Michael L. Tolkin (born October 17, 1950) is an American screenwriter, novelist, and director. He has written numerous screenplays, including The Player (1992), which he adapted from his own 1988 novel of the same name,[2] and for which he received the Edgar Award for Best Motion Picture Screenplay (1993) and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. He later wrote a follow-up to the novel, titled The Return of the Player, which was published in 2006.[3]
Michael Tolkin | |
|---|---|
 Tolkin at Festival Internacional de Cine en Guadalajara, 2009 | |
| Born | October 17, 1950 New York City, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Middlebury College (BA) [1] |
| Occupation(s) | Writer, film director |
| Spouse | Wendy Mogel |
| Children | 2 |
In 2018, Tolkin served as co-creator of the miniseries Escape at Dannemora with Brett Johnson.[4] The series was based on the real-life 2015 Clinton Correctional Facility escape that led to a massive manhunt for two escaped convicts in upstate New York. In 2022, he served as creator of the miniseries The Offer, which centered on the development of the 1972 film The Godfather.
Biography
Tolkin was born to a Romanian-Jewish and Ukrainian-Jewish family[5][6] in New York City, the son of Edith (née Leibovitch), a studio executive and film industry lawyer, and the late comedy writer Mel Tolkin.[7][8]
He is a 1974 graduate of Middlebury College.[1]
Tolkin lives in Los Angeles with his wife, author Wendy Mogel. They have two daughters, Susanna and Emma.[9]
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | Gossip | No | Yes | No | Unfinished |
| 1989 | Gleaming the Cube | No | Yes | Associate | |
| 1991 | The Rapture | Yes | Yes | No | |
| 1992 | The Player | No | Yes | Yes | BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay Nominated — Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Film Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay |
| Deep Cover | No | Yes | No | ||
| 1994 | The New Age | Yes | Yes | No | |
| 1998 | Deep Impact | No | Yes | No | |
| 2002 | Changing Lanes | No | Yes | No | |
| 2009 | Nine | No | Yes | No |
Uncredited writing roles
- The Haunting (1999)
- Domestic Disturbance (2001)
- Dawn of the Dead (2004)
- The Punisher (2004)
Television
TV series
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | Creator | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Delta House | No | Yes | No | No | 3 episodes |
| 1980 | Taxi | No | Yes | No | No | Episode "Shut It Down: Part 1" |
| 2007 | Masters of Science Fiction | Yes | Yes | No | No | Episode "Jerry Was a Man" |
| 2014-2015 | Ray Donovan | No | Yes | Consulting | No | Wrote 4 episodes |
| 2018 | Escape at Dannemora | No | Yes | Executive | Yes | Miniseries |
| 2022 | The Offer | No | Yes | Executive | Yes |
TV movies
| Year | Title | Writer | Producer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | The Burning Season | Yes | No |
| 1997 | The Player | Yes | Executive |
| 2008 | 1% | Yes | Yes |