Mark Andrus

While working on his MFA in professional writing at USC, California native Mark Andrus came to the attention of producer Norman Lear who signed him to a contract at Embassy Productions. His first produced screenplay was the offbeat comedy "Late for Dinner" (1991), about two friends who are cryogenically frozen and thawed nearly thirty years later. The film suffered from an overly sentimental conclusion. Andrus provided the story and shared screenwriting credit with director James L Brooks on the critically-lauded "As Good As It Gets" (1997). This comedy-drama centered on the relationships of a curmudgeonly author with his gay neighbor and a tolerant waitress and, while some found the film formulaic, most critics praised it for creating memorable characters (enhanced by the acting of Jack Nicholson, Greg Kinnear and Helen Hunt). Andrus has worked for several other companies, including Castle Rock Entertainment, and signed a "first look" deal with Fox 2000, an independent studio based at 20th Century Fox.