Gillian Flynn

Gillian Flynn studied at University of Kansas, Medill School of Journalism and Northwestern University. The recorded working language is English. The field of work recorded is literary activity, thriller and film screenwriting. Subjects and genres recorded for the work are thriller. Works named in the authority record are Dark Places and Gone Girl. Distinctions recorded are CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger and CWA New Blood Dagger.

• Name — Gillian Flynn • Born — 24 February 1971 • Birthplace — Kansas City, Missouri, U.S. • Occupation — * Author • screenwriter • showrunner • producer • Education — * University of Kansas (BFA) • Northwestern University (MSJ) • Children — 2 • Period — 2007–present • Genre — * Fiction • thriller • mystery • Notable Works — * Gone Girl • Sharp Objects • Website — http: gillian-flynn.com/

Flynn was born in Kansas City, Missouri, and grew up in the Coleman Highlands neighborhood. Both of her parents were educators: her mother, Judith Ann (née Schieber), was a reading-comprehension professor, and her father, Edwin Matthew Flynn, taught film. Flynn has an older brother, Travis, who works as a railroad machinist. She has described herself as a "painfully shy" child, finding refuge in reading and writing. Her interest in storytelling was further cultivated by her father's love of horror films. As a young woman, Flynn worked assorted jobs, including selling honey-baked ham and giving out yoghurt samples in the mall, dressed as "a tuxedo-clad cone." She attended Bishop Miege High School, graduating in 1989, and went on to earn undergraduate degrees in English and journalism from the University of Kansas. After spending two years in California writing at a trade magazine for human resources professionals, Flynn moved to Chicago. She attended Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism, where she completed a master's degree in 1997. Initially aspiring to become a crime reporter, she ultimately chose to pursue a career in creative writing.

After graduating from Northwestern, Flynn worked freelance briefly at U.S. News & World Report before joining Entertainment Weekly in 1998 as a feature writer, eventually becoming a television critic. She was made redundant in December 2008. Flynn credits her years in journalism with helping to hone her writing skills, stating that journalism taught her the discipline of writing without waiting for inspiration. 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." Flynn's portrayal of complex, morally ambiguous, and often unflattering female characters has drawn criticism from some critics, who have accused her of misogyny. However, Flynn identifies as a feminist, and has defended her choice to write female characters who defy conventional expectations of women as inherently nurturing or morally virtuous. She states, "the one thing that really frustrates me is this idea that women are innately good, innately nurturing." To her, 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." In 2021, Flynn was appointed to lead a new book imprint – Gillian Flynn Books – for the independent publisher Zando. As of May 2025, she was working on her fourth novel, another psychological thriller, to be published by Penguin Random House.

An avid reader of comic and graphic novels when she was a child, Flynn collaborated with illustrator Dave Gibbons and wrote a comic book short story called Masks. Part of the anthology series Dark Horse Presents, it was published by Dark Horse Comics in February 2015.

Alongside Marti Noxon, Flynn co-wrote and served as an executive producer for HBO's 2018 adaptation of Sharp Objects, for which she received nominations for the Primetime Emmy and the Writers Guild of America Award. In 2014, it was announced that Flynn would write the scripts for an HBO adaptation of the British series Utopia. Initially, the HBO series was to be directed and executive produced by David Fincher, but budget issues between Fincher and the network led to its cancellation in 2015. The project was later revived by Amazon, which ordered it to series with a 2020 release. Flynn wrote all eight episodes and served as the project's showrunner. Utopia premiered on Prime Video on September 25, 2020, drawing mixed reviews. The series was canceled in November 2020 after one season. In 2025 it was shared that Flynn started work on an upcoming HBO limited series adapting Dark Places.

Flynn is working on her fourth novel, which is set to be published by Penguin Random House. As discussed in the Chanel Connects podcast in June 2022, Flynn is currently writing the film adaptation for her short story, The Grownup. She is also developing a limited series for HBO based on her novel Dark Places. Flynn retains the rights to the novel, with Brett Johnson and Guerrin Gardner joining her as co-showrunners, co-creators, and writers. Furthermore, she is collaborating with Tim Burton on a remake of Nathan H. Juran's classic Attack of the 50 Foot Woman film for Warner Bros.

Flynn married lawyer Brett Nolan in 2007, when she was 36, having met him during graduate school at Northwestern. Their relationship developed in their thirties. They have two children: a son, born in 2010, and a daughter, born in 2014. The family resides in Chicago.

• Year — Award — Category — Work — Result — Ref Reference • Gotham Independent Film Award — Breakthrough Series – Long Form — Sharp Objects • USC Scripter Award — USC Scripter Award (shared with Marti Noxon; for the episode "Vanish") • Producers Guild of America Award — Best Limited Series Television • Primetime Emmy Award — Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series • Writers Guild of America Award for Television Award — Long Form – Adapted

• Sharp Objects (2006) • Dark Places (2009) • Gone Girl (2012) • "Masks" (comic book short story) (2014) • "The Grownup" (short story) (2014)

* * * * * • Gillian Flynn's Entertainment Weekly articles

• Year — Title — Credited as • Writer — Executive producer — Creator — Showrunner — Notes • 2018 — Sharp Objects — Network: HBO • 2020 — Utopia — Network: Amazon Prime Video

Flynn wrote the screenplay for the 2014 film adaptation of Gone Girl, directed by David Fincher, for which she won the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Adapted Screenplay and which was nominated for the Writers Guild of America awards, as well as the Golden Globe, and BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. She also co-wrote, along with filmmaker Steve McQueen, the film adaptation of the ITV series Widows, Starring Viola Davis, Elizabeth Debicki, Michelle Rodriguez, Cynthia Erivo, Colin Farrell, Brian Tyree Henry, Daniel Kaluuya, and Liam Neeson. The film was released in November 2018 to high praise from movie critics.

• Year — Award — Category — Work — Result — Ref Reference • Austin Film Critics Association Award — Best Adapted Screenplay — Gone Girl • Awards Circuit Community Award — Best Adapted Screenplay • Black Film Critics Circle Award — Best Adapted Screenplay • Chicago Film Critics Association Award — Best Adapted Screenplay • Florida Film Critics Circle Award — Screenwriter of the Year Award • IndieWire Critics Poll — Best Screenplay • Golden Schmoes Award — Best Screenplay of the Year • Hollywood Film Award — Best Screenplay • NewNowNext Award — Best New Screenwriter • Online Film Critics Society Award — Best Adapted Screenplay • Phoenix Critics Circle Award — Best Screenplay • Phoenix Film Critics Society Award — Best Screenplay Adapted from Another Medium • San Diego Film Critics Society Award — Best Adapted Screenplay • San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle Award — Best Adapted Screenplay • Screenwriters Choice Awards, Online — Best Adapted Screenplay • Southeastern Film Critics Association Award — Best Adapted Screenplay • St. Louis Film Critics Association Award — Best Adapted Screenplay • Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award — Best Adapted Screenplay • Alliance of Women Film Journalists Award — Best Woman Screenwriter • Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay • BAFTA Award — Best Adapted Screenplay • Central Ohio Film Critics Association Award — Best Adapted Screenplay • Cinema Bloggers Award, Portugal — Best Screenplay • Critics' Choice Movie Award — Best Adapted Screenplay • Denver Film Critics Society Award — Best Adapted Screenplay • Georgia Film Critics Association Award — Best Adapted Screenplay • Gold Derby Award — Adapted Screenplay • Golden Globe Award — Best Screenplay • Italian Online Movie Award — Best Adapted Screenplay • International Cinephile Society Award — Best Adapted Screenplay • International Online Cinema Award — Best Adapted Screenplay • North Carolina Film Critics Association Award — Best Adapted Screenplay • Oklahoma Film Critics Circle Award — Best Adapted Screenplay • Online Film & Television Association Award — Best Feature Debut • Satellite Award — Best Adapted Screenplay • Seattle Film Critics Society Award — Best Screenplay, Adapted • USC Scripter Award — USC Scripter Award • Writers Guild of America Award — Best Adapted Screenplay • Greater Western New York Film Critics Association Award — Best Adapted Screenplay — Widows • Online Association of Female Film Critics Award — Best Adapted Screenplay • St. Louis Film Critics Association Award — Best Adapted Screenplay • Black Reel Award — Outstanding Screenplay, Adapted or Original • Columbus Film Critics Association Award — Best Adapted Screenplay • London Critics Circle Film Award — Screenwriter of the Year • Online Film Critics Society Award — Best Adapted Screenplay • Gold Derby Award — Best Screenplay of the Decade — Gone Girl

• Year — Title — Credited as • Writer — Notes • 2014 — Gone Girl — Directed by David Fincher • 2018 — Widows — Co-writer with director Steve McQueen