Adam Horowitz (born December 4, 1971) is an American screenwriter and producer. He is best known for co-creating the ABC fairy tale drama series Once Upon a Time with his writing partner, Edward Kitsis.

Adam Horowitz
Horowitz in March 2012
Born (1971-12-04) December 4, 1971 (age 52)
New York City, U.S.
Alma materUniversity of Wisconsin–Madison
Occupations
  • Screenwriter
  • producer
Years active1994–present
Known forCo-creator of Once Upon a Time

Early life

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Horowitz was born in New York City,[1] and graduated from Hunter College High School in 1990. He attended University of Wisconsin–Madison and graduated with a B.A. in 1994, majoring in communication arts and political science. There he met his future collaborator, Edward Kitsis. Horowitz was writer and reporter for the Daily Cardinal student newspaper, writing as many as five articles in the same issue. He often caught editors off-guard with humorous leads or picking odd quotes. He worked on articles about spearfishing and the Exxon Valdez oil spill.[2]

Career

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Television

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After graduating, Kitsis and Horowitz traveled together to Los Angeles, and worked together on Fantasy Island, Felicity and Popular, before joining the Lost team halfway through the first season. He is married to Erin Barrett Horowitz.

Horowitz, Kitsis and the Lost writing staff won the Writers Guild of America (WGA) Award for Best Dramatic Series at the February 2006 ceremony for their work on the first and second seasons.[3] They were nominated for the WGA Award for Best Dramatic Series again at the February 2007 ceremony for their work on the second and third seasons,[4] at the February 2009 ceremony for the fourth season of Lost[5] and at the February 2010 ceremony for the fifth season.[6] They also wrote Confessions of an American Bride, a made-for-television movie. During Lost's run, he signed an overall deal with ABC Studios in 2007.[7]

Horowitz and Kitsis created the ABC fantasy drama series Once Upon a Time, which began airing on October 23, 2011. The show focuses on a town which is actually a parallel world populated by fairytale characters who are unaware of their true identity. The two came up with the concept seven years prior to joining the staff of Lost, but wanted to wait until it ended before they focused on this project.[8][9]

Kitsis and Horowitz also worked on the first four episodes of Tron: Uprising. He explains that he has used this chance to explore the Tron universe, particularly the life of a program under CLU's regime.[10]

Kitsis, Horowitz, and Josh Gad will serve as creators and writers for a limited prequel series to Disney's 2017 film Beauty and the Beast.[11] The series was conceived after the three had a discussion after the cancellation of their planned Disney+ series, Muppets Live Another Day.[11] In December 2019, it was announced that Horowitz and Kitsis were working on a new TV show set in the world of fairy tales and Disney titled Epic.[12] The pilot was picked up by ABC in January 2021, however it was dropped in August of the same year.[13]

Film

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Kitsis and Horowitz worked as writers on early unused drafts of the Universal project Ouija,[14] and co-wrote the film Tron: Legacy in 2010.[15]

He frequently collaborates with a tightly knit group of film professionals which include J. J. Abrams, Damon Lindelof, Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, Edward Kitsis, Andre Nemec, Josh Appelbaum, Jeff Pinkner, and Bryan Burk.[1]

Credits

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Awards

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  • 2005 Writers Guild of America Award for Best Dramatic Series for Lost.
  • 2000 SHINE Award for Best Comedy Episode for Popular episode "Booty Camp".
  • Nominated for 2000 Shine Award for Best Dramatic Episode for Popular episode "Tonight's the Night".
  • Nominated for 2008 Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series for Lost
  • Nominated for 2009 Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series for Lost
  • Nominated for 2010 Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series for Lost

References

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  1. ^ a b Variety Magazine: "Abrams keeps it all in the fan family – J.J. and his collaborators conquer Hollywood" By Cynthia Littleton October 16, 2009 |"We’re all self-deprecating short Jews, with the exception of Bob Orci”
  2. ^ "Spearfishing Treaty Controversy - Indian Country Wisconsin". www.mpm.edu. Archived from the original on June 10, 2010. Retrieved January 11, 2022.
  3. ^ "Awards Winners". Writers Guild of America. Archived from the original on October 22, 2007. Retrieved October 17, 2007.
  4. ^ "2007 Writers Guild Awards Television & Radio Nominees Announced". Writers Guild of America. Archived from the original on December 5, 2007. Retrieved December 6, 2007.
  5. ^ "2009 Writers Guild Awards Television, Radio, News, Promotional Writing, and Graphic Animation Nominees Announced". WG A. 2008. Archived from the original on December 12, 2008. Retrieved December 12, 2008.
  6. ^ "2010 Writers Guild Awards Television, Radio, News, Promotional Writing, and Graphic Animation Nominees Announced". WGA. 2009. Archived from the original on January 29, 2010. Retrieved April 15, 2010.
  7. ^ Adalian, Josef (March 1, 2007). "'Lost' scribes ink overall deal". Variety. Retrieved February 21, 2021.
  8. ^ Goldberg, Lesley (May 31, 2011). "Jane Espenson, Liz Tigelaar Join ABC's Once Upon a Time". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved August 12, 2011.
  9. ^ Levine, Stuart (October 28, 2010). "EXCLUSIVE: 'Lost' exec producers Horowitz, Kitsis sell pilot to ABC". Variety. Archived from the original on June 24, 2011. Retrieved August 2, 2011.
  10. ^ Radish, Christina. "Creators Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz Talk ONCE UPON A TIME Season 1 Finale, Animated Series TRON: UPRISING, and Involvement with TRON 3". Collider. Retrieved October 8, 2012.
  11. ^ a b c Goldberg, Lesley (March 6, 2020). "'Beauty and the Beast' Prequel Series in the Works at Disney+ (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved March 7, 2020.
  12. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (December 16, 2019). "Disney Fairytale Universe-Set Romantic Anthology 'Epic' In Works At ABC From 'Once Upon A Time' Trio". Retrieved January 29, 2021.
  13. ^ Goldberg, Lesley (January 29, 2021). "'Once Upon a Time' Creators Return to ABC With 'Epic' Fairy Tale Anthology". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
  14. ^ Exclusive Interview: TRON: LEGACY screenwriters Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz bring the franchise back online
  15. ^ "'Tron' Writers Say Yes to 'Ouija Board'". BloodyDisgusting. November 2, 2009.
  16. ^ "AdamHorowitzLA Twitter announcement". Twitter. November 26, 2014. Retrieved November 26, 2014.
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