Among the handful of screenwriters whose films have earned over two billion dollars at the box office, Steven de Souza's introduction to Hollywood was on camera - as a contestant on an L.A. game show. There, the Philadelphia-based writer for PBS, The New York Times, Premiere and other media outlets won a car and a color TV - and then talked his way into the office of several producers to leave beh ...
show all Among the handful of screenwriters whose films have earned over two billion dollars at the box office, Steven de Souza's introduction to Hollywood was on camera - as a contestant on an L.A. game show. There, the Philadelphia-based writer for PBS, The New York Times, Premiere and other media outlets won a car and a color TV - and then talked his way into the office of several producers to leave behind some writing samples. A contract with Universal Television as a story editor was the result. From there, Steven moved into producing (TV's _The "Knight Rider" (1982)_), and then earned his first motion picture credit, on _48 Hrs.(1982)_. That film, along with "Commando (1985)", and "Die Hard (1988)", established his reputation as a writer who could deftly handle both action and humor. That trademark combination remains evident in all of his subsequent work, which has expanded to include science fiction (_Running Man (1987)_, "Judge Dredd (1995)"), horror ("Vault of Horror I (1994) (TV)", "Possessed (2000) (TV)") and comedy ("The Flintstones (1994)"). With his next two projects, "Blast (2004)" and The Phantom, he returns to two of his favorite genres: The hi-octane thriller, and a golden age comic hero reinvented for the 21st century. Mr. de Souza has been nominated two times each for the Edgar Allen Poe award for best mystery screenplay, and the Saturn award for best Science Fiction/Fantasy Film. In 2000 he was honored with the Norman Lear Award for Lifetime Achievement in writing.
hide 
