writer on HBO's Emmy and Golden Globe nominated polygamist drama BIG LOVE. During his work on the series, Black often traveled to San Francisco, where he spent many years as a teenager, to research the life of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man elected to a major public office. Milk's message of hope lead Black to pen his screenplay for MILK, which stars Academy Award winner Sean Penn, Academy Award Nominee Josh Brolin, James Franco, and Emile Hirsch. The film was released by Focus Features in November 2008 to unanimous praise, later receiving 8 Oscar Nominations including Best Picture of the Year.

Prior to MILK, Black penned the story and screenplay for PEDRO, the first scripted project from Bunim-Murray Productions about the life and legacy of famed REAL WORLD cast member Pedro Zamora. The film premiered at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival and debuts on MTV this spring.

Most recently, Black wrote J. EDGAR starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Naomi Watts, and directed by Clint Eastwood for Warner Bros.