Desmond Nakano
- Writer
- Director
- Producer
Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, Desmond Nakano yearned to be a rock musician. He jammed with neighborhood bands while attending North Hollywood High School, and by the time he was an underclassman studying Philosophy and English at UCLA, he had written several rock operas. After a year and a half in college, Nakano left school and moved to the Bay Area to start a band.
However, he returned to school and began studying film under the tutelage of screenwriter-director Paul Schrader. He began writing screenplays, and his script "Boulevard Nights" soon garnered recognition, and won both the Writers Guild Open Door Award and the Samuel Goldwyn Award. The script would later be optioned by producer Tony Bill and made in 1979, with Michael Pressman directing.
Nakano followed this initial success with the 1984 dance film "Body Rock", and worked as a writer on the 1986 sci-fi action film "Black Moon Rising". Next he was brought on to pen the screenplay adaptation of the Hubert Selby, Jr. novel "Last Exit to Brooklyn", which was released in 1989. He also worked as a writer on the 1992 crime drama, "American Me", which starred and was directed by Edward James Olmos.
Nakano made his directorial debut with 1995's "White Man's Burden" starring John Travolta and Harry Belafonte.
In 2007, Nakano co-wrote and directed "American Pastime".
However, he returned to school and began studying film under the tutelage of screenwriter-director Paul Schrader. He began writing screenplays, and his script "Boulevard Nights" soon garnered recognition, and won both the Writers Guild Open Door Award and the Samuel Goldwyn Award. The script would later be optioned by producer Tony Bill and made in 1979, with Michael Pressman directing.
Nakano followed this initial success with the 1984 dance film "Body Rock", and worked as a writer on the 1986 sci-fi action film "Black Moon Rising". Next he was brought on to pen the screenplay adaptation of the Hubert Selby, Jr. novel "Last Exit to Brooklyn", which was released in 1989. He also worked as a writer on the 1992 crime drama, "American Me", which starred and was directed by Edward James Olmos.
Nakano made his directorial debut with 1995's "White Man's Burden" starring John Travolta and Harry Belafonte.
In 2007, Nakano co-wrote and directed "American Pastime".
