Dustin Lance Black

Screenwriter 

In accepting his Academy Award for "Best Original Screenplay", MILK screenwriter Dustin Lance Black dutifully dispatched with the thank-yous and then -- in keeping with the spirit of the film about gay rights activist Harvey Milk -- got personal and political.

Black recalled being raised in a Mormon home and hearing Milk's story around the time his family moved to California. "It gave me the hope one day I could live my life openly as who I am and then maybe even I could even fall in love and one day get married," said the first-time nominee and writer on HBO's Big Love.

An honors graduate of UCLA's School of Film and Television, Dustin Lance Black began his professional career as an art director and quickly transitioned into directing documentaries, television series, commercials and music videos. The success of the documentaries On the Bus and My Life with Count Dracula led to two years producing and directing the hit BBC series Faking It which aired on TLC in the US. In 2001 Black's narrative short film Something Close to Heaven was named one of the ten best shorts of that year, landing Black in AMC's "Five Filmmakers to Watch" special.

In 2004 Black signed on to draw on his devout Mormon childhood experiences in San Antonio, Texas as a writer on the polygamist drama Big Love for HBO. Gearing up for season 3 of the Emmy and Golden Globe nominated hit series, Black has also written A Life Like Mine for director Paris Barclay, and Pedro, the story of AIDS activist and reality TV star, Pedro Zamora, for MTV/VH1. PEDRO premiered at the 2008 Toronto Film Festival.

As a teenager in San Francisco, Black found himself profoundly moved when he first heard Harvey Milk's 1978 speech about a, "gay child in San Antonio who may hear that a gay man has been elected in San Francisco," and how it may give that child, "Hope." It did just that for Black. In 2004, he began driving from the set of Big Love up to San Francisco on the weekends to track down Harvey's old friends, foes, lovers, and political allies. Three years later, these research trips became the script for the motion picture MILK directed by Gus Van Sant (Good Will Hunting, My Own Private Idaho) and starring Sean Penn, James Franco, Josh Brolin and Emile Hirsch. The film was critically acclaimed and received several awards, including Black's Academy Award for "Original Screenplay".

Most recently, Black began pre-production on his feature directorial debut, What's Wrong with Virginia starring Jennifer Connelly. Additionally, FOX Searchlight has enlisted Black to adapt the best selling, classic American novel, Electric Kool Aid Acid Test (written by Tom Wolfe) into a feature film with Gus Van Sant attached to direct.

A topical, relevant celebrity speaker, Mr. Black brings a unique perspective to his public speaking engagements. Equally adept at speaking about the struggles of an up-and-coming screenwriter as he is the struggles of young gay Americans in the 21st century, he brings something to the table for everyone in your audience.

To Book Dustin Lance Black as an LGBT speaker, contact CAA Speakers