Frank Darabont

Frank Darabont is an American screenwriter, director, and producer who began his career writing horror movies, among them A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987), The Blob (1988), and The Fly II (1989). Born in Montbéliard, France, he grew up in Chicago and Los Angeles and worked at Grauman's Egyptian Theatre before taking production assistant jobs. After directing the television movie Buried Alive, he wrote and directed The Shawshank Redemption (1994), a Stephen King adaptation that drew seven Oscar nominations, among them Best Picture and one for his adapted screenplay. Next came The Green Mile (1999), also a Best Picture nominee, then The Majestic (2001) and The Mist (2007). For television he developed The Walking Dead (2010 to 2011), wrote and directed its pilot, later made Mob City (2013), and directed episodes of Stranger Things (2025). The Academy has nominated him three times, and he also has a Golden Globe nomination.