Justin Zackham

Justin Zackham is an American and British screenwriter, director and producer. He wrote the films The Bucket List, One Chance, The Big Wedding, and Second Act. He also created the FX TV series Lights Out. Zackham coined the term "bucket list" with his screenplay for the film, inspired by his own "List of Things to do Before I Kick the Bucket", which he shortened to "Justin's Bucket List". Education Zackham graduated from NYU Film School. Career After moving to Los Angeles in the 1990s, Zackham wrote and directed the 2001 fraternity comedy Going Greek. He also wrote himself a "List of Things to Do Before I Kick the Bucket", which he shortened to "Justin's Bucket List". The first item on the list was to have a movie made at a major Hollywood studio. Several years later, that list became the idea for a speculative screenplay which he wrote before submitting to producers, nearly all of whom turned him down. The script found its way to Rob Reiner who called Zackham after reading the first ten pages and said he would like it to be his next film, if that was agreeable to Zackham. The Bucket List was distributed by Warner Bros. and starred Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman becoming an international hit. In 2012, the term "bucket list" was listed in both Webster's Dictionary and the Oxford English Dictionary. In 2011, Zackham produced and directed his screenplay, The Big Wedding, featuring Robert De Niro, Diane Keaton, Susan Sarandon, Katherine Heigl, Amanda Seyfried, Topher Grace and Robin Williams. The film was purchased by Lionsgate and was released 26 April 2013.