John Sayles
Filmmaker John Sayles began his career as a novelist and
short story writer with the publication in 1975 of PRIME OF
THE BIMBOS, followed in 1977 by UNION DUES, a National
Critics' Circle and National Book Award nominee. A short
story collection, THE ANARCHISTS' CONVENTION appeared in
1979, when he began working as a screenwriter for Roger
Corman's New World Pictures. Early screenwriting credits
include PIRANHA, BATTLE BEYOND THE STARS, THE HOWLING, and
ALLIGATOR.
Using the money he earned writing "creature
features," he financed his first film in the roles of
writer, director, and editor, RETURN OF THE SECAUCUS SEVEN,
a bittersweet look at a reunion of 60's political
activists. The film, with a production budget of only
$40,000, gained a national theatrical release, won the LA
Film Critics Award for Best Screenplay and helped launch
the "American Independent" film movement. His second film,
LIANNA, was one of the first American movies to deal with a
lesbian relationship in a non-exploitive manner, and set
several house records in theatres around the United
States.
His first studio movie, BABY IT'S YOU, was released
by Paramount in 1983, and featured newcomers such as
Rosanna Arquette, Vincent Spano, Matthew Modine and Robert
Downey, Jr. in a mid-60's coming-of-age drama. Next was
the very low budget THE BROTHER FROM ANOTHER PLANET, an
African American sci-fi allegory starring Joe Morton as a
black extra-terrestrial who crashes to earth in Harlem. Sayles filled a three-year filmmaking hiatus by
acting in a critically acclaimed theater production of The
Glass Menagerie with Joanne Woodward and Karen Allen and
directing three rock videos for Bruce Springsteen: "Born in
the USA," "I'm On Fire" and "Glory Days." He also won a
Writers Guild Award for best TV movie screenplay for
UNNATURAL CAUSES, which dealt with the legacy of exposure
to Agent Orange during the Vietnam war and starred Alfre
Woodard.
He was then able to film MATEWAN and EIGHT MEN OUT,
projects he had written several years earlier. MATEWAN is
the story of a bloody 1920 West Virginia coalminers'
strike, and marked his first collaboration with Chris
Cooper and Mary McDonnell, as well as with cinematographer
Haskell Wexler, who received an Academy Award nomination
for his photography. Sayles wrote a textbook about the
screenplay and the experience of the production entitled
THINKING IN PICTURES that is used in film courses to this
day. EIGHT MEN OUT, the story of the 1919 Black Sox
baseball scandal, was based on the book by Eliot Asinof and
was one of the last movies released by Orion Pictures. It
has become a perennial on television during playoff and
World Series time.
The television movie SHANNON'S DEAL, written by
Sayles, led to a highly-acclaimed but short-lived TV series
of the same name in 1989-90 and starred actors Elizabeth
Pena, Richard Edson, and Migue Ferrer who would later
appear in his films. The teleplay won an Edgar from the
Mystery Writers Association.
CITY OF HOPE, appearing in 1990, was an urban epic
filmed in a mere five weeks, one of the lowest-budget
Cinemascope movies ever made. It featured appearances by
actors he would work with again and again: Cooper, Morton,
David Strathairn, Angela Bassett, Miriam Colon, and Tom
Wright among others. His third novel, LOS GUSANOS, a multi-
generational tale set in Cuba and Miami's Little Havana,
was published in 1991, and since has been translated into
several languages. Next came PASSION FISH, a film about
the healing relationship between a home-care nurse coming
out of rehab and a paraplegic former soap opera star. Alfre
Woodard was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award, Mary
McDonnell for an Academy Award for Best Actress and Sayles
received his first Academy nomination for Best Original
Screenplay.
THE SECRET OF ROAN INISH was based on the
children's book THE SECRET OF THE RON MOR SKERRY by Rosalie
K. Fry and was the first of his movies filmed outside the
United States, on the Northwest coast of Donegal in the
Republic of Ireland. The story deals with the legend of a
half-human, half-seal selkie and the fate of her
descendants. Moving to the Mexico-Texas border, Sayles
next directed LONE STAR, a tale of race and history that
proved to be his most commercially successful picture and
garnered a second Academy Award nomination for Best
Original Screenplay.
MEN WITH GUNS, a road movie set in a strife-torn
Latin American country, was shot on a very low budget in
three different states in Mexico, with dialogue principally
in Spanish and several indigenous languages. The film
starred the eminent, award-winning Latin American actor
Federico Luppi. It was nominated for a Golden Globe Award
for best foreign-language film. LIMBO, released in 1999,
was a story of three damaged people (played by David
Strathairn, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio and Vanessa
Martinez) who find each other in the extremes of the
Alaskan wilderness. It was invited to the Official
Competition of the Cannes Film Festival and remains Sayles'
most controversial movie. SUNSHINE
STATE, boasting a stellar cast led by Edie Falco and
Angela Bassett, was released in 2002. The film takes place
during a festival week in a Florida coastal town about to
be inundated by corporate tourism. The film received a
National Board of Review Special Mention for Excellence in
Filmmaking. The film also appeared on over 25 Top Ten
Lists, including The New York Times, Premiere Magazine,
Film Comment, The Associated Press, L.A. Weekly and The San
Francisco Examiner. Additionally, Angela Bassett received
the NAACP Image Award for Best Actress for her
performance.
Sayles' fourteenth film, CASA DE LOS BABYS starring
Maggie Gyllenhaal, Marcia Gay Harden, Daryl Hannah, Mary
Steenburgen, Lili Taylor, Susan Lynch, and Rita Moreno is
the story of six American women waiting to adopt babies in
an unnamed Latin American country. Moreno plays the head
of the hotel where they are staying. Throughout his career, Sayles has continued to function as
a screenwriter for hire, working with a "Who's Who" of
American and international directors and writing over 50
scripts. He received the John D. MacArthur Award, given to
20 Americans each year for their innovative work in diverse
fields. He is also a recipient of the Eugene V. Debs
Award, the John Steinbeck Award and the John Cassavettes
Award. In 1998, he was honored with the WGA Lifetime
Achievement Award.
As an actor he has appeared in dozens of films,
written songs for his own features, and served as executive
producer on Alejandro Springall's SANTITOS and the Sundance
Picture Winner GIRLFIGHT, written and directed by Karyn
Kusama.
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Series
Books:Union Dues, January 2006
Hardcover (reprint)
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