Eric Warren Singer

A native of Los Angeles, Singer enrolled briefly at Boston University, only to drop out and return to the West Coast. A lifelong love of movies and writing had Singer wanting to pursue a career in screenwriting, and he just happened to be lucky enough to call the movie capital of the world his hometown. Once back in L.A., Singer did what any young, aspiring screenwriter would do - he took a job as a night shift janitor. The mindless work and flexible hours allowed Singer to pursue his passion during the day, and before long he had a full-length feature called "The Sky Is Falling" written and sold. Now with the luxury of being able to work on his writing full-time, the screenplays poured out. He wrote and sold several spec scripts over the next 10 years, but whenever one was on the verge of being greenlit into production, the budget would mysteriously fall apart at the last minute. Undeterred, Singer continued to write and eventually sold a big-budget action thriller about an international banking scandal from the 1980s and '90s. That script, "The International" (2009) became Singer's first produced screenplay, and was a moderate success at the box office.The idea for Singer's next feature came while on a plane trip from New York to Los Angeles. Singer struck up a conversation with the man sitting next to him, who just happened to be an Assistant to the Attorney General for the United States during the ABSCAM sting operation of the 1970s. Singer had never heard of the scandal, but thought it was rife with cinematic potential. He researched the script intensely and by 2010, "American Hustle" was one of the hottest scripts in Hollywood, with stars as big as Ben Affleck showing interest to direct. The helming duties eventually went to David O. Russell, who turned Singer's script into a huge critical and commercial hit. "American Hustle" went on to earn 10 Academy Award nominations, including Best Original Screenplay nods for Russell and Singer.