- published: 09 Feb 2016
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Kenneth Lonergan (born October 16, 1962) is an American playwright, screenwriter, and director.
Lonergan was born in the Bronx, New York City, New York. His mother is Jewish and his father is of Irish descent. Lonergan began writing in high school at the Walden School (a now defunct, highly progressive private school in Manhattan with a strong drama program).
His first play, The Rennings Children, was chosen for the Stephen Sondheim founded Young Playwrights Inc. Young Playwright's Festival in 1982 while he was still an undergraduate. Lonergan matriculated to Wesleyan University where he trained as a playwright and director; he would go on to graduate at the NYU Playwriting Program.
After graduating from NYU, Lonergan worked as a speechwriter for the Environmental Protection Agency. He also wrote industrial shows—long-play commercials—for clients such as Weight Watchers and Fujifilm.
Lonergan's first theatrical success came with the play This is Our Youth (1996); it was followed by The Waverley Gallery (1999), based on his grandmother's Greenwich Village Gallery, and later Lobby Hero (2002). His play, The Starry Messenger premiered Off-Broadway in 2009 and starred his wife, J. Smith-Cameron and Matthew Broderick.
Matthew Paige "Matt" Damon (/ˈdeɪmən/; born October 8, 1970) is an American actor and filmmaker. Born and raised in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Damon began his acting career by appearing in high school theater productions and he made his professional acting debut in the film Mystic Pizza (1988). He came to prominence in 1997 when he and Ben Affleck wrote and starred in Good Will Hunting, which won them the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and the Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay and earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor. He received further praise for his roles as the eponymous character in Saving Private Ryan (1998), the antihero in The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), a fallen angel in Dogma, and received critical acclaim for performances in dramas such as Syriana (2005) and The Good Shepherd, as well as his role as a villain in the neo-noir crime drama The Departed (2006).
Damon is also known for his starring roles as Jason Bourne in the Bourne film series (2002–present).For his supporting role as rugby player Francois Pienaar in Invictus (2009) and his leading role as an astronaut stranded on Mars in The Martian (2015), he has received Academy Award nominations for Best Supporting Actor and Best Actor, respectively. Damon's leading role in The Martian won him the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. He has also received BAFTA, Golden Globe, and SAG nominations for Behind the Candelabra (2013) and three Emmy nominations for producing Project Greenlight
The stars and director of Sundance hit “Manchester by the Sea” stopped by the Variety Studio at the fest, with Casey Affleck, Kyle Chandler, Lucas Hedges and Kenneth Lonergan talking about their collaboration on the drama. http://bit.ly/VarietySubscribe
MARGARET centers on a 17-year-old New York City high-school student who feels certain that she inadvertently played a role in a traffic accident that has claimed a woman's life. In her attempts to set things right she meets with opposition at every step. Torn apart with frustration, she begins emotionally brutalizing her family, her friends, her teachers, and most of all, herself. She has been confronted quite unexpectedly with a basic truth: that her youthful ideals are on a collision course against the realities and compromises of the adult world. Director: Kenneth Lonergan Writer: Kenneth Lonergan Credited cast: Matt Damon Anna Paquin Mark Ruffalo Allison Janney Matthew Broderick Kieran Culkin Krysten Ritter Jean Reno Olivia Thirlby Rosemarie DeWitt Matt Bush ...
This episode of “Irish Writers in America,” a new 13 part series from CUNY TV (City University of New York television station), features interviews with John Patrick Shanley, winner of the Pulitzer Prize, Academy Award, and Tony Award, and Kenneth Lonergan, winner of the Sundance Grand Jury Prize for Drama with multiple Pulitzer and Academy Award nominations. John Patrick Shanley talks about his poetic interest in Facebook, growing up with a huge Irish family, choosing to write about Italian culture instead, learning to let his characters speak at length, and the emotional experience of going from little-known, broke New York playwright to winning an Academy Award for Moonstruck. He tells the story of deciding to change his circumstance by focusing on playwriting and how he began Doubt wi...
Writer/director Kenneth Lonergan and star Anna Paquin were on hand to chat with Elvis Mitchell following a screening of the extended cut of Margaret.
Kenneth Lonergan’s heartbreaking film “Manchester by the Sea” grew from a kernel of an idea by Matt Damon and John Krasinski, who approached the two-time Academy Award nominee (“You Can Count on Me”) to write the script. “The way they described the characters, the basic situation seemed very compelling and it appealed to me,” Lonergan told TheWrap’s Steve Pond. “It sounded like something I could write.” Set in the blue-collar Massachusetts town of Manchester-by-the-Sea, the film stars Casey Affleck as Lee Chandler, a broken man who is drafted to be his nephew’s legal guardian when his brother (Kyle Chandler) dies. Subscribe to TheWrap's YouTube: http://bit.ly/TheWrapYTSub Subscribe to Our Newsletter: http://bit.ly/TheWrapNewsletter Twitter: http://bit.ly/TheWrapTwFollow Instagram: http...
Movies as modern art: Richard Brody moderates a discussion with Miranda July, Alex Karpovsky, Kenneth Lonergan, and Terence Nance. Still haven’t subscribed to The New Yorker on YouTube? ►► http://bit.ly/newyorkeryoutubesub CONNECT WITH THE NEW YORKER Web: http://www.newyorker.com Twitter: http://twitter.com/NewYorker Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/newyorker Google+: http://plus.google.com/+newyorker Instagram: http://instagram.com/newyorkermag Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/thenewyorker Tumblr: http://newyorker.tumblr.com The Scene: http://thescene.com/thenewyorker Want even more? Subscribe to The Scene: http://bit.ly/subthescene Richard Brody with Miranda July, Alex Karpovsky, Kenneth Lonergan, and Terence Nance Starring: Miranda July
Writing for stage and film presents some unique challenges. Two men who've done both, David Rabe and Kenneth Lonergan, join WNYC's Leonard Lopate to talk about their experience writing for the different mediums and adapting their work from one format to another. Listen to the entire interview here. http://www.wnyc.org/shows/lopate/episodes/2009/03/05/segments/125468 Lonergans screen writing credits include: "You Can Count on Me" and "Gangs of New York." His plays include "Lobby Hero," "The Waverly Gallery," and "This is Our Youth." Rabe's has written "Hurlyburly," "Sticks and Bones" and "In the Boom Boom Room" for the stage. His screenplays include "The Firm" and "Casualties of War."
'Manchester by the Sea' writer-director Kenneth Lonergan spoke at the 2016 New York Film Festival about working with Casey Affleck to shape is critically acclaimed lead performance. Visit us at www.goldderby.com for the latest awards news and to make your predictions.