Ronald L. Nyswaner (born October 5, 1956) is an American screenwriter and film director. He is a Peabody Award winner, and has been nominated for numerous awards including an Academy Award, BAFTA Award, and two Primetime Emmy Awards. He is known for his screenplays Smithereens (1982), Philadelphia (1993), The Painted Veil (2006), Freeheld (2015), and My Policeman (2022). He is also known as a writer and producer of the Showtime series Ray Donovan (2013–2015), Homeland (2017–2018), and the historical drama series Fellow Travelers (2023).

Early life and education

Nyswaner was born in Clarksville, Pennsylvania. He later attended the University of Pittsburgh and Columbia University.

Career

Nyswaner wrote his first screenplay for the Susan Seidelman film Smithereens. After two other notable screenplays for Swing Shift and Mrs. Soffel, he gave his directorial debut with The Prince of Pennsylvania in 1988, a film with Keanu Reeves and Fred Ward. Nyswaner, who is openly gay and an activist for gay rights, has often worked on movies dealing with subjects such as homosexuality, homophobia, and AIDS. In 1993, he came to worldwide prominence for his screenplay to the Academy Award-winning movie Philadelphia, directed by Jonathan Demme. It earned him nominations at the Academy Awards, the Golden Globes, and the BAFTAs. After several years of working for television, he wrote the screenplay for the 2006 film The Painted Veil, based on the novel by W. Somerset Maugham. He received a nomination for the Independent Spirit Award and won the award of the National Board of Review in 2006. From 2015 to 2017, he was an executive producer for the Showtime TV series Homeland. In 2015, Nyswaner directed the documentary film She's the Best Thing in It, featuring Mary Louise Wilson, which he coproduced along with Jeffrey Schwarz and Neda Armian. Nyswaner created the historical drama miniseriesFellow Travelers in 2023, which won a Peabody Award at the 84th ceremony in 2024.

Filmography

Film

As a director As a writer

Television

Awards and nominations