Josh Olson
Josh Olson | |
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 Josh Olson at the 2008 Screenwriting Expo | |
| Born | |
| Occupation(s) | Screenwriter, film director |
Josh Olson is an American screenwriter and director.
Work
Olson began his career working as a production assistant in the art department on the 1987 film Masters of the Universe.[citation needed] In 2006, he was nominated for the British Academy Award, the Writer's Guild Award, the USC Scripter Award and the Academy Award for his adapted screenplay for A History of Violence. There is some debate over Olson's contribution, however in a 2014 interview, "A History of Violence" star Viggo Mortensen said he read Olson's original version of the script and "was quite disappointed. It was 120-odd pages of just mayhem; kind of senseless, really." He only agreed to do the movie after meeting with the director David Cronenberg, who extensively reworked the script. "He should have actually taken a screenplay credit," Mortensen said, " because that 120-something pages ended up being about 72 pages, and that was him.[1]” It is worth noting that Olson has given numerous interviews detailing the process by which he wrote both drafts Mortensen mentions, and that the WGA arbitration rules prevent the situation Mortensen hypothesizes from happening. Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page).
In 2007, Olson wrote an article called "The Life And Death Of Jesse James: An internet love mystery" about the alleged dating fraud activities of a woman named Janna St. James Priggie.[2] The story is real and a civil action (still pending as of October 2011[update]) was filed by the victim.[3]
He was the first writer on Jack Reacher, for Paramount Pictures, part of the Jack Reacher series by Lee Child.[4] The film starred Tom Cruise, Robert Duvall, and Werner Herzog. Ultimately, the film was written and directed by Christopher McQuarrie.
In 2009, he wrote an article called "I Will Not Read Your Fucking Script" on the blog of The Village Voice.[5]
Olson recently[timeframe?] wrote the script "Tabloid" for Mick Jagger. His adaptation of Dennis Lehane's short story Until Gwen was on the Black List (survey). He has also written all ten episodes of the hit audio drama, Bronzeville, which is produced by and stars Laurence Fishburne and Larenz Tate. In 2016, Thunder Road purchased "Trigger Warning," a spec script Olson wrote with John Brancato.
Olson also hosts the podcast, The Movies That Made Me, a spinoff of the website Trailers From Hell. In 2020, he started Rainy Day Podcasts with Mick Jagger, Steve Bing, and Victoria Pearman. The company has a first look deal with Warner Brothers, and will produce original narrative podcasts.[6]
Filmography
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | On the Border | TV Movie |
| 1999 | Hitman's Run | Uncredited |
| 2000 | A Moment of Silence | Short |
| 2001 | Instinct to Kill | |
| 2001 | Puppy Love | Short film, Also Director |
| 2002 | Infested | Also Director |
| 2005 | A History of Violence | |
| 2007 | The Discarded | An Episode of Masters of Science Fiction |
| 2008 | Batman: Gotham Knight | Anthology film segment: Have I Got a Story for You |
References
- ^ "The Viggo Mortensen Interview," The Guardian, May 17, 2014
- ^ Josh Olson, The Life & Death of Jesse James. In LA Weekly, 2001-10-11, page found 2011-10-31.
- ^ Piece of Fakey Blog by victim of "Jesse Jubilee James" scam, frequently updated with news about the court case.
- ^ Siegel, Tatiana (2008-09-25). "Josh Olson scripting 'One Shot'". Variety.
- ^ "I Will Not Read Your Fucking Script". Blogs.villagevoice.com.
- ^ https://variety.com/2020/music/news/mick-jagger-rainy-day-podcasts-warner-bros-sign-first-look-deal-1203478046/
External links
- Josh Olson at IMDb
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