Zak Penn

Zak Penn

Born: March 23, 1968
in New York, USA
Zak Penn (born March 23, 1968) is an American screenwriter. Penn wrote and directed Incident at Loch Ness and The Grand, and co-wrote the scripts for X2, X-Men: The Last Stand, and the story for The Avengers. With Michael Karnow, Penn is the co-creator of the TV series Alphas on the Syfy network.

Penn was born in New York. He graduated from Wesleyan University in 1990. His screenplay for PCU was based on his experiences at the Eclectic Society house. He is the son of New York businessman and lawyer Arthur Penn, who led the acquisition of the Capital Markets Assurance Corporation from Citicorp.

Films that Penn has been involved in writing include Last Action Hero, Inspector Gadget, X2, X-Men: The Last Stand, and Elektra. Penn wrote early drafts of Hulk, The Incredible Hulk, and The Avengers.

Penn is also a jury member for the digital studio Filmaka, a platform for undiscovered filmmakers to show their work to industry professionals.

In July 2012, Avatar Press released the first issue of Penn's first comic book, Hero Worship. The six-issue series is co-written with Star Wars: The Clone Wars screenwriter Scott Murphy and drawn by Michael DiPascale. It centers on Zenith, an indestructible hero who has fans following every disaster, trying to catch a glimpse of the ultimate celebrity and risking their own lives in the process. One fan becomes so obsessed that it leads to the development of his own powers.

He directed the documentary film Atari: Game Over.

Description above from the Wikipedia article Zak Penn, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Movies for Zak Penn...

In Search of the Last Action Heroes
Title: In Search of the Last Action Heroes
Character: Himself
Released: September 1, 2019
Type: Movie
The most comprehensive retrospective of the '80s action film genre ever made.
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Tales from the Script
Title: Tales from the Script
Character: Self
Released: January 10, 2009
Type: Movie
Shane Black ("Lethal Weapon"), John Carpenter ("Halloween"), Frank Darabont ("The Shawshank Redemption"), William Goldman ("The Princess Bride"), Paul Schrader ("Taxi Driver"), and dozens of other Hollywood screenwriters share hilarious anecdotes and penetrating insights in "Tales from the Script," the most comprehensive documentary ever made about screenwriting. By analyzing their triumphs and recalling their failures, the participants explain how successful writers develop the skills necessary for toughing out careers in one of the world's most competitive industries. They also reveal the untold stories behind some of the greatest screenplays ever written, describing their adventures with luminaries including Harrison Ford, Stanley Kubrick, Joel Silver, Martin Scorsese, and Steven Spielberg. The film was produced in tandem with the upcoming HarperCollins book of the same name.
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Starz Inside: Comic Books Unbound
Title: Starz Inside: Comic Books Unbound
Character: Self - Screenwriter, X2 & X-Men: The Last Stand
Released: June 10, 2008
Type: Movie
From superheroes to superstars, Hollywood has always turned to comic books for imagination and inspiration. In this Starz Inside documentary, discover the history of comics from page to screen through the evolution and revolutions that have changed entertainment forever. It's a hero's journey of hits, misses and unstoppable powers, featuring the Spider-Man, X-Men, and Batman films (including The Dark Knight), Iron Man, Superman Returns, Hellboy II, Sin City, Incredible Hulk, American Splendor, Wanted, and beyond, plus revealing interviews with Guillermo del Toro, Stan Lee, Zak Penn, Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, Neal Adams, Roger Corman, Avi Arad, Mike Mignola, Paul Pope, Richard Donner, Jim Steranko, and many more.
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Incident at Loch Ness
Title: Incident at Loch Ness
Character: Self
Released: December 17, 2004
Type: Movie
When renowned director Werner Herzog and fellow filmmaker Zak Penn set off to explore the legend of Scotland's Loch Ness monster, they uncover much more than they bargained for. Unexplained sightings of the creature and chaos among the crew create an uneasy feeling that things aren't what they seem.
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Chuck & Buck
Title: Chuck & Buck
Character: Josh Weintraub
Released: January 21, 2000
Type: Movie
A 27-year-old amateur playwright with the maturity level of an adolescent reconnects with a childhood friend, and then proceeds to follow him back to Los Angeles and stalk him.
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Star Maps
Title: Star Maps
Character: Carmel County Writer
Released: July 23, 1997
Type: Movie
Carlos wants to be an actor. But his father, Pepe, wants him to work in the family business, that is, male prostitution. Carlos decides that he will be one of his father's boys until he can get his foot in the door in Hollywood.
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PCU
Title: PCU
Character: Bathroom Patron
Released: April 29, 1994
Type: Movie
Nervous high school senior Tom Lawrence visits Port Chester University, where he gets a taste of politically correct college life when he's guided by fraternity wild man Droz and his housemates at The Pit. But Droz and his pals have rivals in nasty preppy Rand McPherson and the school's steely president. With their house threatened with expulsion, Droz and company decide to throw a raging party where the various factions will collide.