Vince Gilligan

Vince Gilligan
Vince Gilligan at the 2013 San Diego Comic-Con International
Born	George Vincent Gilligan, Jr. (1967-02-10) February 10, 1967 Richmond, Virginia, U.S.
Alma mater	Tisch School of the Arts
Occupation	Writer, producer, director
Years active	1990–present
Partner(s)	Holly Rice (1991–present)

George Vincent "Vince" Gilligan, Jr. (born February 10, 1967)^[1] is an American writer, producer, and director. He is known for his television work, specifically as creator, head writer, executive producer, and a director of Breaking Bad and its spin-off Better Call Saul. He was a writer and producer for The X-Files and was the co-creator of its spin-off The Lone Gunmen.

Both Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul have received widespread critical acclaim, with Gilligan winning two Primetime Emmy Awards, six Writers Guild of America Awards, two Critics' Choice Television Awards and Producers Guild of America Awards, one Directors Guild of America Award and a BAFTA. Outside of television, he co-wrote the screenplay for the 2008 film Hancock.

Early life

Gilligan was born in Richmond, Virginia, the son of Gail, a grade school teacher, and George Vincent Gilligan, Sr., an insurance claims adjuster.^[2] His parents divorced in 1974 and he and his younger brother, Patrick, were raised in Farmville and Chesterfield County, and attended the laboratory school run by Longwood College.^[1][3][4] Growing up, Gilligan became best friends with future film editor and film title designer Angus Wall. His interest in film began when Wall's mother, Jackie, who also taught alongside Gilligan's mother, would lend her Super 8 film cameras to him. He used the camera to make science fiction films with Patrick.^[5] One of his first films was entitled Space Wreck, starring his brother in the lead role. One year later, he won first prize for his age group in a film competition at the University of Virginia.^[1]

Jackie would take Wall and Gilligan to Richmond and drop them off at Cloverleaf Mall to see films, and encourage both of them to pursue a career in the arts. "I wouldn't be where I am today if it wasn't for Jackie. She was a wonderful lady and a real inspiration," he recalls.^[5] Gilligan was recognized for his talents and creativity at an early age. George Sr. described him as a "kind of a studious-type young man, and he liked to read, and he had a vivid imagination". He introduced Gilligan to film noir classics, as well as John Wayne and Clint Eastwood Westerns on late-night television.^[5] Gilligan won a scholarship to attend the prestigious Interlochen Center for the Arts. After eighth grade, he moved back to Chesterfield to attend high school.^[1]

After graduating from Lloyd C. Bird High School in 1985, Gilligan went on to attend New York University on a partial scholarship, where he received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in film production from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts.^[6] While at NYU, he wrote the screenplay for Home Fries, which was later turned into a film; Gilligan received the Virginia Governor's Screenwriting Award in 1989 for the screenplay.^[3] One of the judges of the competition was Mark Johnson, a film producer. He was impressed by Gilligan, saying he "was the most imaginative writer I'd ever read".^[5] Johnson would serve as a mentor to Gilligan, introducing him to The X-Files creator Chris Carter.^[1]

Career

The X-Files and The Lone Gunmen

Gilligan's big break came when he joined the Fox television drama The X-Files. Gilligan was a fan of the show, and submitted a script to Fox which became the second season episode "Soft Light".^[7] He went on to write 29 more episodes, in addition to being co-executive producer of 44 episodes, executive producer of 40, co-producer of 24, and supervising producer of 20. He also co-created and became executive producer of the The X-Files spin-off series The Lone Gunmen. The series only ran for one season of 13 episodes.

Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul

Gilligan in 2011.

Gilligan created, wrote, directed, and produced the AMC drama series Breaking Bad. He created the series with the premise that the hero would become the villain. "Television is historically good at keeping its characters in a self-imposed stasis so that shows can go on for years or even decades," he said. "When I realized this, the logical next step was to think, how can I do a show in which the fundamental drive is toward change?"^[8] He added that his goal with Walter White was to turn him from "Mr. Chips into Scarface".^[9] While pitching the show to studios, Gilligan was initially discouraged when he learned of the existing series Weeds and its similarities to the premise of Breaking Bad. While his producers convinced him that the show was different enough to still be successful, he later stated that he would not have gone forward with the idea had he known about Weeds earlier.^[10]

Breaking Bad received widespread critical acclaim and has been praised by many critics as being among the greatest television dramas of all time.^[8] Gilligan has been awarded numerous times for writing, directing, and producing the series. The Writers Guild of America has awarded him four times in straight succession, from 2012 to 2014; three as a part of the Breaking Bad writing team and one individually for writing the episode "Box Cutter".^[11][12][13] He also received two Primetime Emmys in 2013 and 2014 for producing the show. In 2014, he won the Directors Guild of America Award for directing the finale of Breaking Bad, "Felina".^[14]

In September 2013, Sony Pictures Television announced a deal with AMC to produce a Breaking Bad spin-off prequel entitled Better Call Saul, to focus on character Saul Goodman from the original series, before he became Walter White's lawyer, and to star Bob Odenkirk reprising his role as the title character.^[15] Gilligan co-created the series with Breaking Bad writer Peter Gould, with both of them acting as showrunners. The first episode, which Gilligan directed and co-wrote, premiered on February 8, 2015.^[16]

Other work

Gilligan first had a screenplay produced in 1993 for the romantic comedy film, Wilder Napalm. While working on The X-Files, one of Gilligan's early screenplays was produced as a film, Home Fries, which starred Drew Barrymore and Luke Wilson.^[17] Gilligan was hired by The X-Files creator Chris Carter to be a consulting producer on his new series Harsh Realm. After The X-Files, Gilligan wrote three episodes of the short lived police procedural series Robbery Homicide Division and an episode of the ABC series Night Stalker. In 2007, Gilligan and fellow The X-Files producer Frank Spotnitz wrote a sci-fi pilot entitled A.M.P.E.D., which was not picked up for a full series. He also rewrote the screenplay for the film 2008 Will Smith film Hancock, which was originally written by Vincent Ngo.^[18]

Gilligan made his acting debut in 2014 in "VCR Maintenance and Educational Publishing", the ninth episode of the fifth season of NBC's comedy series Community. He plays a cheesy actor hosting "Pile of Bullets", a fictional 1990s VCR-based video game.^[19] In September 2013, Sony announced that it struck a deal with CBS to produce a new television series created by Gilligan and David Shore entitled Battle Creek. Based on a script written by Gilligan ten years prior, the show follows the partnership of two police detectives who must compete with a seemingly-perfect FBI agent. Gilligan co-wrote the first episode with Shore, the showrunner of the series.^[20] CBS ordered thirteen episodes and the series aired on CBS starting March 1, 2015.^[21] CBS decided not to renew the series for a second season.^[22]

Personal life

Gilligan has been with his girlfriend, Holly Rice, since 1991.^[2] In an interview in 2011, Gilligan stated that he was raised Catholic,^[23] but added "I’m pretty much agnostic at this point in my life. But I find atheism just as hard to get my head around as I find fundamental Christianity. Because if there is no such thing as cosmic justice, what is the point of being good?"^[24]

He further stated his philosophy as: "I feel some sort of need for biblical atonement, or justice, or something. I like to believe there is some comeuppance, that karma kicks in at some point, even if it takes years or decades to happen. My girlfriend says this great thing that’s become my philosophy as well. ‘I want to believe there’s a heaven. But I can’t not believe there’s a hell.’"^[24]

Filmography

Vince Gilligan and Aaron Paul at the 36th Annual Saturn Awards.

Film

Television

Production staff

Writer

Acting

Awards and nominations

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Vince Gilligan.

• Vince Gilligan at the Internet Movie Database
• Vince Gilligan at AllMovie
• Vince Gilligan at amctv.com
• Vince Gilligan interview video at the Archive of American Television