Brian Helgeland

After getting his start writing low budget horror movies like "976-EVIL" (1988) and "A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master" (1988), writer-director Brian Helgeland developed into an Academy Award-winning scribe and one of the top script doctors in the business. Helgeland had his first taste of big-budget Hollywood filmmaking with "Assassins" (1995) and "Conspiracy Theory" (1997), both of which were directed by Richard Donner. But it was his adaptation of James Ellroy's dense crime noir "L.A. Confidential" (1997) that not only won him an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay, but also launched him to the top tier of Hollywood scribes. From there, he was able to embark on his first directing effort, "Payback" (1999), a dark crime thriller that led to his sophomore helming effort, "A Knight's Tale" (2001), which became a surprise hit at the box office. Following his understated mystery thriller "The Order" (2003), Helgeland returned strictly to writing scripts, working with big name directors like Clint Eastwood on "Blood Work" (2002) and "Mystic River" (2003), Tony Scott on "The Taking of Pelham 123" (2009), and Ridley Scott on "Robin Hood" (2010).