Whether it’s for the stage or the screen, noted writer John Logan has been met with both critical and commercial success. Starting in Chicago as a playwright, his early works dealt with such stories as the Leopold and Loeb case and the Lindbergh baby kidnapping.
After plying his craft in the theater, he turned to film writing in the late 1990s. His first major release was “Any Giving Sunday,” directed by Oliver Stone. His next effort, “Gladiator,” was one of the most popular movies of 2000, and he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay. He was nominated again in the same category for 2004’s “The Aviator,” directed by Martin Scorsese.
He didn’t completely abandon his stage efforts, and in 2010 his play “Red,” which was about artist Mark Rothko, won six Tony Awards when it made it to Broadway. He just recently teamed up with Martin Scorsese once more on this past year’s movie “Hugo.”
What was it like for Logan to adapt the fantastic story from the page to the big screen? How did his work as a playwright influence his screenwriting career? What’s next on the horizon for Logan, on screen, stage or off?
Guest:
John Logan, Oscar nominated screenwriter for "Hugo." Logan has also written the introduction to the new book Hugo: The Shooting Script (Newmarket Press).