Neil LaBute

Writing·Mar 19, 1963·Detroit, Michigan, USA

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Neil N. LaBute (born March 19, 1963) is an American playwright, film director, and screenwriter. He is best known for a play that he wrote and later adapted for film, In the Company of Men (1997), which won awards from the Sundance Film Festival, the Independent Spirit Awards, and the New York Film Critics Circle. LaBute created the TV series Billy & Billie, writing and directing all of the episodes. He is also the creator of the TV series Van Helsing. Critics have responded to his plays as having a misanthropic tone. Rob Weinert-Kendt in The Village Voice referred to LaBute as "American theater's reigning misanthrope". The New York Times said that critics labeled him a misanthrope on the release of his film Your Friends & Neighbors because of the film's strong misanthropic plot and characters. Britain's Independent newspaper in May 2008 dubbed him "America's misanthrope par excellence". Citing the misanthropic tone of the plot in the films In the Company of Men, Your Friends & Neighbors and The Shape of Things, film critic Daniel Kimmel identified a pattern running through LaBute's work of being that the unlikeable, main antagonists of those three films end up getting away with their lying, scheming and mis-deeds, coming out on top of all the other characters as the real winners of those stories by quoting: "Neil LaBute is a misanthrope who assumes that only callous and evil people, who use and abuse others, can survive in this world."

Film	Credit
Fear the Night2023 · Writer, Director	Writer, Director
The Shape of Things2023 · Writer	Writer
House of Darkness2022 · Director, Writer, Producer	Director, Writer, Producer
Out of the Blue2022 · Director, Writer, Producer	Director, Writer, Producer
Sparring Partner2022 · Screenplay	Screenplay
Berlin, I Love You2019 · Writer	Writer
Black Chicks2017 · Director, Producer, Writer	Director, Producer, Writer
10 K2017 · Writer, Director	Writer, Director
Good Luck: In Farsi2017 · Writer	Writer
The Mulberry Bush2016 · Director, Screenplay	Director, Screenplay
Middle of the Night2015 · Writer	Writer
Dirty Weekend2015 · Director, Writer	Director, Writer
It's Okay2014 · Writer	Writer
Some Velvet Morning2013 · Director, Writer	Director, Writer
Some Girl(s)2013 · Screenplay	Screenplay
Current Events2012 · Writer	Writer
DDouble or Nothing2012 · Writer	Writer
Stars in Shorts2012 · Director, Writer	Director, Writer
DDenise2012 · Writer	Writer
BFF2012 · Director, Screenplay	Director, Screenplay
Sweet Nothings2011 · Writer	Writer
After-School Special2011 · Writer	Writer
Raging Bull: Reflections on a Classic2011 · Self	Self
Sexting2010 · Director, Writer	Director, Writer
Death at a Funeral2010 · Director	Director
Heavy Rain2010 · Himself, Director	Himself, Director
Cleanflix2009 · Self	Self
Welcome to Lakeview Terrace: Behind the Scenes2009 · Self	Self
Lakeview Terrace2008 · Director	Director
Tumble2007 · Writer, Director	Writer, Director
The Wicker Man2006 · Director, Screenplay	Director, Screenplay
The Shape of Things2003 · Director, Writer, Producer	Director, Writer, Producer
Possession2002 · Screenplay, Director	Screenplay, Director
Bash: Latter-Day Plays2001 · Director, Writer	Director, Writer
Nurse Betty2000 · Director	Director
Your Friends & Neighbors1998 · Writer, Director	Writer, Director
Independent's Day1998 · Self	Self
In the Company of Men1997 · Director, Screenplay	Director, Screenplay
High School Spirits1986 · Actor	Actor
Tour de FranceWriter	Writer
OOh! Squints IIIDirector	Director