Jump to content

Gillian Flynn

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 187.1.174.241 (talk) at 18:39, 19 December 2014 (→‎Awards and nominations). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Gillian Flynn
Flynn at the 52nd New York Film Festival, September 2014
Flynn at the 52nd New York Film Festival, September 2014
BornGillian Schieber Flynn[1][2][3]
(1971-02-24) February 24, 1971 (age 53)
Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.
OccupationAuthor, screenwriter, comic book writer
NationalityAmerican
Alma materUniversity of Kansas
Medill School of Journalism
Period2007–present
GenreFiction, thriller, mystery
Notable works
Spouse
Brett Nolan
​
(m. 2007)​
Children2
Website
gillian-flynn.com

Gillian Schieber Flynn (born February 24, 1971) is an American author, screenwriter, comic book writer and former television critic for Entertainment Weekly.[4] Flynn has published three thriller novels including Sharp Objects, Dark Places, and Gone Girl.[5]

Early life and education

She was born in Kansas City, Missouri and raised in midtown Kansas City's Coleman Highlands neighborhood.[6][7] Both of her parents were professors at Metropolitan Community College–Penn Valley: her mother, Judith Ann (née Schieber), was a reading-comprehension professor, and her father, Edwin Matthew Flynn, was a film professor.[7][8][9][10] She has an older brother, Travis, who is a railroad machinist.[7] Her uncle is Jackson County Circuit Court Judge Robert Schieber.[7] Flynn was "painfully shy" and found escape in reading and writing.[7] Growing up, Flynn's father would take her to watch horror movies.[7][8]

After attending Bishop Miege High School and graduating in 1989,[7][11] she attended the University of Kansas, where she received her undergraduate degrees in English and journalism. She spent two years in California writing for a trade magazine for human resources professionals before moving to Chicago and attending Northwestern University[12] for a Master's degree at its Medill School of Journalism in 1997.[13][14] Flynn initially wanted to work as a police reporter, but chose to focus on her own writing as she discovered she had "no aptitude" for police reporting.[15][16]

Career

After graduating from Northwestern, Flynn worked freelance briefly at U.S. News & World Report before being hired as a feature writer in 1998 at Entertainment Weekly.[7] She was promoted to television critic and wrote about films, but was laid off in December 2008.[7][16][17][18]

Books

When Flynn was working for Entertainment Weekly, she was also writing novels during her free time.[9] She has written three books.

  • Dark Places (2009) is about a woman who investigates whether or not her incarcerated brother was truly responsible for the murder of their family in the 1980s, which happened when she was a child during the era of panic about Satanic ritual abuse. Dark Places has been adapted into a feature film, written and directed by Gilles Paquet-Brenner, and is set for release in the US on November 14, 2014. Flynn will make a cameo appearance in the film.[20]
  • Gone Girl (2012) was released in June 2012 and concerns a husband who searches for his wife, who disappeared on their fifth wedding anniversary, while he comes under police scrutiny as the prime suspect. Flynn wrote the script for a film adaptation of Gone Girl after 20th Century Fox purchased the film rights for $1.5 million.[21] The film was directed by David Fincher[22] and was released on October 3, 2014. It was No. 1 on the New York Times Hardcover Fiction Bestseller list for eight weeks.[23] Culture writer Dave Itzkoff wrote that the novel was, excepting books in the Fifty Shades of Grey series, the biggest literary phenomenon of 2012. By the end of that year, Gone Girl had sold over two million copies in print and digital editions, according to the book's publisher.[23]

She attributes her craft to her 15-some years in journalism. She said, "I could not have written a novel if I hadn't been a journalist first, because it taught me that there's no muse that's going to come down and bestow upon you the mood to write. You just have to do it. I'm definitely not precious."[24]

Some critics have accused Flynn of misogyny due to the often unflattering depiction of female characters in her books.[5] Flynn identifies as a feminist. She feels that feminism allows for women to be bad characters in literature. She states, "The one thing that really frustrates me is this idea that women are innately good, innately nurturing." Flynn also said people will dismiss "trampy, vampy, bitchy types – but there's still a big pushback against the idea that women can be just pragmatically evil, bad, and selfish".[5]

Comic book writing

Flynn was an avid reader of comic and graphic novels when she was a child.[25] She collaborated with illustrator Dave Gibbons and wrote a comic book story called Masks. It is part of the anthology series Dark Horse Presents and will be published by Dark Horse Comics in February 2015.[26]

Television writing

In February 2014, it was reported that Flynn will be writing the scripts for Utopia, an HBO drama series to be directed and executive produced by David Fincher.[27][28]

Personal life

She married lawyer Brett Nolan in 2007[29] and they have two children.[9][30] They met through Flynn's grad school classmate at Northwestern,[31] but didn't start dating until she moved back to Chicago from New York City in her mid-30s.[24] They still reside in Chicago.[5]

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Work Result
2014 Austin Film Critics Association Best Adapted Screenplay Gone Girl Won
Chicago Film Critics Association Best Adapted Screenplay Won
Florida Film Critics Circle Awards Best Adapted Screenplay Won
Online Film Critics Society Awards Best Adapted Screenplay Won
Hollywood Film Awards Screenwriter Award Won
Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards Best Adapted Screenplay Won
San Diego Film Critics Society Awards Best Adapted Screenplay Won
St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Awards Best Adapted Screenplay Won
Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Awards Best Adapted Screenplay Won
San Francisco Film Critics Circle Awards Best Adapted Screenplay Nominated
2015 Critics' Choice Movie Awards Best Adapted Screenplay Pending
Satellite Awards Best Adapted Screenplay Pending
Golden Globe Award Best Screenplay Pending

References

  1. ^ "Perdida (Movie Tie-In Edition) (Gone Girl-Spanish Language) (Vintage Espanol) (2014)". Best Little Bookshop. Retrieved November 24, 2014.
  2. ^ "Heridas abiertas: (Sharp Objects Spanish-language Edition)". Abebooks. Retrieved November 24, 2014.
  3. ^ "Heridas Abiertas: (Sharp Objects Spanish-Language Edition)". Rediff.com. Retrieved November 24, 2014.
  4. ^ "Author Gillian Flynn finds 'Dark Places' in KC". Retrieved June 1, 2009.[dead link]
  5. ^ a b c d Burkeman, Oliver (May 1, 2013). "Gillian Flynn on her bestseller Gone Girl and accusations of misogyny". The Guardian.
  6. ^ McClurg, Jocelyn (September 27, 2006). "New voices: Gillian Flynn makes thriller debut". USA Today.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Paul, Steve (November 11, 2012). "Kansas City native Gillian Flynn emerges as a literary force with her twisted mystery 'Gone Girl'". The Kansas City Star. Archived from the original on October 4, 2014. Retrieved October 11, 2014. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  8. ^ a b Parsi, Novid (February 7, 2013). "Gillian Flynn on Gone Girl - Interview". TimeOut. Retrieved October 11, 2014.
  9. ^ a b c Anolik, Lili (October 10, 2014). "INSIDE THE DANGEROUS MIND OF GONE GIRL'S GILLIAN FLYNN". Elle. Retrieved October 11, 2014. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  10. ^ http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/c/r/o/Katherine-J-Crofford-CO/WEBSITE-0001/UHP-0495.html
  11. ^ "Alumni Notes" (PDF). Miege Matters. Winter 2013. p. 12. Retrieved October 11, 2014.
  12. ^ Lewis, Keith (October 20, 2013). "'Gone Girl' author talks about her Missouri roots". Southeast Missourian. Retrieved October 11, 2014. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  13. ^ a b "Gillian Flynn wins with Sharp Objects". The CWA. Archived from the original on November 6, 2013. Retrieved January 23, 2008.
  14. ^ Zakrzewski, Cat (October 1, 2012). "Medill alumna sells screen rights to best-selling novel". The Daily Northwestern. Retrieved October 11, 2014. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  15. ^ Thigpen, David E. (October 29, 2006). "Police beat's loss is book readers' gain". Chicago Tribune.
  16. ^ a b Butta, Philup (January 25, 2011). "How a Medillian ended up writing about "Satanic Sacrifice"". North by Northwestern. Retrieved October 11, 2014.
  17. ^ Thomas, Mike (July 16, 2012). "'Gone Girl' puts Chicago author Gillian Flynn in the thriller elite". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved October 11, 2014. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  18. ^ Nance, Kevin (July 28, 2012). "Peeking in Gillian Flynn's vault of horror". Retrieved October 11, 2014.
  19. ^ Charney, Noah (November 21, 2012). "Gillian Flynn: How I Write". The Daily Beast. Retrieved October 12, 2014. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  20. ^ Lee, Stephan (January 10, 2014). "'Dark Places' preview: Charlize Theron on playing the 'complicated' Libby Day". Entertainment Weekly.
  21. ^ Butler, Robert W. (September 27, 2014). "Author Gillian Flynn says filming 'Gone Girl' went much better than expected". The Kansas City Star. Retrieved October 12, 2014. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  22. ^ Nordyke, Kimberly (November 30, 2012). "Hollywood's Most Powerful Authors: Gillian Flynn on Adapting 'Gone Girl,' Being Too 'Wimpy' for Crime Reporting and Her Best Advice to Writers (Q&A)". The Hollywood Reporter.
  23. ^ a b Itzkoff, Dave (15 November 2012). "New Two-Book Deal for 'Gone Girl' Author Gillian Flynn". NewYorkTimes.com. Retrieved 24 December 2012.
  24. ^ a b Brockes, Emma (October 3, 2014). "The Gone Girl phenomenon: Gillian Flynn speaks out". Retrieved November 11, 2014.
  25. ^ Flynn, Gillian; Gibbons, Dave (April 25, 2014). "Weekend comics special: Gillian Flynn and Dave Gibbons". The Guardian. Retrieved November 24, 2014. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  26. ^ Gustines, George Gene (November 11, 2014). "Gillian Flynn's Comic-Book Story". The New York Times. Retrieved November 24, 2014. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  27. ^ Goldberg, Lesley (February 12, 2014). "'Utopia' Remake From 'Gone Girl's' David Fincher, Gillian Flynn Gets HBO Series Order". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved October 12, 2014. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  28. ^ Zemler, Emily (November 17, 2014). "Did Gillian Flynn Have 'Full Frontal Ben' Written Into Her 'Gone Girl' Contract?". Elle. Retrieved November 24, 2014. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  29. ^ "Sunday Morning: Gillian Flynn Female Characters & Gone Girl Movie". ReCapo. Retrieved October 12, 2014.
  30. ^ Tauber, Michelle (October 3, 2014). "5 Things to Know About Gone Girl Author Gillian Flynn". People. Retrieved October 11, 2014. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  31. ^ Borrelli, Christopher (September 25, 2014). "'Gone Girl' author Gillian Flynn makes confident leap into screenwriting". The Chicago Tribune. Retrieved November 11, 2014. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)

External links

Template:Persondata

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gillian_Flynn&oldid=638808526"