Graham Moore (writer)

Graham Moore (born October 18, 1981) is an American screenwriter, author and director known for his 2010 novel The Sherlockian, as well as his screenplay for the historical film The Imitation Game, which topped the 2011 Black List for screenplays and won the 2014 Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay (awarded February 2015).

Early life and family
Moore was born in Chicago, Illinois and raised on the city's north side. He is "the son of two lawyers who divorced and then married two other lawyers"; Moore's father, Gary Moore, is an insurance defense attorney and his mother, Susan Sher (née Steiner), works for the University of Chicago. His mother was formerly the City of Chicago's chief lawyer and First Lady Michelle Obama's chief of staff.

Moore's parents divorced when he was young. Moore's stepfather is Cook County Circuit Court Judge Neil Cohen. Raised Jewish, Moore graduated from the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools in 1999 and received a bachelor of arts degree in religious history in 2003 from Columbia University.

During his Academy Award acceptance speech in February 2015, Moore stated:

"When I was 16 years old, I tried to kill myself because I felt weird and I felt different, and I felt like I did not belong. And now I'm standing here, and so I would like this moment to be for this kid out there who feels like she's weird or she's different or she doesn't fit in anywhere: Yes, you do. I promise you do. Stay weird, stay different"

This led viewers to believe that Graham Moore was gay and highlighted his own experience as an LGBTQ youth. Many people praised the speech on Twitter comparing it to the openly gay screenwriter Dustin Lance Black who won an Oscar for Milk (2008). However, Moore has clarified to reporters he is in fact straight and not gay.

The speech has since drawn criticisms for his use of the word "weird" and for misleading audiences. J. Bryan Lowder of Slate wrote, "without harping on Moore's flustered speech too much, it's worth taking a moment to explain the trouble with that equivalence more generally and to think about why gay people might be so sensitive to it—especially coming as it did from the straight writer of a film that desperately marketed itself to audiences and Academy voters as a gay political statement." Ira Maddison III of Buzzfeed sharply criticized the language and vaugeness of Moore's speech writing, "We don't need a straight, white male who wrote a straight-washed movie about Alan Turing as our savior. We need diverse women and men who are looking to the future, not people looking to past and crafting a speech that will appeal in its vagueness to anyone who's "weird.""

Moore lives in Los Angeles, California. He married a woman in 2019 and together they have a child.

Career


Moore began his writing career working with childhood friend Ben Epstein, who was attending Tisch School of the Arts in New York City. One of his earliest Hollywood jobs was on the writing staff of the short-lived television series 10 Things I Hate About You.

Moore's first book, The Sherlockian, was on the New York Times bestseller list for three weeks.

His adapted screenplay for the 2014 film The Imitation Game, based on the biography Alan Turing: The Enigma by Andrew Hodges, topped the 2011 Black List of the best unproduced scripts in Hollywood. The script earned Moore numerous nominations, including the 2014 Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay, and ultimately won the 2014 Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay at the 87th Academy Awards (awarded February 2015).

Moore's second book, The Last Days of Night, was published by Random House on August 16, 2016. Set in 1888 New York City, the novel focuses on the heated rivalry between Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse during the advent of electricity and is told through the eyes of Westinghouse's attorney, Paul Cravath. Moore has adapted the screenplay for The Last Days of Night to be directed by Oscar-nominated director of The Imitation Game Morten Tyldum. Moore will write, direct, and produce the sci-fi thriller Naked Is the Best Disguise for Studio 8.

Moore's first film as director, The Outfit, premiered at the 72nd Berlin International Film Festival on February 14, 2022. It received positive reviews.

Novels

 * The Sherlockian (2010), published by Twelve
 * The Last Days of Night (August 16, 2016), published by Penguin Random House
 * The Holdout (February 18, 2020), published by Random House

Filmography
Short film

Feature film