Lawrence Wright

Lawrence Wright is an author, screenwriter, playwright and a staff writer for The New Yorker. His 2006 history of al-Qaeda, “The Looming Tower: al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11,” was on the New York Times bestseller list for eight weeks, was nominated for the National Book Award and won the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction, among other honors. Wright co-wrote the 1998 film “The Siege,” which depicts events eerily similar to those occurring in the U.S. after 9/11. In 2006, his one-man play “My Trip to al-Qaeda,” based on the book, enjoyed a sold-out, six-week run in Soho. Wright is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Works

God Save Texas

Returning to their hometowns, Texas filmmakers Richard Linklater, Alex Stapleton, and Iliana Sosa chronicle the complex history of each city, while examining the toll that the prison system, oil business, and border laws have on those communities.

Release Date: 2024-02-27

Department: Production

Job: Executive Producer

Character: Self

Episode Count: 3

Vote Count: 5

Kingdom of Silence

A political thriller examining the complex relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia, and how the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi amplified entanglements between the two countries.

Release Date: 2020-10-02

Department: Production

Job: Executive Producer

Vote Count: 7

Three Identical Strangers

New York, 1980. Three complete strangers accidentally discover that they're identical triplets, separated at birth. The 19-year-olds' joyous reunion catapults them to international fame, but also unlocks an extraordinary and disturbing secret that goes beyond their own lives – and could transform our understanding of human nature forever.

Release Date: 2018-06-29

Character: Self

Vote Count: 738

The Looming Tower

While Osama bin Laden and Al-Qaeda become a global threat, the rivalry between the CIA and FBI inadvertently sets the stage for the tragedy of 9/11 and the Iraq War.

Release Date: 2018-02-28

Department: Writing

Job: Book

Episode Count: 10

Vote Count: 158

The New Yorker Presents

A groundbreaking series that brings America's most award-winning magazine, The New Yorker, to the screen with documentaries, short narrative films, comedy, poetry, animation, and cartoons from the hands of acclaimed filmmakers and artists.

Release Date: 2016-02-16

Character: Self

Episode Count: 1

Vote Count: 6

Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief

GOING CLEAR intimately profiles eight former members of the Church of Scientology, shining a light on how they attract true believers and the things they do in the name of religion.

Release Date: 2015-01-25

Department: Production

Job: Producer

Character: Self - Interviewee

Vote Count: 820

My Trip to Al-Qaeda

Journalist Lawrence Wright brings his multilayered one-man play to the screen as he discusses how a reporter remains objective while covering highly charged issues such as 9/11, Al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden's past and the history of Islam. Wright examines the Muslim religion, Al-Qaeda's rise to power and bin Laden's complicated relationship with the rulers of Saudi Arabia in this riveting documentary from Academy Award-winning director Alex Gibney.

Release Date: 2010-04-21

Character: Himself

Vote Count: 11

Noriega: God's Favorite

The story of Panamanian dictator, Manuel Noriega.

Release Date: 2000-03-04

Department: Writing

Job: Writer

Vote Count: 8

The Siege

The secret US abduction of a suspected terrorist from his Middle East homeland leads to a wave of terrorist attacks in New York. An FBI senior agent and his team attempt to locate and decommission the enemy cells, but must also deal with an Army General gone rogue and a female CIA agent of uncertain loyalties.

Release Date: 1998-11-06

Department: Writing

Job: Screenplay

Vote Count: 1376

Forgotten Sins

A county sheriff is accused by his daughter of having abused her. Her accusation gets more and more elaborate, involving satanic rituals. As nearly everyone around him seems to believe he's guilty, he starts breaking up and questioning his own innocence.

Release Date: 1996-03-07

Department: Writing

Job: Writer

Vote Count: 1