S. Craig Zahler

S. Craig Zahler was an American novelist, screenwriter, and director who was best known for making a number of genre-bending films, including "Bone Tomahawk" (2015), "Brawl in Cell Block 99" (2017), and "Dragged Across Concrete" (2018). Born and raised in Miami, Zahler had an early fascination with movies. As a young boy, he dreamt of making his own movies one day, but was more drawn to cinematography aspect of filmmaking. So, when it came time to enroll in college, Zahler studied cinematography at the esteemed New York University film school. After graduating, Zahler embarked on his career as a cinematographer, taking a number of jobs on low-paying short films. Over time, however, Zahler grew frustrated with the quality of writing in the scripts he was filming, and decided to write his own movies. Hence, he put his career as a cinematographer on hold, and began writing scripts. To pay the bills Zahler took a job as a catering chef, which allowed him to free his mind up so that he could devote all of his mental energy on writing his stories. By the mid-2000s Zahler's scripts began getting some attention in Hollywood, and in 2006 he was named as one of Variety's 10 Screenwriters to Watch. In addition to writing scripts, Zahler also began publishing novels, including the western noir A Congregation of Jackals (2010) and Mean Business on North Ganson Street (2014). Zahler made his directorial debut in 2015 with the horror-western "Bone Tomahawk," of which he also wrote the script. He followed that film up, in rapid succession, with two more films: "Brawl in Cell Block 99" and "Dragged Across Concrete." In addition to directing both films, Zahler also wrote the screenplay for each. 2018 was also the year Zahler co-wrote the horror-comedy film "Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich" (2018). That film starred Thomas Lennon and was co-directed by Sonny Laguna and Tommy Wiklund.