Aaron Sorkin

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  • Academy Award-Winning Screenwriter

Academy-Award winning writer, director, and renowned playwright Aaron Sorkin brings a wealth of creative insight and storytelling mastery to any speaking event. Sorkin made his Broadway playwriting debut at the age of 28 with the military courtroom drama A Few Good Men, for which he received the John Gassner Award as Outstanding New American Playwright. Sorkin made the jump to feature films with his 1993 adaptation of his play A Few Good Men, nominated for four Academy Awards including Best Picture followed by Malice, The American President, and Charlie Wilson’s War. In 2011, Sorkin won the Academy Award, Critics’ Choice Award, British Academy of Film and Television Arts Award, and Writers Guild Award in the Best Adapted Screenplay category as well as the USC Scripter Award for The Social Network. The following year, Sorkin adapted Moneyball for the big screen and won Critics’ Choice Award and New York Film Critics’ Award for Best Adapted Screenplay and went on to receive four Academy Award nominations including Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay. For television, Sorkin created and produced NBC’s renowned series The West Wing, which earned nine Emmy nominations in its first season. The series went on to win a total of 26 Primetime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Drama Series for four consecutive years. For his work on the series, Sorkin twice received the Peabody Award and Humanitas Prize, as well as three Television Critics Association Awards, three Producers Guild Awards, and a Writers Guild Award.

For his many other popular works, Sorkin has also received nominations for a Broadcast Film Critics’ Association (BFCA) Critics’ Choice Award, BAFTA Awards, Writers Guild Awards, and multiple regional critics’ association awards. As one of the most highly-lauded writers of our time, Sorkin’s conversations blend entertainment industry insights with broader lessons about leadership, integrity, and creative innovation.

 


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Past Hosts Include:
  • Syracuse University
Academy Award Nominee Aaron Sorkin | CBS News - Get Sharable Link
Talks & Conversations with Aaron Sorkin
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A Moderated Conversation with Aaron Sorkin

This once-in-a-lifetime engagement offers the opportunity to ask legendary entertainment writer AARON SORKIN for creative insights and stories about the production process of his timeless works. A master of witty dialogue, Sorkin’s off-the-cuff conversations delight any audience. ...

This once-in-a-lifetime engagement offers the opportunity to ask legendary entertainment writer AARON SORKIN for creative insights and stories about the production process of his timeless works. A master of witty dialogue, Sorkin’s off-the-cuff conversations delight any audience.

The Power of Storytelling

Legendary writer AARON SORKIN discusses the art of writing compelling narratives for film, television and theater, reflecting on the impact his stories have had on culture and society. ...

Legendary writer AARON SORKIN discusses the art of writing compelling narratives for film, television and theater, reflecting on the impact his stories have had on culture and society.

Collaboration in the Creative Industry

Legendary writer AARON SORKIN has worked with some of the biggest names in entertainment. In this conversation, Sorkin highlights the importance of teamwork in the entertainment industry, paralleling television and film production with your organization’s collaborative focuses. ...

Legendary writer AARON SORKIN has worked with some of the biggest names in entertainment. In this conversation, Sorkin highlights the importance of teamwork in the entertainment industry, paralleling television and film production with your organization’s collaborative focuses.

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Speaker News

Aaron Sorkin reflects on storytelling, media, and politics

Writer AARON SORKIN’s HBO drama The Newsroom, which brought in an average of 7M viewers per episode, set a new standard for the on-air portrayal of media. The show won a Critics Choice Television Award for Most Exciting New Series and has been nominated for numerous awards, including five Primetime Emmy Awards, a Writers Guild Award, and a Directors Guild Award. The Hollywood Reporter reflects, “‘The Newsroom’ garnered the TV Academy’s attention by examining the fast-paced world of primetime cable news.”

Sorkin’s shrewd observations on storytelling, media, and narratives provide poignant and often hilarious perspectives for audiences seeking balance in divided times.

Watch Aaron Sorkin in conversation with The Aspen Institute >>

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Biography

Academy-Award winning writer, director and renowned playwright Aaron Sorkin graduated from Syracuse University with a B.F.A. in Theatre.

He made his Broadway playwriting debut at the age of 28 with the military courtroom drama A Few Good Men, for which he received the John Gassner Award as Outstanding New American Playwright. The following year saw the debut of his off-Broadway play Making Movies, and in 2007, he returned to Broadway with The Farnsworth Invention, directed by Des McAnuff.

Sorkin made the jump to feature films with his 1993 adaptation of his own play A Few Good Men. The film was nominated for four Academy Awards including Best Picture. He followed this success with the screenplays for Malice, starring Alec Baldwin and Nicole Kidman, The American President, starring Michael Douglas and Annette Bening, and Charlie Wilson’s War, starring Tom Hanks, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Julia Roberts.

In 2011, Sorkin won the Academy Award, Critics’ Choice Award, British Academy of Film and Television Arts Award, and Writers Guild Award in the Best Adapted Screenplay category as well as the USC Scripter Award for The Social Network. The film, directed by David Fincher, was nominated for a total of eight Academy Awards including Best Picture and appeared on over 350 critics’ lists of the top ten films of 2010.

The following year, Sorkin adapted, alongside Steve Zaillian with story by Stan Chervin, Moneyball for the big screen. The film, which was directed by Bennett Miller and starred Brad Pitt, won Sorkin the Critics’ Choice Award and New York Film Critics’ Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, and went on to receive four Academy Award nominations including Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay. In 2015, Sorkin wrote the feature film Steve Jobs based on the Walter Isaacson biography of the late Apple co-founder. His adaptation garnered him nominations for a Broadcast Film Critics’ Association (BFCA) Critics’ Choice Award, Writers Guild Award, and multiple regional critics’ association awards.

Sorkin made his directorial debut in 2017 with Molly’s Game, which he also wrote based on the personal memoir by Molly Bloom. The film, starring Jessica Chastain, Idris Elba, and Kevin Costner, tells the story of Molly, a beautiful, young, Olympic-class skier who ran the world’s most exclusive high-stakes poker game. It made its world premiere at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival to rave reviews and garnered Sorkin Best Screenplay nominations for an Academy Award, Writers Guild Award, and BAFTA Award.

In 2020, Sorkin premiered his feature drama The Trial of the Chicago 7, which he wrote and directed for Netflix. The picture features an all-star ensemble cast and garnered Sorkin six Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay as well as three British Academy Film Award nominations, including Best Film and Best Original Screenplay.

The following year, Sorkin wrote and directed Being the Ricardos, a biographical film about Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz’s relationship starring Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem as Ball and Arnaz, respectively. The film received three Academy Award nominations and two British Academy Film Award (BAFTA) nominations, including Best Original Screenplay.

For television, Sorkin created and produced NBC’s renowned series The West Wing, which earned nine Emmy nominations in its first season. The series went on to win a total of 26 Primetime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Drama Series for four consecutive years from 2000-2003. For his work on the series, Sorkin twice received the Peabody Award and Humanitas Prize, as well as three Television Critics Association Awards and Producers Guild Awards, and a Writers Guild Award. He also produced and wrote the television series Sports Night for ABC, which garnered eight Emmy nominations and won the Humanitas Prize and the Television Critics Association Award. Additionally, Sorkin created the series Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, which took place behind-the-scenes of a live sketch-comedy show and received five Emmy nominations in 2007.

In 2012, Sorkin made his return to television with the HBO drama The Newsroom, bringing in an average of 7 million viewers per episode. Set behind-the-scenes of a cable news show, the ensemble cast was led by Emily Mortimer, Sam Waterston, and Jeff Daniels, who went on to win an Emmy Award in the Outstanding Actor category for his performance on the show. The show won a Critics Choice Television Award for Most Exciting New Series and has been nominated for numerous awards, including five Primetime Emmy Awards, a Writers Guild Award, and Directors Guild Award. The third and final season aired on HBO in 2014, closing the series on a ratings season high.

In 2018, Sorkin premiered his Broadway stage adaptation of Harper Lee’s iconic American novel To Kill a Mockingbird. The production, staged by Tony-nominated director Bartlett Sher, currently holds the title of the highest grossing American play in Broadway history. It featured the original cast of Jeff Daniels, Celia Keenan-Bolger, Will Pullen, and Gbenga Akinnagbe, and went on to garner Keenan-Bolger the Tony Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role, as well as an additional eight nominations, including Daniels for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role. 

In 2023, Sorkin’s adaptation of the classic Lerner & Loewe musical Camelot played at Lincoln Center’s Vivian Beaumont Theatre. Sorkin reteamed with To Kill a Mockingbird director Bartlett Sher.