Terry Rossio

Terry Rossio (born July 2, 1960) is an American screenwriter. He wrote the films Aladdin, Shrek, and all five Pirates of the Caribbean films.

He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for Shrek, and won the Annie Award for Writing in a Feature Production, as well as the BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for Shrek. He often collaborates with fellow screenwriter Ted Elliott.

Life and career
Rossio was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan. After graduating from Saddleback High School in Santa Ana, California, he went on to study at California State University, Fullerton where he received his Bachelor of Arts in Communications, with an emphasis in radio, television and film. He is the founder of Wordplay, also known as Wordplayer.com, one of the premier screenwriting sites on the Internet.

Along with his writing partner Ted Elliott, Rossio has written some of the most successful American films of the past 25 years, including Aladdin, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl and Shrek. He is the second most successful screenwriter of all time in terms of domestic box office receipts with totals at around $2.5 billion.

In March 2017, Legendary Entertainment announced that Rossio would lead their writers room to help develop the story for Godzilla vs Kong. A press release revealed Rossio as the sole screenwriter for Godzilla vs. Kong.

As quoted in the India Times, Deadline Hollywood and other sources, "'Pirates of the Caribbean' writer Terry Rossio has been sued by his former agent for pending commission payment of over two years. Dodie Herskovitz, of Dodie Gold Management, filed a complaint in Los Angeles Superior Court and claimed the screenwriter has not paid her “certain revenues” she is owed under their contract, said The Hollywood Reporter. Herskovitz said she became Rossio's manager in February 2002, and their contract entitled her to 10 per cent of gross revenues and other amounts earned from entertainment industry work negotiated by her firm. Rossio, however, ended their contract in March 2013. The former manager claims she managed the writer while he signed to write (with Ted Elliott) installments of “Pirates of the Caribbean” saga, apart from “The Lone Ranger”, “Deja Vu” and upcoming projects “Lightspeed” and “Instant Karma.”

Rossio is also associated with the anti-vaccination movement, writing in a tweet from November 23, 2018, "My heart goes out to all the parents of vaccine damaged children, who have to not only endure the sadness of their loss, but also the vitriol of ill-informed and insensitive people (such as those here). Anti-Vax is equivalent to calling someone a nigger and makes as little sense". Subsequently, Rossio received a strong backlash from Twitter users for his use of a racist slur, and for comparing defenders of the anti-vaccination movement with victims of racism.

Awards and nominations

 * 2001 - Winner of Annie Award for Writing in a Feature Production; Nominated for Academy Award for Writing Best Adapted Screenplay for Shrek
 * 2002 - Winner of BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for "Shrek"
 * 2002 - Nominated for Nebula Award nomination for Best Script for Shrek
 * 2003 - Nominated for Bram Stoker Award for Best Screenplay for Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
 * 2004 - Nominated for Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation for Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
 * 2013 - Nominated for Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Screenplay for The Lone Ranger

Filmography (partial listing)

 * 1989 Little Monsters (screenwriter)
 * 1992 Aladdin (screenwriter)
 * 1994 The Puppet Masters (screenwriter)
 * 1997 Men in Black (screenwriter) (uncredited)
 * 1998 The Mask of Zorro (screenwriter)
 * 1998 Antz (consultant/advisor)
 * 1998 Godzilla (original screenplay, story by)
 * 1998 Small Soldiers (screenwriter)
 * 2000 The Road to El Dorado (screenwriter)
 * 2001 Shrek (co-producer/screenwriter)
 * 2002 Treasure Planet (story by)
 * 2003 Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (screenwriter)
 * 2003 Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas (consultant/advisor)
 * 2004 National Treasure (screenwriter) (uncredited)
 * 2004 Shrek 2 (creative consultant)
 * 2005 The Legend of Zorro (story by)
 * 2006 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (screenwriter)
 * 2006 Déjà Vu (screenwriter/executive producer)
 * 2007 Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (screenwriter)
 * 2007 National Treasure: Book of Secrets (story by)
 * 2009 G-Force (associate producer/writer uncredited)
 * 2011 Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (screenwriter/executive producer)
 * 2011 Pirates of the Caribbean: Tales of the Code – Wedlocked (writer)
 * 2013 Lovestruck: The Musical (writer/executive producer)
 * 2013 The Lone Ranger (screenwriter/executive producer)
 * 2017 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales - (story by/executive producer)
 * 2020 Godzilla vs. Kong (screenwriter)