Don Mancini

{{Short description|American screenwriter, director and producer}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Don Mancini

| image = Don Mancini by Gage Skidmore.jpg

| caption = Mancini at the 2024 WonderCon

| birth_name = George Donald Mancini{{cite web|url=https://www.intelius.com/people-search/George-D-Mancini/CA|title=George Mancini Los Angeles, CA - Intelius|website=Intelius.com|access-date=November 14, 2017}}

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1963|01|25}}

| occupation = {{Flatlist|

Screenwriter
director
producer

}}

| other_names = Kit Du Bois
Donald G. Mancini

| education = St. Christopher's School

| alma_mater = University of California, Los Angeles
Columbia University

| years_active = 1988–present

}}

George Donald Mancini (born January 25, 1963) is an American screenwriter, director, and producer. He is best known for creating and writing the Child's Play franchise (1988–present).

Career

File:Mancini, Don (2007).jpg, holding a Chucky doll.]]

Having been a horror fan since his childhood, Mancini's inspiration for Child's Play were films like Trilogy of Terror and The Twilight Zone episode "Living Doll"; aware of the "killer doll" as a horror trope, Mancini realized that the concept had never been executed as a feature-length film with animatronic effects work. As a film student at UCLA in the mid-1980s, Mancini was amused by the popularity of the Cabbage Patch Kids line of dolls, and that the ubiquitous dolls were disappearing from toy shelves and prompting physical fights between parents. Mancini's father had worked in the advertising industry all his life, and he knew how effective marketing could result in consumer bedlam. Based on this, Mancini wanted to write a dark satire about how marketing affected children, with his first effort being as the co-writer of Child's Play (1988).

Mancini wrote all seven films in the original Child's Play film series, and was the executive producer of Bride of Chucky and Cult of Chucky. He began directing Child's Play franchise entries with Seed of Chucky (2004), followed by Curse of Chucky (2013) and Cult (2017), and was the creator, writer, and director of the Chucky TV series.{{cite web|last1=Petski|first1=Denise|last2=Andreeva|first2=Nellie|date=January 11, 2020|title='Chucky' TV Series Ordered By Syfy From Film Franchise Duo & 'Channel Zero' Creator|url=https://deadline.com/2020/01/chucky-series-order-syfy-original-franchise-creators-don-mancini-david-kirschner-1202827296/|access-date=January 11, 2020|work=Deadline Hollywood}} He was not involved with the 2019 reboot.{{cite news |last1=Collis |first1=Clark |title=You only Chucky twice: The strange story behind the two Child's Play franchises |url=https://ew.com/movies/2019/02/18/chucky-childs-play/ |access-date=February 22, 2019 |publisher=Entertainment Weekly |date=February 18, 2019}}

In 2007, he won the EyeGore award for career contributions to the horror genre. He sometimes goes by the pseudonym Kit Dubois. Mancini attended St. Christopher's School in Richmond, Virginia, University of California in Los Angeles, and Columbia University (Brad Dourif was among his teachers{{Cite web|url=http://www.bloodygoodhorror.com/bgh/interviews/09/18/2008/brad-dourif|title=Brad Dourif | Bloody Good Horror - Horror movie reviews, podcast, news, and more!}}) in New York City.{{cite web|url=https://issuu.com/pineneedle/docs/october--06correct|title=October 06 Pine Needle|website=Issuu.com|date=December 16, 2009 |access-date=November 14, 2017}}{{cite web|url=http://dailybruin.com/1999/01/19/uclas-don-mancini-creates-chuc/|title=UCLA's Don Mancini creates Chucky, gets lucky, breaks into show biz|website=dailybruin.com|access-date=November 14, 2017}}{{cite web|url=http://mentalfloss.com/article/88064/your-friend-til-end-oral-history-childs-play|title=Your Friend 'Til the End: An Oral History of Child's Play|date=October 28, 2016|website=Mentalfloss.com|access-date=November 14, 2017}}

Personal life

Mancini grew up in Richmond, Virginia. He attended the University of California, Los Angeles, studying film. {{cite web | url=https://richmond.com/entertainment/don-mancini-creator-of-childs-play-and-former-richmonder-chats-about-new-chucky-tv-series/article_7006ab74-7931-54bd-bf0a-ad65c3fdf1c8.html | title=Don Mancini, creator of 'Child's Play' and former Richmonder, chats about new 'Chucky' TV series headed to Syfy | date=October 8, 2021 }} He is gay.{{cite magazine|last=Rowe|first=Michael|date=November 9, 2004|title=How Chucky got lucky|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-2QEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA54|magazine=The Advocate|page=54|issn=0001-8996|access-date=June 3, 2023}}{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/11/arts/television/chucky-series-don-mancini.html|title=Chucky Returns to Terrorize TV. His Creator Couldn't Be Happier.|last=Piepenburg|first=Erik|date=October 11, 2021|website=The New York Times|access-date=June 3, 2023}}{{cite web|url=https://www.out.com/print/2021/10/12/chucky-back-queerer-ever-thanks-his-gay-creator|title=Chucky Is Back & Queerer Than Ever Thanks to His Gay Creator|last=Padgett|first=Donald|date=October 21, 2021|website=Out|access-date=June 3, 2023|quote=I was never aware of being discriminated against [by film studio executives]...particularly as a gay guy. Although, you know, it's possible that I was and didn't clock it... because it's certainly -- even more than it is now -- was very much a straight white male club.}} He has described consciously incorporating queer elements into the Child's Play films; his experiences as a gay man, including receiving bullying and abuse from his father because of it, informed Mancini's creative direction on the Chucky TV series, which features a gay protagonist.

Filmography

class="wikitable" margin-right:auto; margin-right:auto"

|+Film

! Year

! Title

!width="65"| Director

!width="65"| Writer

!width="65"| Executive
Producer

! Notes

rowspan=2| 1988

| Cellar Dweller

| {{no}}

| {{yes}}

| {{no}}

| Credited as "Kit Du Bois"

Child's Play

| {{no}}

| {{yes}}

| {{no}}

1990

| Child's Play 2

| {{no}}

| {{yes}}

| {{no}}

1991

| Child's Play 3

| {{no}}

| {{yes}}

| {{no}}

1998

| Bride of Chucky

| {{no}}

| {{yes}}

2004

| Seed of Chucky

| {{yes}}

| {{no}}

2013

| Curse of Chucky

| {{yes}}

| {{no}}

2017

| Cult of Chucky

| {{yes}}

class="wikitable" margin-right:auto; margin-right:auto"

|+Television

! Year

! Title

!width="65"| Director

!width="65"| Writer

!width="65"| Producer

! Notes

1990

| Tales from the Crypt

| {{no}}

| {{yes}}

| {{no}}

| Episode: "Fitting Punishment"

2015

| Hannibal

| {{no}}

| {{yes}}

| Writer (2 episodes) / Producer (8 episodes)

2016–2017

| Channel Zero

| {{no}}

| {{yes}}

| {{yes|Supervising}}

| Writer (3 episodes) / Supervising producer (6 episodes)

2021–2024

| Chucky

| {{yes}}

| {{yes|Executive}}

| Creator and executive producer (24 episodes) / Director (Episode: "Death on Denial") / Director and writer (Episode: "Death by Misadventure") / Writer (8 episodes)

Awards

class="wikitable"

! Award !! Category !! Nominated work !! Result

rowspan=3 |Saturn Awards

| Best Writing (with Tom Holland and John Lafia)

| Child's Play (1988)

| {{Nominated}}

Best Writing

| Bride of Chucky (1998)

| {{Nominated}}

Special Recognition Award

| Cult of Chucky (2017) and Child's Play franchise{{cite web |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/saturn-awards-recognizes-jason-blum-guillermo-del-toro-1117713 |title=Saturn Awards Recognizing Jason Blum, Guillermo del Toro and More |last=McMillan |first=Graeme |work=The Hollywood Reporter |date=June 6, 2018 |access-date=June 6, 2018}}

| {{Won}}

Fangoria Chainsaw Awards

| Best Screenplay

| Bride of Chucky (1998)

| {{Nominated}}

References

External links

{{IMDb name|0238841}}
[http://campblood.org/Features/Don%20Mancini.htm Campblood.org Interview with Don Mancini] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061005074441/http://www.campblood.org/Features/Don%20Mancini.htm |date=October 5, 2006 }}

Category:1963 births

Category:American film producers

Category:American male screenwriters

Category:American writers of Italian descent

Category:Child's Play (franchise)

Category:Columbia University alumni

Category:English-language film directors

Category:Film directors from Virginia

Category:American gay writers

Category:American horror film directors

Category:American LGBTQ film directors

Category:LGBTQ people from Virginia