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Thomas Lee Wright | |
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Born | December 6, 1953 Moscow, Idaho |
Occupation(s) | Author, director, screenwriter, producer |
Years active | 1993–present |
Thomas Lee Wright is an American author, screenwriter and Academy Award-nominated filmmaker. A Minnesota native, Wright attended Harvard University, writing and directing plays and earning a degree in English Literature with honors. He studied Irish Theater at Trinity College, Dublin, and played point guard for its national championship basketball team.
Moving to Los Angeles, Wright became a story editor at The Walt Disney Company and Columbia Pictures, then worked as a creative executive at Paramount where he helped develop 48 Hrs., Trading Places, and Flashdance. His first screenwriting assignment was writing a draft of The Godfather Part III. This led to authoring projects for Peter Guber, Dino De Laurentiis, Mike Medavoy, and Daniel Melnick, among others. Wright wrote the original screenplay for the Warner Brothers film New Jack City. which the New York Times called "an urban classic" on the 25th anniversary of its premiere. He was nominated for Best Documentary Short Subject at the 90th Academy Awards for Edith+Eddie.
Wright is well known for his films about social justice issues, including:
Three of his films deal with war veterans:
As an author, Wright co-wrote two books about filmmaking: