Steven E. de Souza

Among the handful of screenwriters whose films have earned over $2 billion at the box office, Steven de Souza was introduced to Hollywood on camera--as a contestant on an L.A. game show. There the Philadelphia-based writer for PBS, "The New York Times", "Premiere" and other media outlets won a car and a color TV--and then talked his way into the office of several producers to leave behind some writing samples. A contract with Universal Television as a story editor was the result. From there, he moved into producing (_Knight Rider (1982)_ (qv)) and then earned his first film credit, on _48 Hrs. (1982)_ (qv). That film, along with _Commando (1985)_ (qv), _Die Hard (1988)_ (qv) and _Die Hard 2 (1990)_ (qv), established his reputation as a writer who could juggle both action and humor. That combination remains evident in all of his subsequent work, which expanded to include science-fiction (_V (1984)_ (qv), _The Running Man (1987)_ (qv), _Judge Dredd (1995)_ (qv)), horror (_Tales from the Crypt (1989)_ (qv), _Possessed (2000)_ (qv)) and fantasy (_The Flintstones (1994)_ (qv), _Cadillacs and Dinosaurs (1993)_ (qv), _Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life (2003)_ (qv)). He has been nominated two times each for the Edgar Allen Poe award for best mystery screenplay and the Saturn award for best Science Fiction/Fantasy Film. In 2000 he was honored with the Norman Lear Award for Lifetime Achievement in writing.In 2009 his web series _Unknown Sender (2008)_ (qv) became an unprecedented triple honoree in the 13th annual Webby 'Awards' (qv)--for best series and best writing and for 'Timothy Dalton' (qv)'s performance in _Unknown Sender: If You're Seeing This Tape... (2008)_ (qv).::A. Nonymous