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Gary Parker profile picture

Gary Parker

Writer · Director

Writer, Director

Professional profile

Biography

I turn good books into Oscar- or Emmy-caliber scripts with wide appeal.

Thirty scripts so far -- most based on true stories -- worth several billion dollars in revenue to a producer shrewd enough to see gold on the page.

Anyone with my career path could do the same; my path is singular.

I’ve logged more hours as a filmmaker than most writers, and more hours as a writer than any director.

And I’m likely the most experienced film doctor on the planet.

Story is the key to success and structure the key to story.

I know story. ● I mastered structure in print by writing and editing hundreds of nonfiction magazine stories, then moved into TV.

I’ve worked as an Emmy-winning writer and filmmaker for PBS, Nat Geo, Discovery, History, Animal Planet, Smithsonian, and major production companies on five continents.

I’ve made the hardest films – serious documentaries for a mass audience – in the impatient arena of television.

More than 400 films (IMDb lists a fraction) and not one flop.

When I write a documentary script, I start with chaos: thousands of raw shots, facts, and sound bites.

Shot by shot and line by line, I winnow chaos to crack the code of structure.

I make thousands of choices about words and pictures, sound and music.

As writer-director John Sayles says, I’m “thinking in pictures.” I’ve spent part of my career creating documentaries from scratch and the other part answering 911 calls.

Hollywood has script doctors but virtually no film doctors; shoot a bad script and you’re stuck with a bad movie.

In documentaries, we create the story after we shoot – so when a network exec asks me to salvage someone’s hopeless rough cut, I can. ● I don’t give “notes.” I wade in and fix the problems – from a light polish to a reinvention.

Writers, directors, producers: I’ve saved more people than Lassie, and with their endorsement to boot.

The Nielsens prove I not only hit the target rating, I typically surpass it -- sometimes astronomically.

All that experience in docs has given me a Midas Touch for drama: adaptation.

And I succeed where others fail. ● A decade ago, Oprah wisely optioned "My Name Is Love": the bestselling memoir by Rock and Roll Hall of Fame legend Darlene Love. "Hidden Figures" meets "Dream Girls": the stuff of box office gold.

Professional work

Selected Credits & Filmography

22 projects
Writer · 22 creditsActor · 1 creditProducer · 1 creditDirector · 1 credit
Writer · Actor · Producer · Director

Small Animals

Feature

A Good Month for Murder poster
Writer

A Good Month for Murder

Television Script

Born on a Blue Day poster
Writer

Born on a Blue Day

Screenplay

Bringing Columbia Home poster
Writer

Bringing Columbia Home

Screenplay

Charlotte's Journey poster
Writer

Charlotte's Journey

Screenplay

Fortune poster
Writer

Fortune

Screenplay

Freedom poster
Writer

Freedom

Screenplay

Grand Theft Hollywood poster
Writer

Grand Theft Hollywood

Television Script

Hellfighters poster
Writer

Hellfighters

Screenplay

Jeeves Takes Charge poster
Writer

Jeeves Takes Charge

Screenplay

Love and Glory poster
Writer

Love and Glory

Screenplay

My Name Is Love poster
Writer

My Name Is Love

Screenplay

View all 22 projects
Operation Olympia poster
Writer

Operation Olympia

Screenplay

Poisonville poster
Writer

Poisonville

Screenplay

Psmith at Blandings poster
Writer

Psmith at Blandings

Screenplay

Scandal at Blandings poster
Writer

Scandal at Blandings

Screenplay

Sinatra: The Voice poster
Writer

Sinatra: The Voice

Television Script

Writer

The Candy Bombers

Screenplay

Writer

The Rescue

Screenplay

Writer

The Shepherds

Screenplay

Writer

Treasure Island

Screenplay

Writer

Unforgettable

Screenplay

Training

Education

University of Virginia

History

Recognition

Awards & Official Selections

Quarter Finalist

Page Turner True Story · The Rescue

Semi Finalist

Creative Screenwriting Feature Competition · The Rescue

Semi Finalist

Emerging Screenwriters Action and Adventure · The Rescue

Finalist

Hollywood Genre Action Screenplay Contest · The Rescue

Finalist

Page Turner 100 · The Rescue

Quarter Finalist

Page Turner Feature and TV Pilot · The Candy Bombers

Semi Finalist

Page Turner True Story · The Candy Bombers

Quarter Finalist

Page Turner 100 · Scandal at Blandings

Quarter Finalist

Page Turner 100 · Poisonville

Quarter Finalist

Page Turner True Story · Sinatra: The Voice

Quarter Finalist

Page Turner Feature and TV Pilot · Sinatra: The Voice

Semi Finalist

Page Turner 100 · Sinatra: The Voice

Semi Finalist

Page Turner Faith Based Features · The Shepherds

Semi Finalist

Faith Based Features · The Shepherds

Semi Finalist

Page Turner Feature and TV Pilot · The Shepherds

Finalist

Page Turner 100 · The Shepherds

Finalist

Page Turner 100 · Jeeves Takes Charge

Semi Finalist

Page Turner 100 · Hellfighters

Quarter Finalist

Page Turner 100 · Grand Theft Hollywood

Finalist

Page Turner 100 · Born on a Blue Day

Quarter Finalist

Page Turner Feature and TV Pilot · Born on a Blue Day

Quarter Finalist

Creative Screenwriting Feature Competition · Love and Glory

Semi Finalist

Table Read My Screenplay · Love and Glory

Semi Finalist

Page Turner First 15 · Love and Glory

Semi Finalist

Unique Voices · Love and Glory

Finalist

Page Turner Feature and TV Pilot · Love and Glory

Finalist

True Story True Crime · Love and Glory

Semi Finalist

Page Turner Feature Genre Mash-up · Unforgettable

Semi Finalist

Emerging Screeenwriters Drama Competition · Unforgettable

Finalist

Page Turner 100 · Love and Glory