In 1978, he served as the screenwriter of the TV series "Little Road Boy". In 1986, he served as the screenwriter of the TV series "L.A. French Open." In 1987, he served as the screenwriter and producer of the TV series "Thirty Rise", for which he won the 40th Emmy Award for Best Screenplay in a Drama Series-Drama.
In 1994, he served as a screenwriter, producer and assistant director in the TV series "Just South". In 1996, he made his film debut, and has two roles as screenwriter and director. The story happened in 1959, when four Russian teenagers tried to form the first rock band in the Soviet Union. In 1999, he served as the screenwriter, director and producer of the TV series "Family Law".
In 2003, he served as the screenwriter of the TV series "Mr. Stirling". In 2004, he directed the crime film " Crash " starring Sandra Bullock , Don Cheadle , and Matthew Raymond Dillon
. This is his first personally directed film. It tells several loosely connected stories caused by a traffic accident
. The 78th Academy Awards for Best Original Screenplay
, and the 59th British Academy of Film Awards for Best Original Screenplay
.
In 2005, the sports film " Million Dollar Baby ", which served as a screenwriter, was released. The film was nominated for the Best Adapted Screenplay at the 77th Academy Awards
. In 2007, directed the suspense crime film " In The Valley of Elah " adapted from real events
. The film was co-starred by Tommy Lee Jones , Charlize Theron , and Susan Sarandon
. It told about a retired veteran Hank Tilfield tracked down from Iraq. The story of the death of his son who returned from service was
nominated for the 64th Venice International Film Festival Golden Lion Award
; in the same year, he served as the screenwriter for the war movie " Letters from Iwo Jima "
, which was directed by Clint Eastwood and was nominated for the 79th Academy Awards. Best Original Screenplay Award
.
In 2008, the screenwriter film " Quantum of Solace " was released, which was nominated for the Best Screenplay-Original Award at the 60th British Academy of Film Awards. In 2010, directed the crime film " The Next Three Days " co-starring Russell Crowe , Elizabeth Banks and Olivia Wilde . The
film tells the story of a happy family of three who suffered a sudden disaster
. In 2013, directed the feature film " Third Person " co-starring Liam Neeson , Olivia Wilde and James Franco , which was nominated for the main competition unit of the 4th Beijing International Film Festival
. Later, the film was selected as one of the top ten best films by the Toronto International Film Festival
.
In 2015, directed the crime drama " Show Me a Hero " based on Lisa Belkin's documentary novel of the same name , co-starring Jon Bernthal , Oscar Isaac and Catherine Keener
. In 2019, he served as a member of the jury of the 5th Jackie Chan International Action Film Week
. In 2020, directed and wrote the drama film "The Ranger Apprentice "
.