Daniel Zelman

Despite studying acting at the Tisch School of the Arts, Daniel Zelman found more success later in his career behind the scenes. Not that Zelman did not try his arm at acting first, making his TV debut in "Law & Order" (NBC, 1990-2010) followed by feature films "Let It Be Me" (1995) and "Milk & Money" (1996), and a recurring role in two episodes of "Ned & Stacey" (Fox, 1995-97), which starred his girlfriend Debra Messing, whom he had met at school. However Zelman's acting work never really took off, confined to small roles in some relatively big productions including brief appearances in the "Weird Science" (USA Network, 1994-98) TV spin off and supernatural horror hit "What Lies Beneath "(2000) starring Harrison Ford and Michelle Pfeiffer. 2000 was a landmark year for Zelman as he changed his focus for "They Nest" (aka "Creepy Crawlers") which he wrote and co-produced. This creature feature might not have set the world alight but was a solid, entertaining killer bug movie that found fans amongst the horror community and more importantly proved Zelman could write. He returned with another animals on the rampage movie, writing the screenplay for monster snake sequel "Anacondas: Hunt for the Blood Orchid" (2004) for Sony Pictures. Perhaps not a critical hit, it was a decent financial success making over $70 million in worldwide box office. It also helped convince Warner Brothers to pick up Zelman's script for "Fool's Gold" (2008), a treasure-hunting action adventure with a liberal dash of comedy starring Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson. The reviews weren't kind but once again it made a respectable profit. Zelman would find greater critical acclaim in television, co-creating legal thriller "Damages" (FX, 2007-2012) with Todd A. Kessler and Glenn Kessler. Glenn Close and Rose Byrne took the leads with Close winning a Golden Globe and an Emmy for her portrayal of ruthless lawyer Patty Hewes. Despite rave reviews, falling ratings saw FX drop "Damages" after three seasons but it was saved from the ax when it was picked up by DirecTV's The 101 Network (later rebranded as Audience Network in 2011) for the final seasons series. As well as serving as executive producer across all five seasons, Zelman also wrote 25 episodes and directed another two. The show came to a close in 2012; unfortunately so did Zelman and Messing's marriage when they divorced the same year. Zelman's next TV project was another collaboration with the Kessler brothers. The drama "Bloodline" launched on Netflix in 2015, starring Kyle Chandler, Ben Mendelsohn, Sam Shepard and Sissy Spacek.