William J. MacDonald (writer and producer)

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William J. MacDonald is an American film and television writer and producer.

MacDonald is a graduate of Georgetown University, and has a law degree from Fordham University in New York.^[1] With a background in international trade and business affairs, MacDonald eventually rose to run the famed Hollywood Producer Robert Evans' production company at Paramount Pictures.

MacDonald is responsible for producing such films as Silver, Jade, An Occasional Hell, Rough Riders, Molly and One Man's Hero. He has also written for the TNT series, Witchblade which ran from 2001-2002.

MacDonald is also the co-creator of the HBO original series Rome (in association of the BBC) along with Bruno Heller and John Milius. MacDonald serves as a writer and executive producer on the series.

A long time fan of The Saint, Macdonald acquired the television rights to the Leslie Charteris character in 2006. In consultation with Burl Barer, Edgar Award winning author of The Saint: A Complete History in Print, Radio, Television, and Film, Roger Moore, Ian Dickerson, and Audrey Charteris, Macdonald formulated a "faithful-to-the original" concept for adaptation to television's world markets. As of March, 2007, casting of the lead role (Simon Templar) was still open, and the pilot script was nearing completion.^{[citation needed]}

Macdonald is also currently writing a screenplay based on Iris Chang's bestselling novel The Rape of Nanking.^[2]

[edit] Rome episodes

Episodes written by MacDonald include:

• Caesarion (2005)

[edit] References

1. ^ William J. Macdonald, Advisor. Zeros & Ones (2007-01-08). Retrieved on 2007-01-09.
2. ^ Clifford Coonan (2006-10-15). Pic projects revisit Nanking massacre: Produce Green's $50 mil pic based on Chang's tome. Variety. Retrieved on 2007-01-09.