Jonathan Nolan

Jonathan "Jonah" Nolan (born 1976) is an English-American screenwriter, television producer, director and author. He is the creator of the science fiction television series Person of Interest (2011–2016) and co-creator of Westworld (2016–present).
He has collaborated on several films with his brother, director Christopher Nolan, who adapted Jonathan's short story "Memento Mori" (2001) into the film Memento (2000). Together, they co-wrote the mystery thriller The Prestige (2006), the superhero films The Dark Knight (2008) and The Dark Knight Rises (2012), and the epic science fiction film Interstellar (2014).

Early life

Nolan was raised in London and Chicago, and attended Georgetown University, where he majored in English and was a staff writer for The Hoya.

Career

Nolan's short story "Memento Mori" was used by his older brother, director Christopher Nolan, as the basis for the film Memento. Although Jonathan received a "based on a story by" credit, not a screenwriting credit, the brothers shared a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay as the film was released before the story was published.

In 2005, Jonathan and Christopher co-wrote the screenplay for The Prestige, which is based on Christopher Priest's novel of the same title. The brothers collaborated on the screenplay for the 2008 film The Dark Knight. The film went on to become the most financially successful Batman film, which has since been surpassed by its sequel, The Dark Knight Rises.

On 10 February 2011, CBS picked up Nolan's pilot Person of Interest. The show was officially picked up by CBS on 13 May 2011 to air in fall 2011. The series ran for five seasons and starred Jim Caviezel and Michael Emerson. Nolan served as executive producer along with J. J. Abrams.

Nolan wrote the screenplay for Interstellar, a science-fiction feature based on the works of theoretical physicist Kip Thorne, who served as the film's executive producer. Christopher Nolan co-wrote, directed and produced the film, with Paramount distributing domestically, while Warner Bros. distributed internationally.

Nolan directed the pilot of the science fiction thriller, Westworld for HBO, co-written with Lisa Joy, based on the 1973 film of the same name, which has been picked up to series, & premiered on October 2, 2016. Nolan serves as executive producer along with Joy, J. J. Abrams, Jerry Weintraub, and Bryan Burk.

In 2014, TheWrap reported that Nolan was writing and producing a series based on Isaac Asimov's Foundation Trilogy for HBO.

Personal life

Jonathan found that having an English accent was very unpopular after moving to Chicago, so he learned to "sound like a good Chicago kid."

When contemplating the artistic differences between him and his brother, Nolan remarked: "I've always suspected that it has something to do with the fact that he's left-handed and I'm right-handed, because he is somehow able to look at my ideas and flip them around in a way that's just a bit more twisted and interesting. It's great to be able to work with him that way."

Nolan is married to Burn Notice writer Lisa Joy. They have a daughter, and are expecting their second child.

Filmography

Film

Television