Frank Spotnitz (born November 17, 1960) is an American television writer and producer, and Chief Executive of Big Light Productions Ltd. Frank is best known for his work on The X-Files television series and for creating the Amazon drama series The Man in the High Castle.
Biography
Award-winning American writer and producer Frank Spotnitz is Chief Executive of Big Light Productions, a London-based production company, which creates and oversees a diverse slate of international television series, including drama, comedy and documentaries.
Spotnitz is currently writing and executive producing the second-season Amazon drama series The Man in the High Castle, based on the classic alternative history novel by Philip K. Dick. It is a co-production between Big Light, Scott Free Productions, Headline Pictures and Electric Shepherd Productions.
The first series was released in November 2015 and quickly became the most streamed original drama series in Amazon’s history. The Los Angeles Times described the pilot as “provocative” and “smartly adapted by The X-Files’ Frank Spotnitz.” The Daily Telegraph said it was “absorbing” and Wired called it “must-see viewing.” Entertainment Weekly said it was “engrossing” and “a triumph in world-building,” cheering, “The Man in the High Castle is king.”
Spotnitz executive produced (and wrote episodes) of StudioCanal/Tandem’s international thriller Crossing Lines, which recently wrapped shooting Season 3 in Europe with Goran Višnjić, Elizabeth Mitchell and Donald Sutherland.
In 2012, Spotnitz created, wrote and executive produced the international spy drama series Hunted for BBC One and HBO/Cinemax, starring Melissa George. His additional writing and producing credits include counter-terrorism drama series Strike Back (HBO/Cinemax, Sky), action series Transporter: The Series (TNT), ABC’s mystery series Night Stalker (ABC and Touchstone Television) with Stuart Townsend and Gabrielle Union, Michael Mann’s crime series Robbery Homicide Division (CBS), unconventional heroes comedy-drama The Lone Gunmen (Fox), sci-fi drama Harsh Realm (Fox), and crime thriller Millennium (Fox). In 2006, Spotnitz co-wrote and created (with Vince Gilligan) a pilot for Spike TV called A.M.P.E.D. He also wrote three comic books for Wildstorm based on The X-Files.
Joining The X-Files as a writer in 1994, Spotnitz quickly became involved not only in developing the series’ stand-alone episodes, but its elaborate “mythology” storyline, dealing with government conspiracy and aliens. Spotnitz served on The X-Files for eight of its nine seasons. He directed two episodes and wrote or co-wrote more than 40 instalments of the series, including the Emmy-nominated “Memento Mori” with Chris Carter, Vince Gilligan, and John Shiban in 1997. He served four years as executive producer and three years as president of Chris Carter's Ten Thirteen Productions. He was a producer and co-writer of both X-Files feature films, The X-Files: Fight the Future (1998) and The X-Files: I Want To Believe (2008).
Spotnitz shares three Golden Globes for Best Dramatic Series and a Peabody Award for his work on The X-Files. He was also nominated for an Emmy Award for writing and three times for Outstanding Drama Series.
In 2013, Spotnitz founded Big Light Productions Ltd., under whose banner he has produced Transporter: The Series, Crossing Lines and The Man in the High Castle. Big Light has since become one of the fastest-growing independent production companies in Europe.
Born in Japan, Spotnitz received a B.A. in English literature from UCLA and an M.F.A. in screenwriting from the American Film Institute. He began his career as a newspaper and magazine writer, working for the Associated Press, United Press International and Entertainment Weekly, among other media. Spotnitz lives in Paris with his wife, children, two dogs and a ferret.
Credits
Medici: Masters of Florence
| |
| Season |
Title |
Notes |
| 1 |
"Original Sin" |
Executive Producer & Co-Writer |
| 1 |
"Dome and the Domicile" |
Executive Producer & Co-Writer |
| 1 |
"Pestilence" |
Executive Producer |
| 1 |
"Judgement" |
Executive Producer |
| 1 |
"Temptation" |
Executive Producer |
| 1 |
"Ascendancy" |
Executive Producer |
| 1 |
"Purgatory" |
Executive Producer |
| 1 |
"Epiphany" |
Executive Producer |
| |
| Season |
Title |
Notes |
| 1 |
"The New World" |
Executive Producer, Writer & Creator |
| 1 |
"Sunrise" |
Executive Producer, Writer & Creator |
| 1 |
"The Illustrated Woman" |
Executive Producer & Creator |
| 1 |
"Revelations" |
Executive Producer & Creator |
| 1 |
"The New Normal" |
Executive Producer & Creator |
| 1 |
"Three Monkeys" |
Executive Producer & Creator |
| 1 |
"Truth" |
Executive Producer & Creator |
| 1 |
"End of the World" |
Executive Producer & Creator |
| 1 |
"Kindness" |
Executive Producer & Creator |
| 1 |
"A Way Out" |
Executive Producer & Creator |
| |
| Season |
Title |
Notes |
| 3 |
"Heat" |
Executive Producer |
| 3 |
"In Loco Parentis" |
Executive Producer |
| 3 |
"Obscura" |
Executive Producer |
| 3 |
"Expose" |
Executive Producer |
| 3 |
"Whistleblower" |
Executive Producer |
| 3 |
"Redux" |
Executive Producer & Writer |
| 3 |
"Lost and Found" |
Executive Producer |
| 3 |
"Enemy of the People" |
Executive Producer |
| 3 |
"Executioner" |
Executive Producer |
| 3 |
"Dragon" |
Executive Producer |
| |
| Season |
Title |
Notes |
| 2 |
"End Game" |
Executive Producer |
| 2 |
"Sixteen Hands" |
Executive Producer |
| 2 |
"Trust" |
Executive Producer |
| 2 |
"Euphro" |
Executive Producer |
| 2 |
"Chimera" |
Executive Producer |
| 2 |
"The Diva" |
Executive Producer |
| 2 |
"Sex, Lives and Videotape" |
Executive Producer |
| 2 |
"Beacon of Hope" |
Executive Producer |
| 2 |
"We Go Back" |
Executive Producer |
| 2 |
"Boom" |
Executive Producer & Writer |
| 2 |
"2B or Not 2B" |
Executive Producer & Writer |
| |
| Season |
Title |
Notes |
| 1 |
"Mort" |
Executive Producer & Writer |
| 1 |
"LB" |
Executive Producer & Writer |
| 1 |
"Hourglass" |
Executive Producer |
| 1 |
"Kismet" |
Executive Producer |
| 1 |
"Polyhedrus" |
Executive Producer & Writer |
| 1 |
"Ambassadors" |
Executive Producer & Writer |
| 1 |
"Khyber" |
Executive Producer & Writer (with Amira El Nemr) |
| 1 |
"Snow Maiden" |
Executive Producer & Writer |
| |
| Season |
Title |
Notes |
| 1 |
"Episode 1" |
Co-Executive Producer & Writer |
| 1 |
"Episode 2" |
Co-Executive Producer & Writer |
| 1 |
"Episode 3" |
Co-Executive Producer & Writer |
| 1 |
"Episode 4" |
Co-Executive Producer & Writer |
| 1 |
"Episode 5" |
Co-Executive Producer |
| 1 |
"Episode 6" |
Co-Executive Producer |
| 1 |
"Episode 7" |
Co-Executive Producer |
| 1 |
"Episode 8" |
Co-Executive Producer |
| 1 |
"Episode 9" |
Co-Executive Producer |
| 1 |
"Episode 10" |
Co-Executive Producer |
| |
| Season |
Title |
Notes |
| 1 |
"Book of the Sword: Part 1" |
Executive Producer |
| |
| Season |
Title |
Notes |
| 1 |
"Pilot" |
Executive Producer, Co-Director (with Robert Lieberman) & Co-Writer (with Vince Gilligan) |
| |
| Season |
Title |
Notes |
| 1 |
"Pilot" |
Executive Producer, Creator & Writer |
| 1 |
"The Five People You Meet in Hell" |
Executive Producer & Creator |
| 1 |
"Three" |
Executive Producer & Creator |
| 1 |
"Burning Man" |
Executive Producer & Creator |
| 1 |
"Malum" |
Executive Producer & Creator |
| 1 |
"The Source" |
Executive Producer, Creator & Writer |
| 1 |
"The Sea" |
Executive Producer, Creator & Writer |
| 1 |
"Into Night" |
Executive Producer, Creator & Writer |
| 1 |
"Timeless" |
Executive Producer & Creator |
| 1 |
"What's The Frequency, Kolchak?" |
Executive Producer & Creator |
| |
| Season |
Title |
Notes |
| 1 |
"Mini-Mall" |
Executive Producer |
| 1 |
"A Life of Its Own" |
Executive Producer |
| 1 |
"2028" |
Executive Producer & Writer |
| 1 |
"Free and Clear" |
Executive Producer & Writer |
| 1 |
"Alton Davis Redux" |
Executive Producer |
| 1 |
"In/Famous" |
Executive Producer & Writer |
| 1 |
"City of Strivers" |
Executive Producer |
| 1 |
"Wild Ride" |
Executive Producer |
| 1 |
"Life Is Dust" |
Executive Producer |
| 1 |
"Had" |
Executive Producer |
| 1 |
"Hellhound Train" |
Executive Producer |
| 1 |
"Vamanos Chica" |
Executive Producer |
| 1 |
"Absolute Perfection" |
Executive Producer |
| |
| Season |
Title |
Notes |
| 1 |
"Pilot" |
Executive Producer, Creator & Writer |
| 1 |
"Bond, Jimmy Bond" |
Executive Producer, Creator & Writer |
| 1 |
"Eine Kleine Frohike" |
Executive Producer & Creator |
| 1 |
"Like Water For Octane" |
Executive Producer & Creator |
| 1 |
"Three Men and a Smoking Diaper" |
Executive Producer & Creator |
| 1 |
"Madam, I'm Adam" |
Executive Producer & Creator |
| 1 |
"Planet of the Frohikes" |
Executive Producer & Creator |
| 1 |
"Maximum Byers" |
Executive Producer, Creator & Writer |
| 1 |
"Diagnosis: Jimmy" |
Executive Producer & Creator |
| 1 |
"Tango de los Pistoleros" |
Executive Producer & Creator |
| 1 |
"The Lying Game" |
Executive Producer & Creator |
| 1 |
"All About Yves" |
Executive Producer, Creator & Writer |
| 1 |
"The 'Cap'n Toby' Show" |
Executive Producer, Creator & Writer |
| |
| Season |
Title |
Notes |
| 1 |
"Pilot" |
Executive Producer |
| 1 |
"Leviathan" |
Executive Producer |
| 1 |
"Inga Fossa" |
Executive Producer |
| 1 |
"Kein Ausgang" |
Executive Producer |
| 1 |
"Reunion" |
Executive Producer |
| 1 |
"Three Percenters" |
Executive Producer & Writer |
| 1 |
"Manus Domini" |
Executive Producer |
| 1 |
"Cincinnati" |
Executive Producer |
| 1 |
"Camera Obscura" |
Executive Producer |
| |
| Season |
Title |
Notes |
| 1 |
"Pilot" |
Co-Producer |
| 1 |
"Gehenna" |
Co-Producer |
| 1 |
"Dead Letters" |
Co-Producer |
| 1 |
"522666" |
Co-Producer |
| 1 |
"Kingdom Come" |
Co-Producer |
| 1 |
"Blood Relatives" |
Co-Producer |
| 1 |
"The Well-Worn Lock" |
Co-Producer |
| 1 |
"Wide Open" |
Co-Producer |
| 1 |
"The Wild and the Innocent" |
Co-Producer |
| 1 |
"Weeds" |
Co-Producer & Writer |
| 1 |
"Loin Like a Hunting Flame" |
Co-Producer |
| 1 |
"Force Majeure" |
Co-Producer |
| 1 |
"The Thin White Line" |
Co-Producer |
| 1 |
"Sacrament" |
Co-Producer & Writer |
| 1 |
"Covenant" |
Co-Producer |
| 1 |
"Walkabout" |
Co-Producer |
| 1 |
"Lamentation" |
Co-Producer |
| 1 |
"Powers, Principalities, Thrones and Dominions" |
Co-Producer |
| 1 |
"Broken World" |
Co-Producer |
| 1 |
"Blood Relatives" |
Co-Producer |
| 1 |
"Maranatha" |
Co-Producer |
| 1 |
"Paper Dove" |
Co-Producer |
| 3 |
"The Innocents" |
Co-Executive Producer |
| 3 |
"Exegesis" |
Co-Executive Producer |
| 3 |
"TEOTWAWKI" |
Co-Executive Producer & Written by Spotnitz & Chris Carter |
| 3 |
"Closure" |
Co-Executive Producer |
| 3 |
"...Thirteen Years Later" |
Co-Executive Producer |
| 3 |
"Skull and Bones" |
Co-Executive Producer |
| 3 |
"Through a Glass, Darkly" |
Co-Executive Producer |
| 3 |
"Human Essence" |
Co-Executive Producer |
| 3 |
"Omerta" |
Co-Executive Producer |
| 3 |
"Borrowed Time" |
Co-Executive Producer |
| 3 |
"Collateral Damage" |
Co-Executive Producer |
| 3 |
"The Sound of Snow" |
Co-Executive Producer |
| 3 |
"Antipas" |
Co-Executive Producer & Written by Spotnitz & Chris Carter |
| 3 |
"Matryoshka" |
Co-Executive Producer |
| 3 |
"Forcing the End" |
Co-Executive Producer |
| 3 |
"Saturn Dreaming of Mercury" |
Co-Executive Producer |
| 3 |
"Darwin's Eye" |
Co-Executive Producer |
| 3 |
"Bardo Thodol" |
Co-Executive Producer |
| 3 |
"Seven and One" |
Co-Executive Producer & Written by Spotnitz & Chris Carter |
| 3 |
"Nostalgia" |
Co-Executive Producer |
| 3 |
"Via Dolorosa" |
Co-Executive Producer |
| 3 |
"Goodbye to All That" |
Co-Executive Producer |
| |
| Season |
Title |
Notes |
| 2 |
"End Game" |
Mythology; Writer |
| 2 |
"Our Town" |
Writer |
| 3 |
"Nisei" |
Mythology; Written by Spotnitz, Chris Carter & Howard Gordon |
| 3 |
"731" |
Follows on form "Nisei"; Mythology; Writer |
| 3 |
"Piper Maru" |
'Mythology; Written by Spotnitz & Chris Carter |
| 3 |
"Apocrypha" |
Follows on from "Piper Maru"; Mythology; Written by Spotnitz & Chris Carter |
| 4 |
"Tunguska" |
Mythology; Written by Spotnitz & Chris Carter |
| 4 |
"Terma" |
Follows on from "Tunguska"; Mythology; Written by Spotnitz & Chris Carter |
| 4 |
"Leonard Betts" |
Written by Spotnitz, Vince Gilligan & John Shiban |
| 4 |
"Memento Mori" |
Mythology; Written by Spotnitz, Chris Carter, Vince Gilligan & John Shiban |
| 4 |
"Tempus Fugit" |
Mythology; Written by Spotnitz & Chris Carter |
| 4 |
"Max" |
Follows on from "Tempus Fugit"; Mythology; Written by Spotnitz & Chris Carter |
| 4 |
"Zero Sum" |
Written by Spotnitz & Howard Gordon |
| 5 |
"Detour" |
Writer |
| 5 |
"Christmas Carol" |
Written by Spotnitz, Vince Gilligan & John Shiban |
| 5 |
"Emily" |
Follows on from "Christmas Carol"; Written by Spotnitz, Vince Gilligan & John Shiban |
| 5 |
"Patient X" |
Mythology; Written by Spotnitz & Chris Carter |
| 5 |
"The Red and the Black" |
Follows on from "Patient X; Mythology; Written by Spotnitz & Chris Carter |
| 5 |
"Travelers" |
Written by Spotnitz & John Shiban |
| 5 |
"All Souls" |
Written by Spotnitz & John Shiban |
| Movie |
The X-Files: Fight the Future |
Mythology; Story by Spotnitz & Chris Carter (Screenplay by Carter) |
| 6 |
"Dreamland" |
Written by Spotnitz, Vince Gilligan & John Shiban |
| 6 |
"Dreamland II" |
Follows on from "Dreamland"; Written by Spotnitz, Vince Gilligan & John Shiban |
| 6 |
"Two Fathers" |
Mythology; Written by Spotnitz & Chris Carter |
| 6 |
"One Son" |
Follows on from "Two Fathers; Mythology; Written by Spotnitz & Chris Carter |
| 6 |
"Milagro" |
Story by Spotnitz & John Shiban (Teleplay by Chris Carter) |
| 6 |
"Field Trip" |
Story (Teleplay by Vince Gilligan & John Shiban) |
| 6 |
"Biogenesis" |
Season Six Finale; Mythology; Written by Spotnitz & Chris Carter |
| 7 |
"Millennium" |
Written by Spotnitz & Vince Gilligan |
| 7 |
"The Amazing Maleeni" |
Written by Spotnitz, Vince Gilligan & John Shiban |
| 7 |
"Sein und Zeit" |
Mythology; Written by Spotnitz & Chris Carter |
| 7 |
"Closure" |
Follows on from "Sein und Zeit"; Mythology; Written by Spotnitz & Chris Carter |
| 7 |
"Theef" |
Written by Spotnitz, Vince Gilligan & John Shiban |
| 8 |
"Via Negativa" |
Writer |
| 8 |
"The Gift |
Writer |
| 8 |
"Medusa" |
Writer |
| 8 |
"Per Manum" |
Mythology; Written by Spotnitz & Chris Carter |
| 8 |
"This is not Happening" |
Mythology; Written by Spotnitz & Chris Carter |
| 8 |
"Deadalive" |
Follows on from "This is not Happening"; Mythology; Written by Spotnitz & Chris Carter |
| 8 |
"Three Words" |
Mythology; Written by Spotnitz & Chris Carter |
| 8 |
"Alone" |
Writer & Director |
| 9 |
"Nothing Important Happened Today" |
Season Nine Premiere; Mythology; Written by Spotnitz & Chris Carter |
| 9 |
"Nothing Important Happened Today II" |
Follows on from "Nothing Important Happened Today"; Mythology; Written by Spotnitz & Chris Carter |
| 9 |
"Dæmonicus" |
Writer & Director |
| 9 |
"Trust No 1" |
Mythology; Written by Spotnitz & Chris Carter |
| 9 |
"Provenance" |
Mythology; Written by Spotnitz & Chris Carter |
| 9 |
"Providence" |
Follows on from "Provenance"; Mythology; Written by Spotnitz & Chris Carter |
| 9 |
"Jump the Shark" |
Written by Spotnitz, Vince Gilligan & John Shiban |
| 9 |
"William" |
Story by Spotnitz, Chris Carter & David Duchovny (Teleplay by Carter) |
| Movie |
The X-Files: I Want to Believe |
Written by Spotnitz & Chris Carter |
References
External links
