Joe Forte

Joe Forte is the creator and writer of Firewall which stars Harrison Ford, Paul Bettany and Virginia Madsen. A graduate of NYU film school, Joe's filmmaking career includes work for both major studios and independents alike. Forte began his screenwriting career with the sale of Soviet Cowboy, an original screenplay he wrote for two-time Academy Award-winner Jodie Foster and her production company, Egg Pictures. Set in post-Soviet Moscow, Forte was sent to Russia where he lived with Russian families while conducting research. He went on to sell The Great Mahala, to Warner Bros. Pictures and rewrite The Murderer Next Door for Sony Pictures who subsequently signed him to a writing/directing deal. Other works include Weekend and Velvet Underground, an independent feature which he developed with Academy Award-winning actress Charlize Theron. In 2007, Joe signed on at New Line Pictures to adapt the novel Out by Natsuo Kirino, winner of Japan's top mystery award. In addition, he sold Flashpoint, an epic drama set in the world of wild land fire fighters, to Paramount Pictures with Lorenzo Di Bonaventura (Transformers) producing. He has also create television pilot scripts for Twentieth Century Fox. Currently, Forte is completing work on his documentary The Man Who Saved Ben-Hur about the life and career of John Alarimo, Jr., a real life Forest Gump of American cinema. Forte is the film's producer and director. Forte and the film were selected to participate in the Film Independent Documentary Director's Lab. Before beginning his career in Hollywood, Forte worked for advertising agencies in both New York and Los Angeles. His tenure included stints at Scali, McCabe, Sloves, Saatchi & Saatchi, Foote, Cone, Belding, and Daily & Partners. While at Scali, Forte was nominated for a Cleo for his work on Volvo. He has also won several awards for his short films, including two Cine Golden Eagles and a grant from Mobil Oil. He is married to former film producer and now writer Meg LeFauve (Dangerous Lives of Alter Boys, Inside Out) and lives in Los Angeles. He has served as a mentor, teacher and panelist for Cinestory, the UCLA Graduate Film Program, the UCLA Extension Program, the Sedona Film Festival, the Sonoma Film Festival, Pitch Fest U.S.A,, California State University Channel Islands, and serves as a script consult on projects for Film Victoria and New South Wales, the film funding bodies for the government of Australia. He is featured in the documentary Tales of the Script and is the Producer of the award-winning festival hit, Say I Do.