Frank Darabont

Darabont, who spent his early years in Hollywood as a set decorator and production assistant, got his first break as a production aide on the 1981 horror film Hell Night. His work on the film introduced him to filmmaker Chuck Russell, with whom he would write the screenplays for A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987), the 1988 update of The Blob, and The Fly 2, the 1989 sequel to David Cronenberg's 1986 classic.

Darabont made his directorial debut with the 1990 made-for-cable Buried Alive, a thriller starring Tim Matheson and Jennifer Jason Leigh. Following the success of The Shawshank Redemption in 1994, Darabont took a five-year hiatus from directing, making a triumphant return with the 1999 prison drama The Green Mile. Starring Tom Hanks as a kind prison guard and Michael Clarke Duncan in an Oscar-nominated performance as a saintly death row inmate, the film garnered a slew of awards in addition to Duncan's nomination; they included a Directors Guild of America Best Director Award nomination, as well as three more Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and a second Best Adapted Screenplay nomination for Darabont. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide