Andy Wolk on directing The Sopranos, Writing Criminal Justice, and Staying The Course

Andy Wolk (andywolkdirector.com)IMDB(@AndyWolk)Began his writing and directing career with the much-lauded HBO movie CRIMINAL JUSTICE that made Time Magazine's "Ten Best" List.   Starring Forest Whitaker, Anthony LaPaglia and Rosie Perez,CRIMINAL JUSTICE received the Silver Prize at FIPA in Cannes and was named Best Cable Movie of the year.  Whitaker, LaPaglia, and Perez were all nominated for acting awards and Mr. Wolk was nominated for the WRITER'S GUILD AWARD.  He received the WRITER'S GUILD AWARD for writing NATICA JACKSON on PBS which starred Michelle Pfeiffer. He has been nominated for the DIRECTORS GUILD AWARD twice and also the CABLEFAX AWARD as Best Director for episodes of LINCOLNHEIGHTS.  He has directed numerous episodes of shows such as THE SOPRANOS, DAMAGES (for which Glenn Close won an EMMY AWARD), and THE PRACTICE including the "Final Judgement" episode for which Alfre Woodard received the EMMY AWARD and Mr. Wolk and David Kelley received the HUMANITAS AWARD.  He recently directed the acclaimed UGLY BETTY episode that featured the coming out kiss between two 15-year-old boys.  He also directed the pilot of the long-running HBO comedy hit ARLISS (a show he developed).  Other shows include DEFIANCE, UNFORGETTABLE, RIZZOLI AND ISLES, CRIMINAL MINDS, IN PLAIN SIGHT, GOSSIP GIRL, THE CARRIE DIARIES, CHASING LIFE, , NECESSARY ROUGHNESS, , HART OF DIXIE, NUMBERS, WITHOUT A TRACE, WITCHES OF EAST END, THE CLIENT LIST, FAIRLY LEGAL, NYPD BLUE, MEDIUM, HELLCATS, HAWTHORNE, TRUST ME,  DAY BREAK. HEIST, CLOSE TO HOME and TALES FROM THE CRYPT. He has been writer and director on many legal-themed movies including DELIBERATE INTENT, the critically praised 1st movie ever for FX.  Starring Timothy Hutton, the LA Times called it "taut, smart, provocative, well-acted and suspensefully directed."  Again for DELIBERATE INTENT, Mr. Wolk was nominated for the WRITER'S GUILD AWARD. Mr. Wolk  has also directed and written the acclaimed FIGHTING THE ODDS for LIFETIME, THE DEFENDERS: PAYBACK, CHOICE OF EVILS and TAKING THE FIRST, three highly-rated movies for Paramount and Showtime starring Beau Bridges, Martha Plimpton, and E.G. Marshall and based on the classic 60s show. He directed 4 hit CBS movies: WHEN ANGELS COME TO TOWNstarring Peter Falk and Katey Sagal; FINDING JOHN CHRISTMASstarring Peter Falk and Valerie Bertinelli; THE CHRISTMAS SHOES starring Rob Lowe and Kimberly Williams; and A TOWN WITHOUT CHRISTMAS which was the highest-rated movie on television and featured Patricia Heaton and Peter Falk.  Other movies he has directed include PIZZA MY HEART, MR. ROCK 'N' ROLL, ALIBI, ALL LIES END IN MURDER, KISS AND TELL, and A STRANGER'S HEART.

Mr. Wolk's other writing credits include HBO's Emmy-winning FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON, produced by Tom Hanks, and the award-winning TALES FROM THE CRYPT starring Demi Moore.   He has written features for Miramax, Paramount,Tri-Star, UA, MGM, Warner Brothers, Columbia Pictures, and AVCO Embassy plus pilots for Fox, ABC, and SHOWTIME.

Mr. Wolk's career started in the theater.  He directed Shakespeare's TWELFTH NIGHT and THE WINTER'S TALE, each of which had successful Off-Broadway run under the auspices of Lincoln Center Institute and he has directed at  Manhattan Theatre Club (where he worked on staff for five years).   His play OUT OF THIS FURNACE was just revived in Pittsburgh and another play, STRINGS SNAPPING (about Chekhov's life) has just been workshopped in Los Angeles. 

Mr. Wolk is on the faculty of the American Film Institute in Los Angeles.  He has been a Creative Advisor at the Sundance Institute's Screenwriting Lab and has also taught Screenwriting at the University of Pennsylvania.  He has an MFA from the School of Drama at Carnegie-Mellon University and a BA from the University of Pennsylvania where he was awarded the Thouron Scholarship.