Frank Darabont

A screenwriter-turned-director, Frank Darabont initially entered the film industry as production assistant and set dresser before he got a break when he sold an original screenplay (eventually produced in 1997 and aired on HBO) to producer Jere Henshaw and Apollo Pictures. The son of Hungarian refugees, he was born in a French relocation camp and raised in Chicago and Southern California. Eschewing college for a crack at a career in films, Darabont was driven by his goals. With several friends, he acquired the rights to a Stephen King short story "Woman in the Room" and fashioned a 30-minute short that eventually aired on cable outlets and was released to video. Darabont received his first screenplay credit when he helped director Chuck Russell rewrite "A Nightmare on Elm Street III: Dream Warriors" (1987). The film's popularity and Darabont's long-standing love of horror films led to his penning screenplays for the remake "The Blob" (1988), the sequel "The Fly II" (1989) and several episodes of TV's "Tales from the Crypt". He cut his teeth as a producer on a TV horror flick, "Buried Alive" (USA Network, 1990) and began to branch out from scary material writing for the ABC adventure series, "The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles" (1992).

Darabont crafted his most ambitious, adult work to date adapting another Stephen King work, the novella "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption". (The feature's title was shortened to "The Shawshank Redemption") Offered a healthy $2.4 million for his adaptation, he held out for the chance to direct--the result was a critically praised prison story about an unusual but powerful friendship between a level-headed banker convicted of murdering his wife and a seasoned lifer with a knack for acquisitions. The film earned seven Oscar nominations including Best Picture, and for his efforts, Darabont earned nominations from the Directors Guild, the Writers Guild and the Academy (for Best Adapted Screenplay).

Despite several projects in development, it took four years before his next film reached theaters. Darabont reportedly assisted on the screenplay for the WWII drama "Saving Private Ryan" (1998) for director Steven Spielberg, but final screen credit went to writer Robert Rodat. He returned to the director's chair to undertake the screen adaptation of another Stephen King opus, "The Green Mile" (1999), starring Tom Hanks and relative newcomer Michael Clark Duncan. Set on death row in a Louisiana prison in the 1930s, the film focused one particular prisoner with seemingly miraculous powers (Duncan) and his relationship with the other inmates as well as the senior guard (Hanks). Darabont once again proved to be the perfect adapter for King's work, crafting a script that was entirely faithful to the original. His direction stressed the relationships in the film and allowed each actor (including David Morse, Doug Hutchison, Michael Jeter and Sam Rockwell) to contribute solid performances.