Arthur M. Jolly

Arthur M. Jolly (born 1969) is an American playwright and screenwriter. In 2006, he was awarded an Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting for a script named The Free Republic of Bobistan.

Early life

Jolly was born in Lewes, England, the son of Sir Richard Jolly, a development economist, and Lady Alison Jolly, a primatologist. He graduated from Stuyvesant High School in 1987, where he was a student of Frank McCourt. From 1988 to 1998, Jolly worked in New York as a stunt performer and special effects artist, garnering over 160 credits and doubling numerous actors including Adrien Brody, Norman Reedus and Freddie Prinze, Jr. During this time, Jolly wrote several screenplays and had his first publication, the short story Dancing with Fire.

In 1998, Jolly moved to Northern California to become a helicopter pilot - a career that would last for eight years, flying tourists into the Grand Canyon, fighting forest fires in Northern Idaho, and teaching U.S. Army pilots in Fort Rucker, Alabama.