Phil Atlakson

patlaks@boisestate.edu
Office:Morrison Center Academic Wing, Room C111

Biography

Phil has written for Paramount Pictures, Robert Redford, and 20th Century Fox Studios. He wrote and directed the award-winning independent feature, Not This Part of the World, and two short films, which have played numerous national and international film festivals as well as cable channels around the world, HBO, Starz/Encore, MultiCanal, et al. This past winter he directed an off-Broadway production of “Macbeth”. In February The Classical Theatre of Harlem performed a reading of his play, “The Ascetic”, at the Schomburg Center in New York. At the same time, “The Ascetic” and his short play “Charlotte’s Web We Weave” are receiving full productions in the Seattle. Other recent off-Broadway credits include directing and acting in his own plays, “The Rehearsal”, “The Ascetic”, and “Leapfrog Through Time and Space”.

The New York Times called “Leapfrog”, “… a form of emotional Darwinism, in all its ferocity. Well played by Atlakson.” Backstage described his production of “The Ascetic” as, “…a beautifully written and performed comedy that takes us deep into the heart of mysticism without getting sanctimonious or artsy… full of mad, brilliant ideas and comedy. Atlakson is an adept playwright and director.”

Phil has appeared in several independent features by Northwest filmmakers, played a murderer on America’s Most Wanted, and seen locally in various roles for the Idaho Shakespeare Festival, Company of Fools, and Boise Contemporary Theatre. He is the recipient of the Stanley Drama Prize, The Kennedy Center Medallion, The Nell Shipman Award for Excellence in Filmmaking, and the Long Island Film Festival Best Feature Award, and numerous grants, fellowships, and residencies.

He heads the Dramatic Writing Program at Boise State University, and has been a member of the Writer’s Guild of America, since 1997.