Biography
David Arata is a screenwriter, writer, director, and producer. Raised near San Francisco, he attended the University of California at Santa Cruz, where he studied painting, photography, and theater, and began creating experimental films inspired by Robert Frank and Jean-Luc Godard. After earning a film degree, he furthered his studies at the American Film Institute, focusing on screenwriting.
Arata made a notable screenwriting debut in 1999 with Fox 2000's Brokedown Palace, featuring Claire Danes and Kate Beckinsale. He is best recognized for Children of Men (2006), starring Clive Owen and Julianne Moore, for which he earned an Oscar nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay. His other credits include Spy Game (2001), starring Robert Redford and Brad Pitt, and The Angel (2018), with Marwan Kenzari, Toby Kebbell, and Hannah Ware.
As of October 2018, Arata is involved in several active projects such as Bend (film, writer, director), Prometheans (film, writer, director), Dreamland (TV series, writer, creator, executive producer), From Hell (TV series, writer, creator, executive producer, based on the graphic novel by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell), Rio (TV series, writer, creator, executive producer), among others.
Beyond his Hollywood work, Arata serves as a creative advisor at the Sundance Film Institute's screenwriting lab. He resides in Los Angeles with his wife, Kathy.
4 wins and 12 nominations
