Dustin Lance Black

Dustin Lance Black is a screenwriter, producer, director and social activist, having won the Academy Award and two WGA Awards for Best Original Screenplay for MILK, the biopic of the late civil rights activist Harvey Milk starring Sean Penn. He is also a founding board members of the American Foundation for Equal Rights (AFER) which is leading the Federal Case against Prop 8 in CA with lawyers David Boise and Ted Olson.

In 2012 Black merged his passions with "8" a new play based on the Federal Prop 8 trial. Black's LA cast included George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Martin Sheen, Kevin Bacon and John C. Reilly. The play was broadcast live and continues to break viewership records online. Hundreds of original productions are now scheduled across the United States.

In 2011, Mr. Black earned his 2nd "10 Best of the Year" award from the American Film Institute for his Clint Eastwood directed screenplay J.EDGAR starring Leonardo DiCaprio. He recently completed THE BAREFOOT BANDIT based on the true story of Colton Harris-Moore for FOX, and is now adapting Jon Krakauer's acclaimed UNDER THE BANNER OF HEAVEN about Fundamentalist Mormonism for director Ron Howard. Black's feature directorial debut VIRGINIA (Jennifer Connelly and Ed Harris) arrives in theaters May 2012.

Mr. Black has had three book published, has written for every major screenwriting magazine, contributes to The Daily Beast and The Huffington Post, topped the list of OUT Magazine's 40 under 40, and has repeatedly been named one of the 50 most powerful LGBT people in America today.