David Koepp Biography
Born: 1964
The talented, prolific, and in-demand screenwriter David Koepp was the mind behind many of the late-'90s and early-2000s biggest pictures. Writing for directors such as Steven_Spielberg, Robert_Zemeckis, Ron_Howard, and Brian_De_Palma, Koepp was responsible for penning some of the highest-grossing films of all time. Comfortable working within any genre, Koepp takes pride in creating both character-driven pieces, like De_Palma's Carlito's_Way (1993) and his own Stir of Echoes (1999), and unforgettable action sequences like the T-Rex/jeep chase in Spielberg's Jurassic_Park and Tom_Cruise's aerial infiltration of the CIA in De_Palma's Mission:_Impossible (1996).
Raised in the Midwest, Koepp began writing short stories in grade school. He eventually enrolled at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he studied playwriting and acting (his uncle was actor Claude_Akins). More impressed with Koepp's writing than his acting, a professor convinced him to move out West and take up screenwriting. Koepp transferred to the University of California at Los Angeles, and began studying screenwriting techniques and film history. After graduating in 1986, he accepted a full-time position with a film distributor that allowed him time to write at night. Then, while working as a script reader, he met actor/director Martin_Donovan who asked Koepp to collaborate on what would become his first feature film.
Together with Donovan, Koepp wrote Apartment_Zero (1988), a psychosexual thriller featuring Colin_Firth as a shy cinephile who rents to a mysterious lodger in order to support his failing movie theater. The project turned out to be a moderate success. In the meantime, Koepp's fifth spec script, a thriller called Bad_Influence (1990), had made its way around Hollywood. Universal Studios executive Casey Silver offered to produce the piece if Koepp turned it into a comedy. The screenwriter declined, and held out until director Curtis_Hanson agreed to film it as is. Starring James_Spader and Rob_Lowe, Bad_Influence tells the story of a timid financial analyst who becomes entangled with a psychopathic stranger. The final product still dazzled Casey Silver, who offered Koepp a rare and highly coveted job as a contract screenwriter on the Universal lot, which gave him access to the studio's top projects and allowed him to freelance for other companies.
Koepp went to work on Daniel_Petrie_Jr.'s Toy_Soldiers (1991). Based on the novel by William_P._Kennedy, the film features Sean_Astin, Wil_Wheaton, and Keith_Coogan as teenagers who must defend their boarding school from Colombian terrorists. Reviewers nicknamed the picture "Red_Dawn meets Dead_Poets_Society," but it has since become a cult favorite. Koepp then re-teamed with Martin_Donovan to compose Robert_Zemeckis' Death_Becomes_Her (1992), an inventive black comedy starring Meryl_Streep, Goldie_Hawn, and Bruce_Willis. Shortly afterward, Universal asked Koepp to co-write Steven_Spielberg's adaptation of Michael_Crichton's -Jurassic Park (1994). The film -- about a theme park populated with real dinosaurs that are created from prehistoric DNA molecules -- was at the time the highest-grossing movie in history.
Despite his success in blockbusters, Koepp made his next two films more personal, people-driven dramas. In 1993, he condensed author Edwin_Torres' two-part character study of a professional criminal into Brian_De_Palma's celebrated Carlito's_Way, which stars Al_Pacino in the title role. Then, in 1994, he collaborated with his brother, Stephen_Koepp (a writer for Time magazine), on Ron_Howard's The_Paper. Called "the Best Journalism Film Ever," by Larry_King, The_Paper features Michael_Keaton, Robert_Duvall, and Glenn_Close as the eccentric staff of a New York City daily newspaper.
After adapting the classic radio series The Shadow (1994), for Russell_Mulcahy, Koepp tried his own hand at directing. He wrote and helmed the short film Suspicious, starring Janeane_Garofalo and Michael_Rooker. Based on the urban legend about a woman that had a man with an ax hiding in the back of her car, the short appeared at film festivals, on PBS, and on the SCI FI Channel. Koepp then co-wrote 1996's Mission:_Impossible for De_Palma before writing and directing his first feature, The_Trigger_Effect (1996). The film, which paid distinct homage to an episode of The_Twilight_Zone that starred Koepp's uncle, featured Dermot_Mulroney, Kyle MacLachlan, and Elisabeth_Shue as Californians coping with an unexplained national power outage.
In the late '90s, Koepp returned to Spielberg's lucrative Jurassic_Park franchise to write its second installment, The_Lost_World (1997). This time, he even gave himself a role in the film: Making his acting debut as "Unlucky Bastard," Koepp is gobbled by a Tyrannosaurus Rex that takes over San Diego. Though he earned 1.5 million dollars for his efforts on the sequel, Koepp chose not to be part of Jurassic Park III (2001). After penning Snake_Eyes (1998), his third screenplay for Brian_De_Palma, Koepp directed his second feature film, Stir of Echoes (1999). Based on pulp writer Richard_Matheson's novel (which Koepp discovered while rummaging through a used book store), the psychological thriller follows a telephone lineman (Kevin_Bacon) who begins to see ghosts after he is hypnotized at a party. Produced by Artisan Entertainment and shot on location in Chicago, the haunting, low-budget film was a minor hit.
The new millennium saw Koepp returning to blockbusters. His spec script for David_Fincher's Panic_Room (2002) sold in a major bidding war to Columbia Pictures for four million dollars. Starring Jodie_Foster as a woman trapped in the "panic room" of a New York City town house that is infiltrated by burglars, the much-hyped film broke box-office records in its opening weekend. Columbia also tapped Koepp to write its highly anticipated big-screen adaptation of Marvel Comics' biggest franchise, Spider-Man (2002). Directed by Sam_Raimi and starring Tobey_Maguire, Koepp remained the only credited screenwriter on the film, which was based on a treatment by James_Cameron. Also in 2002, he sold his original script, The Superconducting Supercollider of Sparkle Creek (co-written with John_Kamps), to Disney and planned on not only writing but directing the adaptation of Stephen_King's novella -Secret Window, Secret Garden. He also developed the CBS show Hack -- about a cop-turned-taxi driver -- for the network's Fall 2002 lineup, and made his second onscreen appearance in Barry_Sonnenfeld's Big_Trouble (2002). Aubry Anne D'Arminio, Rovi
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