Parkes, Walter F. 1951- (Walter Parkes)

PERSONAL

Born April 15, 1951, in Bakersfield, CA; married Laurie MacDonald (a producer); children: Jane MacDonald, Graham Joseph. Education: Yale University, B.A. (cum laude), 1973; Stanford University, M.A., communications.

Addresses:

Agent—Creative Artists Agency, 2000 Avenue of the Stars, Los Angeles, CA 90067. Office—Parkes/MacDonald Productions, 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, CA 91608.

Career:

Producer and writer. Amblin Entertainment, president, 1992—; DreamWorks SKG, head of Motion Picture Division (with wife, Laurie MacDonald), 1994—; Parkes/MacDonald Productions, Universal City, CA, principal. Also worked as a professional musician. Member of Global Business Network.

Member:

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Writers Guild of America.

Awards, Honors:

Academy Award nomination (with Keith Critchlow), best documentary feature, 1976, for The California Reich; Academy Award nomination (with Lawrence Lasker), best original screenplay, Saturn Award nomination (with Lasker), best writing, Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Films, Writers Guild of America Screen Award nomination (with Lasker), best drama written directly for the screen, 1984, both for WarGames; Academy Award nomination (with Lasker), best picture, 1991, for Awakenings; Edgar Allan Poe Award nomination (with Lasker and Phil Alden Robinson), best motion picture, Mystery Writers of America, 1993, for Sneakers; Golden Satellite Award (with Laurie MacDonald), best animated or mixed-media motion picture, International Press Academy, 1998, for Men in Black; ShoWest Award (with MacDonald), producer of the year, National Association of Theatre Owners, 1998.

CREDITS

Film Work:

Producer (with Keith Critchlow), director, cinematographer, and editor, The California Reich (documentary), Intercontinental, 1975.

Producer (with Richard Shepherd), Volunteers, TriStar, 1985.

Producer (with Lawrence Lasker), Project X, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1987.

Producer (with Lasker), True Believer (also known as Fighting Justice), Columbia, 1990.

Producer (with Lasker), Awakenings, Columbia, 1990.

Producer (with Lasker), Sneakers, Universal, 1992.

Executive producer, Little Giants, Warner Bros., 1994.

Executive producer, How to Make an American Quilt, Universal, 1995.

Executive producer, To Wang Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar, Universal, 1995.

(As Walter Parkes) Executive producer, Twister, Warner Bros., 1996.

(As Walter Parkes) Executive producer, The Trigger Effect, Gramercy, 1996.

Producer, Men in Black (also known as MIB), Columbia, 1997.

(As Walter Parkes) Producer, The Peacemaker, DreamWorks Distribution, 1997.

(As Walter Parkes) Executive producer, Amistad, DreamWorks Distribution, 1997.

(As Walter Parkes) Executive producer, Deep Impact, Paramount/DreamWorks Distribution, 1998.

(As Walter Parkes) Executive producer, Small Soldiers, DreamWorks, 1998.

Executive producer, The Mask of Zorro, TriStar, 1998.

Executive producer, Gladiator, DreamWorks, 2000.

Executive producer, A.I. Artificial Intelligence (also known as Artificial Intelligence: A.I.), Warner Bros., 2001.

Studio executive, The Last Castle, DreamWorks, 2001.

Producer and studio executive, The Time Machine, Warner Bros., 2002.

Producer and studio executive, Minority Report, Twentieth Century-Fox, 2002.

Producer, Men in Black II (also known as MIB2 and MIIB), Columbia TriStar, 2002.

Executive producer, Road to Perdition, DreamWorks, 2002.

Executive producer, The Tuxedo, DreamWorks, 2002.

Producer, The Ring, DreamWorks, 2002.

Producer, Catch Me If You Can, DreamWorks, 2002.

Studio executive, Collateral, DreamWorks, 2004.

Producer, Terminal, DreamWorks, 2004.

Producer, Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (also known as Lemony Snicket—Ratselhafte Ereignisse), Paramount, 2004.

Producer, The Ring Two (also known as Samara, The Ring 2, and Samara: Ring 2), DreamWorks, 2005.

Producer, The Island, DreamWorks, 2005.

Producer, Just Like Heaven, DreamWorks, 2005.

Producer, The Legend of Zorro (also known as Z), Columbia, 2005.

(As Walter Parkes) Producer, The Lookout, Miramax, 2007.

Executive producer, The Kite Runner, DreamWorks, 2007.

Producer, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (also known as Sweeney Todd), DreamWorks, 2007.

Producer, A Tale of Two Sisters, DreamWorks, 2008.

Also producer (with Lasker) of The Dark Horse.

Film Appearances:

Himself, Barry Sonnenfeld's "Intergalactic Guide to Comedy" (documentary shorts), Columbia TriStar Home Video, 2002.

Himself, "Catch Me If You Can": Behind the Camera (documentary short), DreamWorks Home Entertainment, 2003.

Himself, "Catch Me If You Can": The Casting of the Film (documentary short; also known as Cast Me If You Can), DreamWorks Home Entertainment, 2003.

Himself, The Making of "Sneakers" (documentary short), Universal Studios Home Video, 2003.

(As Walter Parkes) Himself, A Terrible Tragedy: Alarming Evidence from the Making of the Film—A Woeful World (documentary), Paramount, 2004.

(As Walter Parkes) Himself, Taking Off: Making "The Terminal" (documentary short), DreamWorks, 2004.

Himself, Booking the Flight: The Script, the Story (documentary short), DreamWorks Home Entertainment, 2004.

Himself, Strength and Honor: Creating the World of "Gladiator" (documentary), DreamWorks Home Entertainment, 2005.

Television Work; Series:

Creator, Eddie Dodd (also known as True Believer), ABC, 1991.

Creator (with Scott Frank) and executive producer, Birdland, ABC, 1994.

Executive producer, Men in Black: The Series (also known as Men in Black: The Animated Series), The WB, 1997.

Television Work; Pilots:

Executive producer (with Lawrence Lasker), Eddie Dodd, ABC, 1991.

Television Appearances; Specials:

Inside "The Terminal," HBO, 2004.

Television Appearances; Episodic:

"Catch Me If You Can," HBO First Look, HBO, 2002.

"Inside ‘The Terminal’," HBO First Look, HBO, 2004.

"The Making of ‘The Ring Two’," HBO First Look, HBO, 2005.

"Just Like Heaven," HBO First Look, HBO, 2005.

WRITINGS

Screenplays:

(With Lawrence Lasker) WarGames, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/United Artists, 1983.

(With Lasker) Sneakers, Universal, 1992.

Television Pilots:

The Compass, NBC, 2000.

Television Episodes:

Eddie Dodd, 1991.

Birdland, ABC, 1994.

Other Writings:

Contributor to the magazine Omni.

OTHER SOURCES

Books:

Newsmakers, Issue 1, Gale Group, 2004.

Periodicals:

Forbes, March 3, 2003, p. 86.