Lewis Colick
About
Biography
Filmography
Family & Companions
Biography
Brooklynite Lewis Colick moved to the West Coast in 1974 to pursue graduate study in theater arts at UCLA. After obtaining his MFA, he moved into writing for TV, penning some episodic scripts and turning out several unproduced feature screenplays. One of these, "Radiant City," was cited by AMERICAN FILM (March 1991) as one of the best unproduced scripts. While Miramax at one time held an option to produce it as a feature, its period setting and intimate story seemingly made it more palatable for the small screen. ABC produced it in 1996 with Kirstie Alley in the leading role of a Brooklyn woman who desires a better life for her family.
A desire for self-improvement is one theme that plays heavily in Colick's work. His first produced TV-movie "Crossing the Mob" (NBC, 1988) focused on a young man who thought the only way to better himself was to hook up with local gangsters. Another predominant motif in the writer's work hinges on menace, often in the form of a single man. Colick first explored that idea in "Unlawful Entry" (1992) with Ray Liotta cast as a cop who insinuates his way into the complacent life of a married couple. Similarly, "Judgment Night" (1993) revolved around a group of four young men who accidentally strike a shooting victim and then are terrorized by thugs. "Bulletproof" (1996, which he co-wrote with Joe Gayton) opted for a comedic take on the material (with James Caan as the heavy).
"Ghosts of Mississippi" (1996), Rob Reiner's earnest take on the slaying of Civil Rights activist Medgar Evers, ostensibly focused on the lawyer who was out to bring his assassin to justice. Colick spent a year researching the case, travelling to Mississippi to conduct interviews and amassing a dossier that uncovered previously unknown or overlooked material. His screenplay also featured a man of menace--Byron De La Beckwith--and partly due to the forceful performance of James Woods in the role, the ambitious film was thrown somewhat off-kilter.
Returning to the theme of self-improvement and desiring to move away from home, Colick collaborated with NASA engineer Homer Hickham Jr. on the script for "October Sky" (1999). Initially based on an article by Hickham that appeared in SMITHSONIAN MAGAZINE in which the West Virginian told of his youth as a "rocket boy" in a coal mining town. Hickham wanted to be an astronaut but his father expected him to join in working the mines. Colick helped to shape the film, which earned positive reviews and garnered its writer several awards, including a Humanitas Prize and a nomination from the Writers Guild.
Filmography
Writer (Feature Film)
Producer (Feature Film)
Misc. Crew (Feature Film)
Life Events
1986
Co-wrote (with David Brandes) the low-budget teen flick "The Dirt Bike Kids"
1988
TV debut as screenwriter, the NBC movie "Crossing the Mob"
1992
Solo feature screenwriting debut, the thriller "Unlawful Entry"
1996
Scripted the earnest, based-on-fact "Ghosts of Mississippi", about attempts to bring the murderer of Civil Rights activist Medgar Evers to justice
1996
Served as co-executive producer and screenwriter for "Radiant City", an ABC drama starring Kirstie Alley; screenplay had been written many years before and was cited by AMERICAN FILM (March 1991) as one of the great unproduced screenplays
1996
Collaborated with Joe Gayton on the Damon Wayans-Adam Sandler ccomedy vehicle "Bulletproof"
1999
Penned the screenplay for "October Sky", the adaptation of NASA engineer Homer Hickham Jr's memoir of his boyhood in the coal mining communities of West Virginia
2001
Wrote the thriller "Domestic Disturbance"
2004
Penned the script for the drama "Ladder 49" about Baltimore firefighters
2010
Co-wrote the screenplay for "Charlie St. Cloud," a film based on Ben Sherwood's novel "The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud," starring Zac Efron as a young man coming to terms with the death of his younger brother