Bonnie Curtis was born in Texas and graduated as Valedictorian from Abilene Christian University with a BA in journalism. She moved to Los Angeles with her first love in mind: film.
Curtis immediately found production work on the films “Dead Poets Society” and “Arachnophobia” before being hired as Steven Spielberg’s assistant in 1990 embarking on what would become a 15-year professional relationship with the acclaimed director. After the films “Hook” and “Jurassic Park,” Curtis became a Production Associate on “Schindler’s List” and served as Associate Producer on “The Lost World: Jurassic Park,” and “Amistad.” In 1998 she Co-Produced the epic blockbuster “Saving Private Ryan,” for which she received the Producer of the Year award from the Producers Guild of America. Next came “A.I. Artificial Intelligence,” followed in 2002 by “Minority Report,” starring Tom Cruise.
Fulfilling a longtime desire to work with a first-time filmmaker, Curtis produced “The Chumscrubber” with Lawrence Bender (“Good Will Hunting,” “An Inconvenient Truth”) for first-time director Arie Posin in 2005. The film starred Glenn Close, Ralph Fiennes and Jamie Bell, was an official selection for both the Sundance Film Festival and South by Southwest Film Festival, and won the “Audience Award for Best Film” at the Moscow Film Festival.
Next up was “Albert Nobbs,” starring Glenn Close, Mia Wasikowska, Aaron Johnson, Janet McTeer, Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Brendan Gleeson, which Rodrigo Garcia (“Mother and Child”) directed in Dublin, Ireland. She produced the film with Close, Garcia’s longtime producer Julie Lynn and Alan Moloney (“Breakfast on Pluto”). The film received three Academy Award nominations.
Following “Albert Nobbs,” Curtis partnered with Lynn under Lynn's production company label: Mockingbird Pictures. Since joining forces, the two have produced “The Face of Love,” which Curtis's “Chumscrubber” director, Posin, co-wrote and directed. The film stars Annette Bening, Ed Harris and Robin Williams and was released March 2014. Following that came the release of “5 to 7,” a romantic dramedy starring Anton Yelchin, Berenice Marlohe, Glenn Close, Frank Langella, Olivia Thirlby and Lambert Wilson. The film was written and directed by longtime TV-writer Victor Levin (“Mad Men,” “Mad About You”) and was released April 2015.
Next came “Last Days in the Desert,” written and directed by Rodrigo Garcia, starring Ewan McGregor, Ciarán Hinds, Ayelet Zurer and Tye Sheridan. The film premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival and was released by Broad Green in May 2016. “The Sweet Life,” directed by Rob Spera and starring Chris Messina and Abigail Spencer premiered at the 2016 Los Angeles Film Festival and was digitally released by The Orchard in April 2017.
Curtis and Lynn next produced “Wakefield,” written and directed by Robin Swicord and adapted from an E.L. Doctorow short story, which was released on May 19, 2017 by IFC. The film starred Bryan Cranston and Jennifer Garner. “To the Bone,” written and directed by Marti Noxon, starring Lily Collins, Carrie Preston, Keanu Reeves and Alex Sharp was up next—the film premiered at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival and was acquired by Netflix for a sale of $8 million.
Curtis and Lynn entered the studio business next—producing the Skydance Media film “Life” alongside David Ellison and Dana Goldberg. The film was released by Sony in March of 2017 and stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Rebecca Ferguson and Ryan Reynolds.
Curtis and Lynn entered into first look deal for film and television with Skydance Media after completing "Life" and immediately executive produced Marti’s Noxon’s “Dietland” for television with Skydance and AMC in 2018, and are currently executive producing the Terminator reboot for Skydance, Paramount and Fox, which will be released November of 2019.
“My Father’s Dragon” will be their first foray into animation, and Netflix has just green lit the start of production on the film with Cartoon Saloon. They have several projects in development at Skydance in both film and television, as well as at Sony, Fox and Netflix.
In 2002 Ms. Curtis was featured as one of 30 “Great Women of Film” in Helena Lumee’s best-selling book from Watson Guptill Press. In 2004 she was the recipient of the Women in Film Topaz Award from the Dallas chapter. She has co-chaired GLSEN’s (Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network) Respect Awards and has served as an Honor Society Member for the organization since 2005 and currently serves on the organization’s National Leadership Council. In March 2015, Ms. Curtis was inducted into the Texas Film Hall of Fame in Austin, Texas.
Ms. Curtis lives in Los Angeles with her wife, Kim Lincoln, and their daughter Maggie.
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