Background
August was born and raised in Boulder, Colorado.
director journalist screenwriter
August was born and raised in Boulder, Colorado.
He earned a degree in journalism from Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa and an Master of Fine Arts in film from The Peter Stark Producing Program at the University of Southern California.
He also writes and maintains the popular screenwriting blog johnaugust.com, and develops screenwriter-targeted software. In 2016, he was awarded the WGAw"s Valentine Davies Award for his dignified contributions to the entertainment industry and the community-at-large. He lives in Los Los Angeles
August"s debut film was 1999"s critically acclaimed Go, for which he also served as co-producer and second unit director
In 1998, August acquired the film rights to Daniel Wallace"s Big Fish. His adaptation became the 2003 Tim Burton film of the same name and earned August a 2003 British Academy of Film and Television Arts Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay.
Since 2003, August has written the screenplay for several Tim Burton films, including Corpse Bride, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (an adaptation of Roald Dahl"s classic children"s book), and Frankenweenie. August also shared story cr with Seth Grahame-Smith on Burton"s Dark Shadows.
The Nines, his writing/directing debut starring Ryan Reynolds, Melissa McCarthy, Hope Davis and Elle Fanning, premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival and Venice Film Festival"s Critics’ Week.
Foreign television, August has developed three projects. Doctorate.C, a one-hour drama for the World Bank Network, ran in April 2000. Alaska, a crime drama for American Broadcasting Company, shot a pilot in 2004 directed by Kim Manners but was not picked up for series.
Ops, a one-hour drama co-created by Jordan Mechner, was developed for 20th Television/Fox, but never filmed a pilot.
August wrote the book for the Broadway musical adaptation of Big Fish, with music and lyrics by Andrew Lippa, directed and choreographed by Susan Stroman. August earned a 2006 Grammy nomination for lyrics for "Wonka"s Welcome Song" from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
