Brian Helgeland

His work on L.A. Confidential earned him an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.

Brian Helgeland studied at Loyola Marymount University, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth and New Bedford High School. The recorded working language is English. Work by Brian Helgeland is recorded in the collections of Harvard Film Archive. Distinctions recorded are Writers Guild of America Award, Academy Award for Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay and Edgar Awards.

• Name — Brian Helgeland • Born — 17 January 1961 • Birthplace — Providence, Rhode Island, U.S. • Birth Name — Brian Thomas Helgeland • Notable Works — L.A. Confidential Mystic River • Occupation — * Screenwriter • director • producer • Education — University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Loyola Marymount University • Years Active — 1988–present • Awards — Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay L.A. Confidential (1997)

Helgeland was born in Providence, Rhode Island, to Norwegian immigrant Aud-Karin and second-generation Norwegian-American Thomas Helgeland. He was raised in nearby New Bedford, Massachusetts. He majored in English at University of Massachusetts Dartmouth before following his father's work in fishing scallop. A particularly cold winter day in 1985 made Helgeland consider finding another job. He was fascinated by a book about film schools. With a love for movies, Helgeland decided to seek a career in film. He applied for the film school at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, the only one to agree to accept him in mid-semester.

Helgeland's agent arranged a meeting for him with Rhet Topham, who had an idea for a horror comedy film but was having difficulty writing it. The duo completed 976-EVIL, which they sold for $12,000. 976-EVIL marked the directorial debut of actor Robert Englund, who had portrayed Freddy Krueger in films of that franchise (A Nightmare on Elm Street). He recommended Helgeland to New Line Cinema representatives, who wanted to do a new A Nightmare on Elm Street film. Helgeland was paid $70,000 to write what was released as A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master. Both films were released in 1988, with The Dream Master hitting theaters earlier. Helgeland earned $275,000 for his script for Highway to Hell, which was released in 1992. In 1990, Helgeland and Manny Coto sold a script, The Ticking Man, for $1 million, but the film was never made. In 1998, Helgeland won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for L.A. Confidential, which was based on the 1990 novel of the same name by James Ellroy. That year Helgeland also won a Razzie for The Postman, being one of only three people to have achieved this dubious feat (preceded by Alan Menken in 1993 and followed by Sandra Bullock in 2010). Helgeland accepted the Razzie, the fourth person to receive the statuette in person, which was delivered to him in his office at Warner Bros. He keeps the statues of both the Oscar and the Razzie on his mantle as "a reminder of Hollywood's idealistic nature and unrealistic expectations." • Illustration — Helgeland answering questions about the film 42 in the State Dining Room, April 2013. Helgeland wrote and directed the films Payback (1999), A Knight's Tale (2001), The Order (2003), 42 (2013), and Legend (2015). He has worked with director Clint Eastwood twice, in 2002 on Blood Work, and in 2003 on Mystic River, for which he was nominated for an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay. He also has written an as-yet-unproduced adaptation of Moby-Dick. In 2004, Helgeland co-wrote the screenplay for The Bourne Supremacy, for which he was uncredited. In early 2008, he was attached to shape the script of the thriller Green Zone after screenwriter Tom Stoppard had to drop out. He collaborated with director Paul Greengrass, whom he worked with on The Bourne Supremacy, as well as reuniting with actor Matt Damon, who played Jason Bourne/David Webb. Helgeland wrote the screenplay for the remake of The Taking of Pelham 123, replacing screenwriter David Koepp. The film was released on June 12, 2009. On May 4, 2017, HBO announced that Helgeland was one of four writers working on a potential pilot for a Game of Thrones spin-off. In addition to Helgeland, Carly Wray, Max Borenstein, and Jane Goldman were also working on potential pilots. Helgeland has been working and communicating with George R. R. Martin, the author of A Song of Ice and Fire, the series of novels upon which the original series is based. Former Game of Thrones showrunners D. B. Weiss and David Benioff were said to be executive producers for whichever project is picked up by HBO. In April 2026, Helgeland was announced to be scripting the western film Django/Zorro, based on the comic book of the same name, for Sony Pictures.

Helgeland and his wife Nancy have two sons.

• Year — Title — Director — Writer — Notes • 1989–1990 — Friday the 13th: The Series — Episodes: "Crippled Inside", "Mightier Than the Sword" • 1996 — Tales from the Crypt — Episode: "A Slight Case of Murder"

Brian Helgeland is recorded as having studied at Loyola Marymount University, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth and New Bedford High School.