David Peoples

David Webb Peoples (born c. 1940) is an Oscar, Golden Globe, and BAFTA nominated American screenwriter, with feature film writing credits that include Blade Runner (1982), Unforgiven (1992), and 12 Monkeys (1995), and whose work with Clint Eastwood on Unforgiven resulted in best screenplay awards from the L.A. Film Critics (1991) and National Society of Film Critics (1992).

Peoples was born in Middletown, Connecticut, the son of Ruth Clara (née Levinger) and Joe Webb Peoples, a geologist.

Peoples studied English at the University of California, Berkeley.

Peoples worked as a film editor in the 1970s, and started writing screenplays during this time, but his writing career began when he was hired as co-writer on the cult classic Blade Runner after director Ridley Scott and screenwriter Hampton Fancher separated over creative differences. Following that film's critical success, Peoples was hired by studios to work on films including Ladyhawke (1985) and Leviathan (1989).

With John Milius, Peoples had written a script in the 1980s to adapt the Sgt. Rock series from DC Comics, where Arnold Schwarzenegger, despite accent, was originally identified to play the title role of the G.I. hero; the project returned to publicised discussions in 2010 involving Joel SIlver and Easy Company, although with expectation to set the narrative in a place other than the battlefields of World War II (and so to make the project independent of the early script).

A number of Peoples' other original screenplays were sold during the 1980s, many undergoing lengthy studio development periods before seeing production: among them, Unforgiven, Soldier, and The Blood of Heroes. The latter film was the first to go before the cameras, directed by Peoples himself and starring Rutger Hauer.

Peoples received his greatest recognition for Unforgiven, a script first written in 1976 (as The William Munny Killings). The film had a lengthy gestation, not making into into theaters until 1992.

Released in the same year as Unforgiven, Peoples' screwball comedy Hero was based on an idea by producer Laura Ziskin and her husband, screenwriter Alvin Sargent.

Later in 1992, Peoples began work (in collaboration with wife Janet Peoples) on 12 Monkeys (1995), a drama / action film concerned with time travel that was inspired by Chris Marker's experimental short film La Jetée. The film was directed by Terry Gilliam, and was successful both critically and commercially.

In 1998, Soldier was belatedly filmed by British director Paul Anderson, albeit on a reduced budget and with additional rewriting by Anderson.

As of February 2015, the filmography for Peoples, from Hollywood.com, lists thirteen writing credits (ten for original screenplays, two for stories, and one for source material), as well as five credits for editing, and three credits for directing. Some of the works for which he is credited are listed below.

Peoples highest accolades were for Unforgiven, for which ultimately received Oscar, Golden Globe and British Academy nominations, and won L.A. Film Critics (1991) and National Society of Film Critics (1992) awards for best screenplay. Peoples was presented with the Distinguished Screenwriter Award at the 2010 Austin Film Festival.