John August is an American screenwriter and film director.   He writes and maintains the popular screenwriting blog johnaugust.com, and develops screenwriter-targeted software. He is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, voting in the Writers branch. August was born and raised in Boulder, Colorado. He earned a degree in journalism from Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa and an MFA in film from the The Peter Stark Producing Program at the University of Southern California.  He lives in Los Angeles.   He is openly gay.  He married Michael August on June 28, 2008 during the four months same-sex marriage in California was recognized. Together they have a daughter. August's debut film was 1999's critically acclaimed Go, for which he also served as co-producer and second unit director. In 1998, August acquired the film rights to Daniel Wallace's Big Fish.  His adaptation became the 2003 Tim Burton film of the same name and earned August a 2003 BAFTA Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay.