Clint Eastwood’s Go-To Screenwriter Nick Schenk Signs With APA

Nick Schenk, a film andtelevisionscreenwriter with an affinity for grit, has signed with Agency for the Performing Arts.

Schenk has penned three scripts thatbecame director-star vehicles for Clint Eastwood: Gran Torino, The Mule, and Cry Macho. 2008s Gran Torino revived Eastwood as a leading man at the box office, earning nearly $270 millionworldwideon a reported $33 millionbudget. Schenkalso wrote The Judge, a 2014 feature teaming of Robert Downey Jr. and Robert Duvall, earningthe latter an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actor.

Most recently, Schenk co-wrote A Christmas Story Christmas for Warner Bros. and Legendary Entertainment. An update to the holiday classic, the HBO Max original saw young Ralphie (Peter Billingsley) all grown up trying to recreate the Christmas magic of his youth for his own kids.

Schenks TV credits includeco-executive producing the Discovery anthology series Manhunt about UnabomberTed Kaczynski,starring Sam Worthington and Jack Huston. He also contributed episodes to Netflixs Narcos. Hecontinues to be managed by Entertainment 360 and attorney Stephen Clark.

APA has been on a signing spree lately, across talent verticals. William H. Macy and Maria Bello joined as acting clients, while vintage gaming brand Atari was brought on to leverage its intellectual property.

Theres a great deal of competition for high-end talent, and thats bringing the ability for these artists to build out production entities and shift from simply working in a fee-based situation to being part of the ownership of the content and having a real voice in its creation, APA president Jim Osbourne told Variety recently. Were moving to less acting for hire, more building your own content.