# Dean Devlin

Dean Devlin (born August 27, 1962) is an American screenwriter, producer, director, and actor of film and television. He is best known for his collaborations with director Roland Emmerich, and for his work on the Librarian and Leverage television franchises. He is a co-founder of the production companies Centropolis Entertainment and Electric Entertainment.

## Early life

Devlin was born in New York City, the son of actress Pilar Seurat and Don Devlin, a writer, actor, and producer. His father was Jewish and his mother was Filipino. He attended the University of Southern California.

## Career
### Film

Devlin appeared as an actor on numerous television shows throughout the 1980s. He also appeared in films including My Bodyguard, The Wild Life, Real Genius and Martians Go Home. Due to his youthful appearance, Devlin often played teenage characters despite being in his 20s.
Devlin gradually began writing scripts. His first produced screenplay was for Universal Soldier. He reached prominence as a writer/producer working alongside director Roland Emmerich, with whom he teamed after appearing in Emmerich's film Moon 44. Together they cowrote and produced Stargate, the first movie to have a web site. The team then produced Independence Day and Godzilla. They split following the 2000 Mel Gibson film The Patriot, but re-teamed to film Independence Day: Resurgence in 2016. Devlin has also produced Cellular, Who Killed the Electric Car?, and Flyboys.
Devlin's directorial debut was the action sci-fi film Geostorm for Warner Bros. The film was set for a March 2016 release, later rescheduled for October 2017. It starred Gerard Butler as the lead with Jim Sturgess, Abbie Cornish, Ed Harris and Andy García. The film made $221 million on a $120 million budget. In March 2018, Deadline Hollywood calculated the film lost Warner Bros. $71.6 million when factoring in all other expenses and revenues.
Devlin's second film as director was the 2018 thriller Bad Samaritan, starring Robert Sheehan and David Tennant.

### Television

Devlin produced The Triangle miniseries, Leverage (of which he has directed twelve episodes), The Librarian franchise, and The Outpost. He also co-created The Visitor series.
In 2019 Devlin began working with the Philippine media conglomerate ABS-CBN to produce a new series called Almost Paradise (originally titled Off Tropic.) The series premiered in the United States on May 30, 2020, on WGN America, and premiered on Kapamilya Channel in 2021. It was filmed entirely in the Philippines and the majority of the cast members are Filipino, aside from the lead—played by Christian Kane, whom Devlin also worked with on the television shows Leverage and The Librarians.
Delvin produced The Ark TV series for Syfy, which aired starting in February 2023.

### Video games

Devlin was an advisor to the video game company ZeniMax Media from 1999 to 2004. Additionally Devlin was involved in video game projects The 10th Planet and Godzilla Online.

## Personal life

Devlin is married to actress Lisa Brenner.

## Filmography

| Year | Title | Director | Producer | Writer | Notes |
| 1992 | Universal Soldier | No | No | Yes | Co-writer with Richard Rothstein & Christopher Leitch |
| 1994 | Stargate | No | Yes | Yes | Co-writer with Roland Emmerich |
| 1996 | Independence Day | No | Yes | Yes | Co-writer with Roland Emmerich |
| 1998 | Godzilla | No | Yes | Yes | Co-writer with Roland Emmerich; co-wrote story with Emmerich, Terry Rossio & Ted Elliott |
| 2000 | The Patriot | No | Yes | No | |
| 2002 | Eight Legged Freaks | No | Yes | No | |
| 2004 | Cellular | No | Yes | No | |
| 2006 | Who Killed the Electric Car? | No | Executive | No | Documentary |
| 2006 | Flyboys | No | Yes | No | |
| 2011 | Shakespeare High | No | Executive | No | Documentary |
| 2013 | Transit | No | Executive | No | |
| 2015 | The Wannabe | No | Executive | No | |
| 2016 | Independence Day: Resurgence | No | Yes | Yes | Co-writer with Roland Emmerich, Nicolas Wright, James A. Woods & James Vanderbilt |
| 2017 | Geostorm | Yes | Yes | Yes | Directorial debut Co-writer with Paul Guyot |
| 2018 | Bad Samaritan | Yes | Yes | No | |

### Television

The numbers in directing and writing credits refer to the number of episodes.
| Year | Title | Functioned as | Functioned as | Functioned as | Functioned as | Network | Notes |
| Year | Title | Creator | Director | Writer | Executive producer | Network | Notes |
| 1997–98 | The Visitor | Yes | No | Yes (3) | Yes | Fox | |
| 1998–2000 | Godzilla: The Series | No | No | No | Yes | Fox Kids | |
| 2004 | The Librarian: Quest for the Spear | No | No | No | Yes | TNT | Television film |
| 2005 | The Triangle | No | No | Story | Yes | Sci-Fi Channel | Miniseries |
| 2006 | Talk to Me | No | No | No | Yes | TNT | Unaired pilot |
| 2006 | The Librarian: Return to King Solomon's Mines | No | No | No | Yes | TNT | Television film |
| 2008 | Blank Slate | No | No | No | Yes | TNT | Television film |
| 2008 | The Librarian: Curse of the Judas Chalice | No | No | No | Yes | TNT | Television film |
| 2008–12 | Leverage | No | Yes (16) | No | Yes | TNT | |
| 2011 | Brain Trust | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | TBS | Unaired pilot |
| 2014–18 | The Librarians | No | Yes (6) | Yes (1) | Yes | TNT | |
| 2018–21 | The Outpost | No | No | No | Yes | The CW | |
| 2020–present | Almost Paradise | No | Yes (1) | Yes (2) | Yes | WGN America season 1, Amazon Freevee season 2 | |
| 2021–present | Leverage: Redemption | No | Yes (4) | Yes (1) | Yes | Amazon Freevee | |
| 2023 | The Ark | Yes | Yes (1) | Yes (1) | Yes | Syfy | |

### Acting roles

| Year | Title | Role |
| 1984 | The Wild Life | Liquor Store Clerk |
| 1984 | City Limits | Ernie |
| 1985 | Real Genius | Milton |
| 1989 | Martians Go Home | Joe Fledermaus |
| 1990 | Moon 44 | Tyler |
| 1991 | Total Exposure | Adult Bookstore Manager |

## Awards and nominations

Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films :
| Year | Nominated work | Category | Result |
| 1996 | Independence Day | Best Writer | Nominated |
| 1998 | — | George Pal Memorial Award | Won |
| Golden Raspberry Awards ||||||
| 1996 | Independence Day | Worst Written Film Grossing Over $100 Million | Nominated |
| 1998 | Godzilla | Worst Picture | Nominated |
| 1998 | Godzilla | Worst Screenplay | Nominated |
| 2016 | Independence Day: Resurgence | Worst Screenplay | Nominated |
| Hugo Awards ||||||
| 1994 | Stargate | Best Dramatic Presentation | Nominated |
| 1996 | Independence Day | Best Dramatic Presentation | Nominated |
| Online Film & Television Association ||||||
| 1996 | Independence Day | Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Horror Picture | Nominated |
| Sci-Fi Universe Magazine ||||||
| 1996 | Independence Day | Best Writing for a Genre Motion Picture | Won |
| Stinkers Bad Movie Awards ||||||
| 1998 | Godzilla | Worst Screenplay for a Film Grossing More than $100 Million Using Hollywood Math | Won |