Andrea Berloff

American screenwriter

Andrea Berloff (born April 7, 1974) is an American screenwriter, actress, director, and producer. Berloff is best known for writing the screenplays for the drama films World Trade Center and Straight Outta Compton. She received an Academy Award nomination for writing Straight Outta Compton.

Andrea Berloff was born to a Jewish family in Framingham, Massachusetts in 1974. She attended Framingham South High School until she graduated in 1991. Upon graduating high school, Berloff attended Cornell University to study drama which she then graduated from in 1995.

Berloff's brief acting career began shortly after she graduated from college. In 1997, she played the role of the nameless sister in the Tisch School of the Arts produced film Growth, directed by Joel Hopkins. In 2001, Berloff was cast in a minor role as a popular high school girl for the short film Eyeball Eddie, directed by Elizabeth Allen Rosenbaum. The film starred Martin Starr and depicted the story of a boy named Eddie with a prosthetic glass eye, who discovers the benefits of using his glass eye as a diversion tactic in his wrestling competitions. In 2005, Berloff acted as the executive producer and played the role of Dr. Schwartz in the independent film Raw Footage, directed by Drew Filus. The film acted as Berloff's producing debut in the film industry. Raw footage depicts a family reunion at the renewal of a family member's marriage vows in California. Raw Footage went on to win the Audience Award for Best Feature at the Washington DC Independent Film Festival.

In 2002, Berloff along with Drew Filus, co wrote the short film Domestic, in which Filus also acted as director. The film depicted the story of a man trying to find a model who recently left him. In 2006, Berloff wrote the screenplay for the film World Trade Center, directed by Oliver Stone. The film marked her screenwriting debut for feature length films. The film starred Nicolas Cage and Michael Peña as two policeman who were trapped in the rubble after the attacks on the World Trade Center during 9/11. The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles reported that when writing the script, Berloff described that she did not want to create another disaster movie or epic film about American patriotism. Instead she set out to write the film as "a tribute to the survivors and the people who aided in saving them during 9/11." Berloff`s work on the script was seen as a success and even earned her a spot on Variety`s list of 10 screenwriters to watch. In 2006, Berloff also made her debut in playwriting with her work on Girl Scouts of America, a play depicting the activities of four girls, two of them being counselors, earning their Girl Scout badges at camp. She co wrote the play alongside of Mona Monsieur, where they presented it at the New York International Fringe Festival. In 2006, Empire reported that she had been hired to write the screenplay for Ridley Scott's upcoming biopic on the Italian fashion designer Aldo Gucci. The film was eventually released in 2021 as House of Gucci, though Berloff remains uncredited. In 2013, Deadline Hollywood reported that Berloff was tasked with writing the screenplay for Universal Studios’ Legend of Conan. In 2015, Berloff co wrote the screenplay for the biographical drama Straight Outta Compton, directed by F. Gary Gray, which depicted the rise and fall of the popular rap group N. W. A. Berloff adapted the screenplay alongside of Jonathan Herman, from the story which was written by S. Leigh Savidge and Alan Wenkus. Straight Outta Compton received positive reviews from critics and gained numerous award nominations for its screenplay. Berloff along with Jonathan Herman, S. Leigh Savidge and Alan Wenkus were all nominated for their work on the film`s screenplay at the Satellite Awards, the Writers Guild of America Awards and at the 88th Academy Awards. In 2016, Berloff co wrote the screenplay for the film Blood Father, directed by Jean François Richet. The film stars Mel Gibson as a former convict who reunites with his daughter in order to save her from impending drug dealers. Berloff co wrote the script alongside of Peter Craig, which was adapted from his novel of the same name. In 2022, Berloff and John Gatins signed a creative partnership with Netflix.

Berloff is married with two children. The family currently resides in Los Angeles.