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Graham Moore | |
|---|---|
 Moore in 2022 | |
| Born | (1981-10-18)October 18, 1981 (age 44) |
| Occupation | Filmmaker, author |
| Alma mater | Columbia University |
| Notable works | The Sherlockian,The Imitation Game,The Last Days of Night |
| Children | 1 |
| Website | |
| mrgrahammoore | |
Graham Moore (born October 18, 1981) is an American filmmaker and author. He is best known his screenplay for the historical filmThe Imitation Game (2014),[1] which topped the 2011Black List and won theAcademy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.
Moore was born inChicago, Illinois and raised on the city'snorth side.[2] He is "the son of two lawyers who divorced and then married two other lawyers";[3] Moore's father, Gary Moore, is an insurancedefense attorney and his mother,Susan Sher (née Steiner), works for theUniversity of Chicago. His mother was formerly the City of Chicago's chief lawyer and First LadyMichelle Obama'schief of staff.[4][5][6]
Moore's parents divorced when he was young.[2] Moore's stepfather isCook County Circuit CourtJudge Neil Cohen.[7] Raised Jewish,[2] Moore graduated from theUniversity of Chicago Laboratory Schools[7][8] in 1999 and received a bachelor of arts degree in religious history in 2003 fromColumbia University.
During his Academy Award acceptance speech in February 2015, Moore stated:[9]
When I was 16 years old, I tried to kill myself because I felt weird and I felt different, and I felt like I did not belong. And now I'm standing here, and so I would like this moment to be for this kid out there who feels like she's weird or she's different or she doesn't fit in anywhere: Yes, you do. I promise you do. Stay weird, stay different
This led viewers to believe that Graham Moore was gay and highlighted his own experience as anLGBTQ youth. Many people praised the speech onTwitter comparing it to the openly gay screenwriterDustin Lance Black who won an Oscar forMilk (2008). However, Moore has clarified to reporters he is in fact straight and not gay.[10]
The speech has since drawn criticisms for his use of the word "weird" and for misleading audiences. J. Bryan Lowder ofSlate wrote, "without harping on Moore's flustered speech too much, it's worth taking a moment to explain the trouble with that equivalence more generally and to think about why gay people might be so sensitive to it—especially coming as it did from the straight writer of a film that desperately marketed itself to audiences and Academy voters as a gay political statement."[11] Ira Maddison III ofBuzzfeed sharply criticized the language and vagueness of Moore's speech writing, "We don't need a straight, white male who wrote a straight-washed movie about Alan Turing as our savior. We need diverse women and men who are looking to the future, not people looking to past and crafting a speech that will appeal in its vagueness to anyone who's "weird.""[12]
Moore lives in Los Angeles, California. He married a woman in 2019 and together they have a child.[13]
Moore began his writing career working with childhood friend Ben Epstein, who was attendingTisch School of the Arts in New York City.[2] One of his earliest Hollywood jobs was on the writing staff of the short-lived television series10 Things I Hate About You.[14]
Moore's first book,The Sherlockian, was on the New York Times bestseller list for three weeks.[3]
His adapted screenplay for the 2014 filmThe Imitation Game, based on the biographyAlan Turing: The Enigma byAndrew Hodges, topped the 2011Black List of the best unproduced scripts inHollywood.[15] The script earned Moore numerous nominations, including the 2014Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay, and ultimately won the 2014Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay at the87th Academy Awards (awarded February 2015).
Moore's second book,The Last Days of Night, was published by Random House on August 16, 2016. Set in 1888 New York City, the novel focuses on the heated rivalry betweenThomas Edison andGeorge Westinghouse during the advent of electricity and is told through the eyes of Westinghouse's attorney,Paul Cravath.[16] Moore has adapted the screenplay forThe Last Days of Night to be directed by Oscar-nominated director ofThe Imitation GameMorten Tyldum.[17] Moore will write, direct, and produce the sci-fi thrillerNaked Is the Best Disguise forStudio 8.[18]
His third book,The Holdout, follows Maya Seale, who finds herself the prime suspect when one of her fellow trial jurors is found dead, ten years after they took part in a controversial verdict.[19]
Moore's first film as director,The Outfit, premiered at the72nd Berlin International Film Festival on February 14, 2022. It received positive reviews.
As of 2023, his bookThe Holdout, was being considered for an adaptation.[20]
Short film
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Pirates vs. Ninjas | No | Yes | Yes |
| 2008 | The Waiting Room | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Feature film
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Executive Producer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | The Imitation Game | No | Yes | Yes |
| 2022 | The Outfit | Yes | Yes | No |
Television series
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Creator | Executive Producer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 10 Things I Hate About You | No | Yes | No | No | Episode: Meat is Murder |
| TBA | The Altruists | TBA | Yes | Yes | Yes | [24][25] |
| Year | Award | Category | Nominated work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Anthony Awards | Best First Novel | The Sherlockian | Won |
| 2014 | British Independent Film Awards | Best Screenplay | The Imitation Game | Nominated |
| Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Awards | Best Adapted Screenplay | Nominated | ||
| San Francisco Film Critics Circle Award | Best Adapted Screenplay | Nominated | ||
| Chicago Film Critics Association | Best Adapted Screenplay | Nominated | ||
| 2015 | Golden Globe Award | Best Screenplay | Nominated | |
| Critics' Choice Movie Awards | Best Adapted Screenplay | Nominated | ||
| AACTA International Awards | Best Screenplay | Nominated | ||
| USC Scripter Award | Best Adapted Screenplay | Won | ||
| British Academy Film Awards | Best Adapted Screenplay | Nominated | ||
| Writers Guild of America Awards | Best Adapted Screenplay | Won | ||
| Satellite Awards | Best Adapted Screenplay | Won | ||
| Academy Awards | Best Adapted Screenplay | Won | ||
| PEN Center USA | Best Screenplay | Won | ||
| 2016 | The Washington Post | Notable fiction in 2016 | The Last Days of Night | Nominated |
| 2017 | American Library Association | Year's best in genre fiction for adult readers | Nominated |
