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40-682: Neil N. LaBute (born March 19, 1963) is an American playwright, film director, and screenwriter. He is best known for a play that he wrote and later adapted for film, In the Company of Men (1997), which won awards from the Sundance Film Festival , the Independent Spirit Awards , and the New York Film Critics Circle . He wrote and directed the films Your Friends & Neighbors (1998), Possession (2002) (based on

80-820: A misogynist after the release of In the Company of Men . In 2016, LaBute married actress Gia Crovatin . In 2013, LaBute was named one of the winners of the American Academy of Arts and Letters ' Arts and Letters Awards in Literature. LaBute became a Fellow of the International Association of Theatre Leaders (IATL) in 2023. LaBute's style is very language-oriented. His work is terse, rhythmic, and highly colloquial. His style bears similarity to one of his favorite playwrights, David Mamet . LaBute even shares some similar themes with Mamet including gender relations, political correctness, and masculinity. In

120-495: A breakout performance by Aaron Eckhart as a businessman who likes to play psychological games." The film also has a score of 81 out of 100 on Metacritic based on 25 critics. In January 1998, it was included on Siskel and Ebert 's "Best Films of 1997" episode. The character of Chad was also nominated by the American Film Institute for their list of AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes and Villains , but did not make it into

160-420: A corporation, temporarily assigned to a branch office away from home for six weeks. Embittered by bad experiences with women, Chad and Howard form a mean-spirited revenge scheme to find an insecure woman, romance her simultaneously, and then break up with her at the same time. Chad is the originator and driving force behind the scheme, while Howard is the more passive of the two, which leads to a later conflict with

200-612: A fax Chad is supposed to have made to the home office is "lost" and a presentation Chad is supposed to deliver to the home office is unable to be carried out successfully after some documents are allegedly printed so lightly that they are illegible. These mishaps culminate in Howard being demoted and Chad taking his place as the head of the project after Chad places the blame for the mishaps unfairly on Howard. Chad eventually sleeps with Christine, and she falls in love with him. When Christine eventually breaks this news to Howard, Howard tells Christine

240-455: A misanthrope on the release of his film Your Friends & Neighbors because of the film's strong misanthropic plot and characters. Britain's Independent newspaper in May 2008 dubbed him "America's misanthrope par excellence". Citing the misanthropic tone of the plot in the films In the Company of Men , Your Friends & Neighbors and The Shape of Things , film critic Daniel Kimmel identified

280-415: A pattern running through LaBute's work of being that the unlikeable, main antagonists of those three films end up getting away with their lying, scheming and mis-deeds, coming out on top of all the other characters as the real winners of those stories by quoting: "Neil LaBute is a misanthrope who assumes that only callous and evil people, who use and abuse others, can survive in this world." Critics labeled him

320-598: A production by MCC Theater at the Lucille Lortel Theatre. It went on Broadway in 2009, with previews at the Lyceum Theatre beginning March 13, and its opening on April 2. The play was nominated for three 2009 Tony Awards , including Best Play , Best Leading Actor in a Play ( Thomas Sadoski ), and Best Featured Actress in a Play ( Marin Ireland ), but did not win in any category. The production's final performance

360-585: A way that you can tell a story on film in human terms. It was the kind of film that made me go, "I could do this; I want to tell stories that are like this and told in this way." And so it was altering for me in that way, in its simplicity or deceptive simplicity. In 1993, he returned to BYU to premiere his play In the Company of Men , for which he received an award from the Association for Mormon Letters . He taught drama and film at IPFW in Fort Wayne, Indiana , in

400-488: Is a festival of world premiere one-act plays that is produced by William Roth and St. Louis Actors' Studio each summer at their Gaslight Theater and each winter at 59E59 street theaters in New York. In 2013, Some Girl(s) was directed by Daisy von Scherler Mayer, with the screenplay adapted by Labute's from his 2005 play. In an interview with Screen Comment's Sam Weisberg, he said: "I have had a lot of people direct my material for

440-459: Is now apparently in the bad graces of the company, having been moved to a lower floor, while Chad is doing well, and thus offering to say something on Howard's behalf. Nevertheless, Howard is not worried about work; he confesses to Chad that he really loved Christine. At this point, Chad, despite having previously told Howard that his girlfriend, Suzanne, had left him, shows Howard that she is still there, asleep in his bed. Chad says that he carried out

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480-428: The 1997 Cannes Film Festival . Shortly after its premiere at Sundance, Alliance Independent Films acquired worldwide distribution rights outside North America to the film. In March 1997, Sony Pictures Classics acquired North American distribution rights to the film, beating out studios such as Fox Searchlight Pictures and Orion Pictures . In the Company of Men opened in a limited release in eight theaters in

520-496: The A. S. Byatt novel), The Shape of Things (2003) (based on his play of the same name), The Wicker Man (2006), Some Velvet Morning (2013), and Dirty Weekend (2015). He directed the films Nurse Betty (2000), Lakeview Terrace (2008), and the American adaptation of Death at a Funeral (2010). LaBute created the TV series Billy & Billie , writing and directing all of

560-665: The Bush Theatre 's 2011 project Sixty Six Books , for which he wrote a piece based upon a book of the King James Bible . In 2012, he joined the Chicago-based storefront theatre company, Profiles Theatre as a Resident Artist. The Way We Get By opened Off-Broadway at the Second Stage Theatre on May 19, 2015, starring Amanda Seyfried and Thomas Sadoski, with direction by Leigh Silverman. The LaBute New Theater Festival

600-734: The Chicago Shakespeare Theater production of The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare which ran from April 7 to June 6, 2010. LaBute framed the classic play in overtly metatheatrical terms, adding a lesbian romance subplot. His short play, The Unimaginable , premiered as part of the Terror 2010 season at the Southwark Playhouse in London, October 12–31, 2010. LaBute's first produced play, Filthy Talk for Troubled Times (1989), which

640-489: The Company of Men The film revolves around two male co-workers, Chad and Howard, who, angry and frustrated with women in general, plot to toy maliciously with the emotions of a deaf female subordinate. It was first written as a play, which debuted at Brigham Young University in December 1992, and received a 1993 Drama AML Award from the Association for Mormon Letters . Chad and Howard are two middle management employees at

680-631: The Company of Men portrays two businessmen (one played by Eckhart) cruelly plotting to romance and emotionally destroy a deaf woman. His next film Your Friends & Neighbors (1998), with an ensemble cast including Eckhart and Ben Stiller , earned an R-rating for its portrayal of the sex lives of three yuppie couples in the big city. His play Bash: Latter-Day Plays is a set of three short plays ( Iphigenia in Orem , A Gaggle of Saints , and Medea Redux ) depicting essentially good Latter-day Saints doing disturbing and violent things. It ran Off-Broadway at

720-511: The Company of Men features several themes such as retro-sexism and role reversals. An example of role reversal is that in the beginning Howard plans with Chad to destroy an innocent young woman, yet by the end of the film Chad has "destroyed" Howard. In the Company of Men was screened in the Dramatic competition at the 1997 Sundance Film Festival and in the Un Certain Regard section at

760-576: The Douglas Fairbanks Theatre in 1999. Medea Redux is a one-person performance by Calista Flockhart . This play resulted in his being disfellowshipped from the LDS Church (i.e., losing some privileges of church membership without being excommunicated). He has since formally left the LDS Church. In 2001, LaBute wrote and directed the play The Shape of Things , which premièred in London, featuring film actors Paul Rudd and Rachel Weisz . It

800-606: The Pretty Pictures firm, with a first-look deal at USA Films. LaBute's 2002 play The Mercy Seat was a theatrical response to the September 11, 2001, attacks . Set on September 12, it concerns a man who worked at the World Trade Center but was away from the office during the infamous 2001 terrorist attack – with his mistress. Expecting that his family believes that he was killed in the towers' collapse, he contemplates using

840-505: The United States on August 1, 1997, and grossed $ 100,006, with an average of $ 12,500 per theater. The film's widest release was 108 theaters, earning $ 2,804,473. The film received very positive reviews from critics and has a score of 89% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 56 reviews with an average rating of 7.90/10. The critical consensus states "Neil LaBute's pitch-black comedy is a masterful exploration of male insecurity, and it's elevated by

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880-668: The early 1990s where he adapted and filmed the play, shot over two weeks and costing $ 25,000, beginning his career as a film director. The film won the Filmmakers Trophy at the Sundance Film Festival , and major awards and nominations at the Deauville Film Festival , the Independent Spirit Awards , the Thessaloniki Film Festival, the Society of Texas Film Critics Awards and the New York Film Critics Circle . In

920-491: The episodes. He is also the creator of the TV series Van Helsing . Recently, he executive produced, co-directed and co-wrote Netflix 's The I-Land . He also directed several episodes for shows such as Hell on Wheels and Billions . LaBute was born in Detroit, Michigan , the son of Marian, a hospital receptionist, and Richard LaBute, a long-haul truck driver. LaBute is of French Canadian , English, and Irish ancestry, and

960-426: The film industry came with a viewing of The Soft Skin ( La Peau Douce 1964), said the director to Robert K. Elder in a 2011 interview for The Film That Changed My Life . It exposed me, probably in the earliest way, to "Hey, I could do that." I've never been one to love the camera or even to be as drawn to it as I am to the human aspect of it, and I think it was a film that speaks in a very simple way of here's

1000-433: The plan "because I could," and cruelly asks Howard how it feels to have truly hurt someone. Howard, who had never done anything like that before, leaves, horrified. He vomits down the stairwell. Howard later travels back to the city and to a bank where he sees Christine working, and tries to speak to her, but she looks away in anger. He loudly pleads with her to "listen" to him, but his pleas literally fall on deaf ears. In

1040-435: The play during its 2017 summer season. In February 2018, MCC Theater terminated its relationship with him ending his place as their playwright-in-residence and their plans to produce his next play Reasons to Be Pretty Happy in the summer. Blake West, MCC Theater's executive director, said, “We’re committed to creating and maintaining a respectful and professional work environment for everyone we work with.” In September 2018, it

1080-576: The playwright!"" The Break of Noon premiered Off-Broadway at the Lucille Lortel Theatre in an MCC Theater production on October 28, 2010 (previews), running to December 22, 2010. The play then opened in 2011 in Los Angeles at the Geffen Theater, again directed by Jo Bonney , with January 25 preview and opening on February 2. It ran through March 6. It featured Tracee Chimo , David Duchovny , John Earl Jelks , and Amanda Peet . LaBute took part in

1120-415: The scheme. Chad decides upon Christine, a deaf co-worker who is so self-conscious that she wears headphones so people, thinking that she is listening to music, are compelled to get her attention visually without immediately learning that she is deaf. Chad and Howard decide to each ask her out, and over the course of several weeks, date her simultaneously. In the meantime, things with the project go wrong;

1160-575: The theater, but I haven't had anyone do my work on film. I was excited by what would be brought to it. It was great to have someone else in there that you could trust visually and intellectually and emotionally to make something that was respectful of the material but also creative." In August 2016, the Utah Shakespeare Festival produced a preview of LaBute's play How to Fight Loneliness in Cedar City, Utah, and announced its intention to stage

1200-439: The top 100. In the Company of Men was listed on Empire 's 500 Greatest films of all time at number 493. The DVD of the film contains two commentary tracks, one with director Neil LaBute, and the other with stars Aaron Eckhart, Matt Malloy, and Stacy Edwards. Society of Texas Film Critics Awards The Society of Texas Film Critics Awards were first awarded in 1994, when the Society of Texas Film Critics (STFC)

1240-567: The tragedy to run away and start a new life with his lover. Starring Liev Schreiber and Sigourney Weaver , the play was a commercial and critical success. While hesitant to term The Mercy Seat " political theater ", Labute said, "I refer to this play in the printed introduction as a kind of emotional terrorism that we wage on those we profess to love." He dedicated this edition to David Hare , in response to Hare's "straightforward, thoughtful, probing work". His next play, Reasons to Be Pretty , played Off-Broadway from May 14 to July 5, 2008, in

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1280-413: The truth about their scheme, and tells her that he loves her. Christine is shocked by the revelation, and refuses to believe that Chad would do this. When she confronts Chad, he admits the truth. Christine angrily slaps Chad, but Chad is unashamed of his behavior, and cruelly taunts Christine, who collapses into tears after he leaves her. Weeks later, Howard confronts Chad back home at his apartment. Howard

1320-534: Was a series of biting exchanges between two "everyman" characters in a bar, was staged from June 3–5, 2010, by MCC Theater as a benefit for MCC's Playwrights' Coalition and their commitment to developing new work. LaBute also directed the reading. Originally when it premiered in New York City at the Westside Dance Project, "[legend] has it ... that one unimpressed member of the audience shouted: "Kill

1360-594: Was announced by STFC founder Michael MacCambridge, then also a film critic for the Austin American-Statesman . The society's first meeting was held in the Representative Boardroom at the Omni Austin Hotel. Pulp Fiction took the top honor and a total of four awards, more than any other film, in this initial awards presentation. The 2nd Society of Texas Film Critics Awards were given by

1400-532: Was announced that Netflix had given order for the production of the science fiction miniseries The I-Land . LaBute is credited as the showrunner and executive producer of the miniseries. The miniseries premiered on September 12, 2019. Critics have responded to his plays as having a misanthropic tone. Rob Weinert-Kendt in The Village Voice referred to LaBute as "American theater's reigning misanthrope". The New York Times said that critics labeled him

1440-495: Was formed by 21 print , television, radio, and internet film critics working for different media outlets across the state of Texas. Over the course of four years, the size of the organization decreased, and the STFC disbanded in 1998. Below are the award ceremonies from each of the four years. The 1st Society of Texas Film Critics Awards were given by the Society of Texas Film Critics (STFC) on December 17, 1994. The list of winners

1480-582: Was honored as one of the "most promising undergraduate playwrights" at the BYU theater department's annual awards. Labute did graduate work at the University of Kansas , New York University , and the Royal Academy of London , and he participated in a writing workshop at London's Royal Court Theatre. LaBute burst onto the theater scene in 1989 with his controversial debut Filthy Talk for Troubled Times . His interest in

1520-512: Was on June 14. In March 2013, the play was mounted at the San Francisco Playhouse . In 2010, LaBute directed Death at a Funeral , a remake of a 2007 British film of the same name . It was written by Dean Craig (who also wrote the original screenplay) and starred Chris Rock . Throughout the decade, various productions of his existing works were mounted as he continued to produce new material. He wrote new scenes and an introduction for

1560-562: Was raised in Spokane, Washington . He studied theater at Brigham Young University (BYU), where he joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). At BYU, he also met actor Aaron Eckhart , who would later play leading roles in several of his films. He produced a number of plays that pushed the envelope of what was acceptable at the conservative religious university, some of which were shut down after their premieres. However, he also

1600-789: Was turned into a film in 2003 with the same cast and director. Set in a small university town in the American Midwest, it focuses on four young students who become emotionally and romantically involved with each other, questioning the nature of art and the lengths to which people will go for love. Weisz's character manipulates Rudd's character into changing everything about himself and discarding his friends in order to become more attractive to her. She even pretends to fall in love with him, prompting an offer of marriage, whereupon she cruelly exposes and humiliates him before an audience, announcing that he has simply been an "art project" for her MFA thesis . In 2001, LaBute and producer Gail Mutrux founded

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