Beau Willimon, the executive producer, showrunner and creator of US political drama House of Cards is confirmed to speak in-conversation at the Screen Forever: SPAA Conference 2013 on Wednesday, 20 November at 4.30pm.
Starring Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright, and adapted from the BBC series of the same name, House of Cards, premiered on the streaming service Netflix in February this year. It went on to make television history when it was the first online streaming show to earn nine Emmy nominations, including Best Drama.
Prior to his smash hit television series, Beau Willimon was known in the US as a highly regarded playwright – his play Farragut North was the basis for the feature film Ides of March, which he co-wrote with George Clooney and Grant Heslov. Directed by and starring George Clooney, it received Academy Award, Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations for Best Adapted Screenplay; and won an Australian AACTA Award for Best Screenplay.
Willimon completed work on the second series of House of Cards recently. Forthcoming projects with Westwood Productions, the company he co-founded with Jordan Tappis include a film adaptation of Ibsen’s play Master Builder entitled Wally and Andre Shoot Ibsen, a documentary of adventure traveller Karl Bushby and another on the Australian surfing legend formerly known as Peter Drouyn.
Willimon studied playwriting at Columbia University graduating in 2003, was awarded a playwriting fellowship from the Juilliard School in New York, has been a Playwright-in-Residence at London’s Donmar Warehouse and is a two-time winner of the Lincoln Center’s Le Comte du Nouy Award.
In addition to his career as a writer and producer, Willimon served on the political campaigns of Bill Bradley, Hillary Clinton and Howard Dean.
Screen Forever: SPAA Conference 2013
18 to 21 November 2013
Registrations now open www.screenforever.org.au