Tony Kushner

"Tony Kushner was born in 1956 and is an American playwright and screenwriter."  Kushner spent his childhood in Louisiana and moved to New York in 1974 to begin his undergraduate college education at Columbia University.  There he received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Medieval Studies.  He studied directing at New York's Graduate School and graduated from there in 1984.  

Kushner's style:

"Kushner's plays and screenplays are often a departure from typical Realism.  These plays and screenplays experime

nted with conventional storytelling b

y using shorter episodes.  For example, the Angels in America plays together contain almost 50 scenes.  Like Henrik Ibsen, Kushner creates stories which give rise to social discussion, instead being simply "issue plays."

Awards:

1993 Drama Desk Award Outstanding New Play- Angels in America.

1993 Kushner received the Pulitzer Prize for drama in 1992 for his play, Angels in America.

1993 Tony Award for Best Play- Angel in America.

1994 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Play- Angels in America.

1994 Tony Award for Best Play- Angels in America.

2004 Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special.

2005 Golden Flobe Award for best Screenplay.

2007 Laurence Oliver Award for Best New Musical- Caroline, or Change. 

2008 Steinberg Distinguished Playwright Award. 

Angels in America has been filmed several times.  

Kushner' Current Works:

Kushner is currently working with Steve Spielberg, writing the screenplay for a new movie about the complex icon Abraham Lincoln.  

References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Kushner

http://www.imagi-nation.com/moonstruck/clsc51.html

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1065785/

http://www.ibdb.com/person.php?id=8918

http://www.ibdb.com/production.php?id=4569