Guillaume Laurant

A screenwriter with an eye for the unusual, it's no wonder the French-born Guillaume Laurant has spent much of his career collaborating with noted surrealist writer/director Jean-Pierre Jeunet. Oddly enough, though, Laurant's connection with Jeunet came mostly by chance; after dropping out of school, drifting from job to job, and even serving a bit in the army, Laurant says he wrote a screenplay and sent it to Jeunet on a whim, after the bizarre cannibal-themed international hit "Delicatessen (1991)," co-directed by Jeunet with Marc Caro, struck a chord with him. Jeunet saw something in the aspiring writer's work, and the two collaborated on another dystopian fantasy: the renowned "The City of Lost Children (1995)." Six years later, after working with director Diane Bertrand on the puzzle-like "Un Samedi sur la Terre (1996)," Laurant reteamed with Jeunet for the dreamy love story "Amelie," another international sensation that scored Laurant an Academy Award nomination and a BAFTA for Best Original Screenplay. Two more well-regarded Jeunet works followed, the similarly dreamy "A Very Long Engagement (2004)" and "Micmacs (2009)," along with a handful of other credits involving different directors. In addition, the word-loving Laurant has published two small novels and conducted screenwriting seminars at film festivals.