Phil Alden Robinson

Phil Alden Robinson (born March 1, 1950) is an American film director and screenwriter whose films include Field of Dreams, Sneakers, and The Sum of All Fears.

Early life and education Robinson was born in Long Beach, New York, the son of Jessie Frances and S. Jesse Robinson, who was a drama critic for the New York Journal American and a media coordinator for the liquor division of the National Distillers & Chemical Corp. in New York. Robinson graduated from Union College in Schenectady, New York, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science and received an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from Union College in 1996.

Career Robinson directed the baseball film Field of Dreams (1989). Field of Dreams earned Robinson nominations for the Directors Guild of America Award, the Writers Guild of America Award, and for an Oscar for Best Screenplay Adaptation (the film was also nominated for Best Picture and Best Original Score Oscars). Other accolades for the film include the Christopher Award, and Premiere Magazine's Readers Poll for Best Picture of 1989.

His next feature was the thriller Sneakers (1992). Sneakers was nominated for an Edgar Award by the Mystery Writers of America.

Robinson's 2000 TV drama Freedom Song won the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Longform Screenplay, was nominated for two Emmy Awards, three NAACP Image Awards (including Best TV Movie), a Screen Actors Guild Award, a Sound Editors Golden Reel Award, and the Humanitas Prize. It also received the Christopher Award, the San Francisco Film Society's "Golden Gate Award", and a National Association of Minorities in Communications Image Award.

For Band of Brothers (2001), he, along with all the directors on the series, won an Emmy Award for Best Directing of a Miniseries, Movie or Dramatic Special. Robinson and the other Band of Brother directors were also nominated for a Directors Guild of America Award.

In 1990, Robinson was named "Screenwriter of the Year" by the National Association of Theatre Owners, and in 1994 received the Writers Guild of America's Valentine Davies Award for contributions to the entertainment industry and the community-at-large.

In 1992, he accompanied the United Nations High Commission for Refugees as an observer on relief missions to Somalia and Bosnia, for which he wrote and directed his first of five documentaries for ABC News Nightline. The last one, Sarajevo Spring, was nominated for a national News & Documentary Emmy Award in 1997.

Robinson is currently Vice President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, is a past member of the board of directors of the Writers Guild of America, and serves on the Board of Overseers of the UCLA Hammer Museum.

Filmography + Year Title Director Writer Producer Notes1984 Rhinestone All of Me 1985 Fletch Uncredited 1987 In the Mood 1989 Relentless as Jack T.D. Robinson Field of Dreams 1990 Ghost Dad as Chris Reese 1992 Sneakers 1996 The Chamber as Chris Reese 2000 Freedom Song 2002 The Sum of All Fears 2014 The Angriest Man in Brooklyn 2018 Juliet, Naked

Television + Year Title Director Writer Producer Notes 1981 Trapper John, M.D. 2 episodes 1992 Nightline: Somalia Diary Nightline: Sarajevo Diary 1993 Nightline: One Woman’s Sarajevo 1996 Nightline: Sarajevo Spring 2001 Band of Brothers 1 episode 2016 The Good Wife 1 episode 2018 The Good Fight Also creator

Awards and nominations