Paul Attanasio

Busy screenwriter Paul Attanasio began his career as film critic for The Washington Post (1984-87) and as host of "The Movie Show" (Cinemax, 1986-87), a cable series devoted to movie reviews, interviews and behind-the-scenes-reports on the contemporary film scene. He got his first scriptwriting break creating the pilot for the NBC series "Homicide: Life on the Street", a gritty look at the Baltimore police, produced by Barry Levinson. Levinson than brought Attanasio aboard "Disclosure" (1994), a thriller based on the Michael Crichton bestseller about sexual harassment in the workplace. Robert Redford tapped him to work on the critically well-received "Quiz Show" (1994), about the game show scandals of the 1950s. The screenwriter picked up an Oscar nod for his screenplay. Attanasio then reteamed with producer Levinson, writing the screenplay for Mike Newell's crime drama "Donnie Brasco" (1997), featuring Al Pacino and Johnny Depp, before undertaking a second adaptation (sharing credit with Steve Hauser) of a Crichton novel, "Sphere" (1998), directed by Levinson and starring Dustin Hoffman, Samuel L Jackson and Sharon Stone.