Christopher Landon

Christopher Beau Landon (born February 27, 1975) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter best known for working in the horror and comedy horror genres.
He has worked as a screenwriter on the thriller Disturbia and most of the films in the Paranormal Activity found-footage horror series. He wrote and directed Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones as well as the horror comedy films Happy Death Day, Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse, Happy Death Day 2U, Freaky, and We Have a Ghost. He wrote and made his directorial debut on the satirical thriller film Burning Palms (2010).
==Early life==
Landon was born in Los Angeles and is the son of actor Michael Landon and Lynn Noe. He is the youngest of four children produced by their marriage. His parents divorced in 1980, when he was four years old; he resided with his father until the age of sixteen, when his father died of pancreatic cancer. One of his brothers is Michael Landon Jr., an actor, and one of his half-sisters is Jennifer Landon, an actress. His paternal grandfather was Jewish, whereas his paternal grandmother was Catholic, although his father was raised Jewish.
==Career==
Landon, following his father Michael Landon's footsteps in filmmaking, studied screenwriting at Loyola Marymount University, but dropped out three years into the course to pursue a career when film director Larry Clark offered him a writing job after reading one of his scripts. He went on to co-write the script of Another Day in Paradise with Eddie Little and Stephen Chin. After writing Another Day in Paradise, he came out as gay, aware that homophobia may have harmed his potential in the industry. "I may fall off some list because of my sexuality. But if that happens, then I really don't want to be on that list anyway," he said, speaking of homophobia in Hollywood and the film industry. "I was the flavor of the month, and then I was quickly dismissed. I reached a point in my career when I couldn't get a meeting anywhere." He moved from Los Angeles to Austin, Texas, contemplating the future of his career, which he revived only a few years later.
Most of Landon's films deal with gay themes and issues, including $30, one of five components in Boys Life 3, a collection of short films dealing with issues faced by gays, and a spec script about the relationship between a straight man and a gay man. More recently, he has written the screenplays of the 2007 films Blood and Chocolate, The Flock and the acclaimed Disturbia. Disturbia was one of his spec scripts which was brought to Montecito Pictures and subsequently DreamWorks Pictures, and went on to become No. 1 in cinemas upon its release. He next worked on The Lesson, a film for DreamWorks and the 2007 television series Dirty Sexy Money, his first television project, eager to expand his repertoire. He is worked on a screenplay for a film adaption of Lisa McMann's young adult novel Wake. Landon made his directorial debut with Burning Palms, a comedic thriller that was poorly received.
Landon became a creative voice behind the Paranormal Activity film series, writing Paranormal Activity 2, Paranormal Activity 3, Paranormal Activity 4, and Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin. Landon also directed and wrote the franchise spinoff, Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones, which was released in 2014. 
Landon's next film was Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse. He then wrote and directed Happy Death Day and Happy Death Day 2U.
In August 2023, Landon was announced to direct Scream 7, the seventh installment in the Scream franchise.
==Personal life==
Landon came out as gay in 1999, having only written the script of Another Day in Paradise, unafraid of his sexuality harming his career potential. He says that growing up he was called a "f*****" by peers at his high school. His mother, a Christian, initially refused to accept his sexuality, but he told her, "I don't even know if I believe in God, but if I do, he gave you a gay son so that you can start confronting some of these issues and get yourself out of the box you've placed yourself in for so long." His stepmother, Cindy Clerico, his father's next wife, told him that both she and his father suspected he was gay.
==Filmography==
Year 	Title 	Director	Writer	Producer	Notes
1998 	Another Day in Paradise 	 	 	 	
2000 	Boys Life 3 	 	 	 	Segment: "$30"
2007 	Blood & Chocolate 	 	 	 	
2007 	Disturbia 	 	 	 	
2007–2009	Dirty Sexy Money 	 	 	 	Television series Writer: 2 episodes
2010 	Burning Palms 	 	 	 	Directorial debut
2010 	Paranormal Activity 2 	 	 	 	
2011 	Paranormal Activity 3 	 	 	 	
2012 	Paranormal Activity 4 	 	 	 	
2014 	Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones 	 	 	 	
2015 	Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse	 	 	 	
2016 	Viral 	 	 	 	
2017 	Happy Death Day 	 	 	 	
2019 	Happy Death Day 2U 	 	 	 	
2020 	Freaky 	 	 	 	
2021 	Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin 	 	 	 	
2022 	My Best Friend's Exorcism 	 	 	 	
2023 	We Have a Ghost 	 	 	 	
 	Time Cut 	 	 	 	
 	Scream 7 	 	 	 	
==References==
==External links==
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Category:1975 births
Category:Film producers from California
Category:American people of Jewish descent
Category:American male screenwriters
Category:American soap opera writers
Category:Film directors from Los Angeles
Category:American gay writers
Category:Horror film directors
Category:American LGBT film directors
Category:American LGBT screenwriters
Category:LGBT people from California
Category:Living people
Category:Screenwriters from Los Angeles
Category:American male television writers
Category:American television writers
Category:Michael Landon family
Category:21st-century American LGBT people