Terry Rossio
Terry Rossio (born July 2, 1960) is an American screenwriter. He wrote the films Aladdin, Shrek, and all five of the Pirates of the Caribbean series.
Terry Rossio | |
---|---|
Rossio in 2009 | |
Born | Kalamazoo, Michigan, U.S. | July 2, 1960
Occupation | Screenwriter |
Years active | 1989–present |
He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for Shrek, and won the Annie Award for Writing in a Feature Production, as well as the BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for Shrek. He often collaborates with fellow screenwriter Ted Elliott.
Life and career
Rossio was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan. After graduating from Saddleback High School in Santa Ana, California, he went on to study at California State University, Fullerton where he received his Bachelor of Arts in Communications, with an emphasis in radio, television and film. He is the founder of Wordplay, also known as Wordplayer.com, one of the premier screenwriting sites on the Internet.
Along with his writing partner Ted Elliott, Rossio has written some of the most successful American films of the past 30 years, including Aladdin, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl and Shrek. He is the eleventh-most successful screenwriter of all time in terms of domestic box office receipts with totals at around $5.5 billion.[1]
In March 2017, Legendary Entertainment announced that Rossio would lead their writers room to help develop the story for Godzilla vs Kong.[2] A press release revealed Rossio as the sole screenwriter for Godzilla vs. Kong.[3]
As quoted in the India Times, Deadline Hollywood and other sources, "Pirates of the Caribbean writer Terry Rossio has been sued by his former agent for pending commission payment of over two years. Dodie Herskovitz, of Dodie Gold Management, filed a complaint in Los Angeles Superior Court and claimed the screenwriter has not paid her 'certain revenues' she is owed under their contract, said The Hollywood Reporter. Herskovitz said she became Rossio's manager in February 2002, and their contract entitled her to 10 per cent of gross revenues and other amounts earned from entertainment industry work negotiated by her firm. Rossio, however, ended their contract in March 2013. The former manager claims she managed the writer while he signed to write (with Ted Elliott) installments of Pirates of the Caribbean saga, apart from The Lone Ranger, Déjà Vu and upcoming projects Lightspeed and Instant Karma.”[4][5]
Rossio is also associated with the anti-vaccination movement, writing in a tweet from November 23, 2018, "My heart goes out to all the parents of vaccine damaged children, who have to not only endure the sadness of their loss, but also the vitriol of ill-informed and insensitive people (such as those here). Anti-Vax is equivalent to calling someone a nigger and makes as little sense".[6] Subsequently, Rossio received a strong backlash from Twitter users for his use of a racist slur, and for comparing defenders of the anti-vaccination movement with victims of racism.[7]
Filmography (partial)
Year | Film | Credit | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1989 | Little Monsters | Written by | Co-wrote with Ted Elliott |
1992 | Aladdin | Screenplay by | Co-wrote screenplay with Ted Elliott & Ron Clements and John Musker |
1994 | The Puppet Masters | Screenplay by | Co-wrote screenplay with Ted Elliott and David S. Goyer |
1997 | Men in Black | Uncredited work | |
1998 | The Mask of Zorro | Screenplay by Story by |
Co-wrote screenplay with John Eskow and Ted Elliott Co-wrote story with Ted Elliott and Randall Jahnson |
Godzilla | Story by | Early unproduced screenplay Co-wrote story with Ted Elliott | |
Small Soldiers | Written by | Co-wrote with Ted Elliott & Gavin Scott and Adam Rifkin | |
2000 | The Road to El Dorado | Written by | Co-wrote with Ted Elliott |
2001 | Shrek | Written by Co-producer |
Co-wrote with Ted Elliott & Joe Stillman and Roger S. H. Schulman |
2002 | Treasure Planet | Story by | Co-wrote story with Ted Elliott & Ron Clements and John Musker |
2003 | Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl |
Screenplay by Story by |
Co-wrote screenplay with Ted Elliott Co-wrote story with Ted Elliott & Stuart Beattie and Jay Wolpert |
2004 | National Treasure | Uncredited work | |
2005 | The Legend of Zorro | Story by | Co-wrote story with Ted Elliott & Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman |
2006 | Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest |
Written by | Co-wrote with Ted Elliott |
Déjà Vu | Written by Executive producer |
Co-wrote with Bill Marsilii | |
2007 | Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End |
Written by | Co-wrote with Ted Elliott |
National Treasure: Book of Secrets |
Story by | Co-wrote story with Ted Elliott & Gregory Poirier & Cormac Wibberley and Marianne Wibberley | |
2009 | G-Force | Associate producer | Uncredited rewrite |
2011 | Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides |
Screenplay by Executive producer |
Co-wrote screenplay with Ted Elliott |
Pirates of the Caribbean: Tales of the Code – Wedlocked |
Written by | Short film Co-wrote with Ted Elliott | |
2013 | Lovestruck: The Musical | Written by Executive producer |
Co-wrote with Jaylynn Bailey |
The Lone Ranger | Screenplay by Executive producer |
Co-wrote screenplay with Ted Elliott and Justin Haythe | |
2015 | Jake and the Never Land Pirates | Written by | Episode #89 - Captain Frost |
2017 | Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales |
Story by Executive producer |
Co-wrote story with Jeff Nathanson |
2019 | Aladdin | Based on | Credited with Ted Elliott & Ron Clements and John Musker |
2021 | Godzilla vs. Kong | Story by[8] | Head of Writers Room[2] Co-wrote story with Michael Dougherty and Zach Shields |
Other credits
Year | Film | Role |
---|---|---|
1998 | Antz | Consultant/advisor |
2003 | Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas | |
2004 | Shrek 2 | Creative consultant |
References
- "The Numbers - Top Grossing Screenwriter at the Worldwide Box Office". the-numbers.com.
- Kit, Borys (March 10, 2017). "'Godzilla vs. Kong' Film Sets Writers Room (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on March 10, 2017. Retrieved March 10, 2017.
- "Warner Bros. Pictures' and Legendary Entertainment's Monsterverse Shifts into Overdrive as Cameras Roll on the Next Big-Screen Adventure "Godzilla Vs. Kong"". Business Wire. Retrieved November 12, 2018.
- Patten, Dominic (4 August 2015). "'Pirates' Scribe Terry Rossio Hit With Commissions Non-Payment Lawsuit". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 7, 2018.
- "'Pirates of the Caribbean' writer Terry Rossio sued for commission". India Times. 5 August 2015. Retrieved January 7, 2018.
- "Terry Rossio on Twitter". 23 November 2018.
- "'Aladdin' Writer Terry Rossio Criticized for Using N-Word on Twitter". SFGate. 23 November 2018. Retrieved November 23, 2018.
- "Godzilla vs. Kong". Writer's Guild of America East. Retrieved May 3, 2020.