James Kearns

James Kearns, Screenwriter, John Q

James Kearns started his writing career as a playwright in New York City. His first play, DAYS IN THE DARK LIGHT, was produced by American Theater Arts in Los Angeles. Returning to New York, Mr. Kearns began work on his next play, FAVORITE SONS which was chosen as a Selection Committee Finalist at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Conference in Waterbury, Ct. and later staged by the Actors Producing Company in New York, N.Y.

Both plays attracted the attention and interest of Hollywood producers who offered Mr. Kearns the opportunity to write for television and film. Relocating his family to the west coast, he wrote for such critically acclaimed series as NBC's A YEAR IN THE LIFE, created by Joshua Brand and John Falsey and was on the writing staff of CBS's ground-breaking crime drama WISEGUY.

During this time, Mr. Kearns sold his first screenplay DEAD OF SUMMER to Universal Pictures. And though the script was never produced, it opened the door to greater writing opportunities in feature films. The idea for JOHN Q was born after Mr. Kearns read a newspaper article about a very wealthy man who criticized the American health care system after receiving a heart transplant. "If I wasn't rich, I'd be dead now," the man said. The screenplay was sold to Columbia Pictures where it collected dust for the next six years before Mr. Kearns, with help from the Writers Guild of America, reacquired the script and resold it to New Line Cinema. Produced by New Line and starring Denzel Washington, JOHN Q opened in February 2002, nine years after first taking pen to paper.

Mr. Kearns is currently adapting "Slightly Out Of Focus," the extraordinary autobiography of renowned World War Two photographer ROBERT CAPA for Walt Disney Pictures. He lives with his wife and two daughters in Woodland Hills, California.