Frank Darabont

A lifelong horror fan who possessed great love for the genre and the works of Stephen King in particular, Frank Darabont's career as a writer and director yielded three Oscar nominations and worldwide acclaim for "The Shawshank Redemption" (1994), "The Green Mile" (1999) and "The Mist" (2007). He began his filmmaking career after asking King's permission to shoot a short film based on one of his stories; the project led to scripting for several minor horror films and TV series before the bittersweet drama of "Shawshank" brought him to international attention. Darabont found the heart and the literacy at the center of King's works - something few other directors had achieved - and continued to mine success from the author's library with "The Green Mile" and the darker "Mist." In doing so, Darabont brought integrity artistic quality to a genre that had sorely lacked such laudable elements for decades.