Terence Winter

American television and film writer (born 1960)

Terence Winter

Winter in 2015

Born|

Terence Patrick Winter

(1960-10-02) October 2, 1960 (age 64)

New York City, U.S.

Education|

* New York University (BA)
* St. John's University (JD)

Occupations|

* Screenwriter
* producer

Years active| 1995–present

Terence Patrick Winter (born October 2, 1960)[1] is an American writer and producer of television and film. He was the creator, writer, and executive producer of the HBO television series Boardwalk Empire (2010–2014). Before creating Boardwalk Empire, Winter was a writer and executive producer for the HBO television series The Sopranos, from the show's second to sixth and final season (2000–2007).[2]

In 2013, Winter wrote the screenplay to Martin Scorsese's The Wolf of Wall Street for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. He was also the co-creator, writer and executive producer of another HBO television drama series, Vinyl (2016), which ran for one season. He is an executive producer and writer on the Paramount+ crime series Tulsa King with Taylor Sheridan.[3]

## Early life and education

[edit]

Winter was born in New York City. He grew up in a working-class family in Marine Park, Brooklyn.[4][5] He went to a vocational high school in Brooklyn, studying to be an auto mechanic.[6] He studied at the New York University, where, in 1984,[7] he received a bachelor's degree in political science with a minor in journalism. He went on to study at St. John's University School of Law, and received a J.D. in 1988,[7], and became a member of the bars of New York State and Connecticut. He practiced law for two years in New York City before moving to Los Angeles in 1991 to pursue a screenwriting career. During that time, he also performed as a stand-up comedian.[8] He eventually won a spot in the Warner Bros. Television Writers' Workshop,[9] and later joined the writing staff of the Fox series The Great Defender, starring Michael Rispoli, later a Sopranos cast member.

## Career

[edit]

### 1995–2000: Early work

[edit]

Prior to The Sopranos, Winter wrote for the series Sister, Sister, Xena: Warrior Princess, The Cosby Mysteries, Flipper, Diagnosis: Murder, Charlie Grace, DiResta, and The PJs.[2]

### 2000–2007: The Sopranos

[edit]

Winter joined the HBO series The Sopranos as a writer in its second season and ultimately wrote or co-wrote 25 episodes.

In 2001, together with Tim Van Patten, Winter won both the Writers Guild Award and the Edgar Award for the episode "Pine Barrens", directed by Steve Buscemi. In 2004, Winter won two Emmy Awards, one as Executive Producer for The Sopranos for Outstanding Drama Series, and one for Best Writing in a Drama Series for the episode "Long Term Parking".[2] He won another writing Emmy in 2006 for the episode "Members Only". Also in 2006, Winter wrote and directed the episode "Walk Like a Man" for the show's final season. Winter won his second Writers Guild Award and his fourth Emmy in 2007 when The Sopranos won Outstanding Drama Series. He won his third Writers Guild Award and the Pen USA award for his episode "The Second Coming".[10][11][12] The Sopranos also won The Norman Felton Award for Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television Drama in 2004 and 2007.

Winter wrote the screenplay for the 2005 film Get Rich or Die Tryin' and its accompanying video game 50 Cent: Bulletproof. In 2007, he wrote and produced the film Brooklyn Rules, directed by Michael Corrente.

### 2010–2014: Boardwalk Empire and The Wolf of Wall Street

[edit]

Winter created the HBO series Boardwalk Empire and also served as showrunner and head writer, with fifteen episodes credited to him, including: "Boardwalk Empire",[13] "The Ivory Tower",[14] "A Return to Normalcy",[15] "21", "Two Boats and a Lifeguard", "To the Lost",[16] "Resolution", "The Pony", "Margate Sands", "Acres of Diamonds", "William Wilson", "Farewell Daddy Blues", "The Good Listener", "Cuanto", and "Eldorado".

Winter and Boardwalk Empire won a Writers Guild of America Award for Best Writing in a New Series and he was nominated for Best Writing in a Dramatic Series 2011–2013.[17] Boardwalk Empire won the Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series Drama in 2011 and was nominated in 2012 and 2013. In addition, Steve Buscemi won for Best Actor in a Dramatic Series and Kelly Macdonald was nominated for Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television.[18] Boardwalk Empire was in the American Film Institute's Top Ten List for TV in 2010 and 2011. The cast of Boardwalk Empire won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Ensemble in a Drama Series, while Steve Buscemi won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series and Martin Scorsese won the Directors Guild Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Dramatic Series. Boardwalk Empire was nominated for the Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series in both 2011 and 2012. In addition, Boardwalk Empire won The Norman Felton Award for Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television Drama in 2012 and was nominated for BAFTA Best International Television in 2011.

In 2007, Winter began working on the screenplay for The Wolf of Wall Street, based on the memoir by Jordan Belfort, following a conversation with Martin Scorsese.[19] After several years of development, studio transitions and changes in financiers, Red Granite Pictures greenlit the project for preproduction. Winter, in collaboration with Leonardo DiCaprio and Scorsese, completed the finalized shooting script in 2012, with principal photography commencing later that year.[20] The film, directed by Scorsese, released in December 2013 to both critical and commercial success, earning Winter his first Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay.

### 2016–present: Vinyl and Tulsa King

[edit]

Winter served as the co-creator, writer, executive producer, and showrunner of the HBO period musical drama series Vinyl, which reunited him with Boardwalk Empire actor Bobby Cannavale and director Martin Scorsese.[21] Despite being picked up for a second season, Winter left his position as showrunner due to "creative differences" in April 2016 and was replaced by executive producer Scott Z. Burns.[22][23] In June 2016, HBO canceled the series.[24]

Winter was the showrunner of the first season of the 2022 Paramount+ series Tulsa King. After departing the showrunner position, he later returned to the series as a writer and executive producer.[25]

## Filmography

[edit]

### Film

[edit]

Year  | Title  | Writer  | Producer  | Notes

|
|
|
|

2005  | Get Rich or Die Tryin' | Yes  | No  |
2007  | Brooklyn Rules | Yes  | Yes  |
2013  | The Wolf of Wall Street | Yes  | No  | Nominated – Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay
Nominated – Writers Guild of America Award for Best Adapted Screenplay
2015  | The Audition | Yes  | Yes  | Short film
2023  | Shooting Stars | No  | Yes  | [26]
2024  | Bob Marley: One Love | Yes  | No  |

### Television

[edit]

Year  | Title  | Director  | Writer  | Producer  | Notes

|
|
|
|
|

1995–1996  | Flipper | No  | Yes  | Yes  |
1995–1997  | Xena: Warrior Princess | No  | Yes  | No  |
1995  | The Cosby Mysteries | No  | Yes  | No  |
1995  | The Great Defender | No  | Yes  | No  |
1996–1997  | Sister, Sister | No  | Yes  | Yes  |
1998  | Diagnosis: Murder | No  | Yes  | No  |
1998  | Soldier of Fortune, Inc. | No  | No  | No  | Creative consultant
2000  | The PJs | No  | No  | Yes  |
2000–2007  | The Sopranos | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  | Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series (2004, 2007)
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series (2004, 2006)
Writers Guild of America Award for Television: Episodic Drama (2001, 2007)
Writers Guild of America Award for Television: Dramatic Series (2006)
Nominated – Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series (2000, 2001, 2003, 2006)
Nominated – Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series (2001, 2003, 2004, 2007)
Nominated – Writers Guild of America Award for Television: Episodic Drama (2000, 2004)
Nominated – Writers Guild of America Award for Television: Dramatic Series (2007)
2010–2014  | Boardwalk Empire | No  | Yes  | Yes  | Also creator
Writers Guild of America Award for Television: New Series (2010)
Nominated – Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series (2011, 2012)
Nominated – Writers Guild of America Award for Television: Dramatic Series (2010, 2011, 2012)
2016  | Vinyl | No  | Yes  | Yes  | Also co-creator
2022–present  | Tulsa King | No  | Yes  | Yes  | Showrunner (season 1)
Head writer (season 2)[27]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Terence Winter – Biography". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. 2013. Archived from the original on December 19, 2013. Retrieved November 28, 2013.
2. ^ a b c HBO.com
3. ^ White, Peter (December 6, 2021). "Sylvester Stallone Set To Star In Taylor Sheridan & Terence Winter Drama Series 'Kansas City' For Paramount+ From 101 Studios & MTV Ent. Studios". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved December 12, 2021.
4. ^ Difficult Men: From The Sopranos and The Wire to Mad Men and Breaking Bad.
5. ^ "A Writer's Road. Famed Writer Speaks To The Rockaway Times". rockawaytimes.com. Retrieved December 26, 2018.
6. ^ "An Interview With Terence Winter: Executive Producer and Creator of HBO's Boardwalk Empire (Part 2 -- On Writing for TV)". HuffPost. February 15, 2012. Retrieved August 4, 2023.
7. ^ a b "Terence Winter". allamericanspeakers.com. Retrieved August 4, 2023.
8. ^ "Terence Winter". Television Academy Interviews. October 22, 2017. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
9. ^ "Warner Bros. Television Launches its First-Ever Directors' Workshop". Press Releases. WarnerBros.com. February 20, 2014. Retrieved August 4, 2023.
10. ^ "2008 Writers Guild Awards Television & Radio Nominees Announced". WGA. 2007. Archived from the original on December 19, 2007. Retrieved December 13, 2007.
11. ^ Perry, Byron (December 12, 2007). "WGA announce TV, radio nominees". Variety. Retrieved December 13, 2007.
12. ^ "HBO tops WGA awards list with five noms". The Hollywood Reporter. 2007. Retrieved December 13, 2007.
13. ^ Martin Scorsese (director), Terence Winter (writer) (September 19, 2010). "Boardwalk Empire". Boardwalk Empire. Season 1. Episode 1. HBO.
14. ^ Tim Van Patten (director), Terence Winter (writer) (September 26, 2010). "The Ivory Tower". Boardwalk Empire. Season 1. Episode 2. HBO.
15. ^ Tim Van Patten (director), Terence Winter (writer) (December 5, 2010). "A Return to Normalcy". Boardwalk Empire. Season 1. Episode 12. HBO.
16. ^ List of Boardwalk Empire episodes
17. ^ "Television Nominations". Wga.org. Archived from the original on March 15, 2012.
18. ^ "Golden Globe Nominations and Winners". Goldenglobes.org.
19. ^ DP/30: The Oral History Of Hollywood (January 29, 2014). DP/30: Terence Winter wrote The Wolf of Wall Street. Retrieved January 1, 2025 - via YouTube.`{{cite AV media}}`: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
20. ^ DP/30: The Oral History Of Hollywood (January 29, 2014). DP/30: Terence Winter wrote The Wolf of Wall Street. Retrieved January 1, 2025 - via YouTube.`{{cite AV media}}`: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
21. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (December 2, 2014). "Martin Scorsese, Mick Jagger & Terence Winter's Rock 'N' Roll Drama Picked Up To Series By HBO". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved April 8, 2016.
22. ^ Hughes, William (April 8, 2016). "Terence Winter leaves Vinyl over "creative differences"". The A.V. Club. Retrieved April 8, 2016.
23. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (April 8, 2016). "'Vinyl' Showrunner Terence Winter Exits HBO Series, New Showrunner Named". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved April 8, 2016.
24. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (June 22, 2016). "'Vinyl' Canceled: No Season 2 For HBO Drama Series". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved June 22, 2016.
25. ^ Rice, Lynette (September 12, 2024). "'Tulsa King's Former Showrunner Terence Winter On Why He Returned To The Paramount+ Drama: "We All Got On The Same Page Creatively"". Deadline. Retrieved December 6, 2024.
26. ^ Petski, Denise (May 2, 2022). "Original Films From LeBron James, Will Packer & John Woo To Premiere On Peacock In 2023". Deadline. Retrieved May 2, 2022.
27. ^ Hemphill, Jim (September 13, 2024). "'Tulsa King' Writer Terence Winter Feels 'Liberated' with Season 2". IndieWire. Retrieved March 20, 2025.

## External links

[edit]

* Terence Winter at IMDb
* Terence Winter at The Interviews: An Oral History of Television

Awards for Terence Winter

* v
* t
* e

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series

1950s|

* Reginald Rose for "Twelve Angry Men" (1955)

1960s|

* Rod Serling for The Twilight Zone (1960)
* Rod Serling for The Twilight Zone (1961)
* Reginald Rose for The Defenders (1962)
* Robert Thom & Reginald Rose for "The Madman" (1963)
* Ernest Kinoy for "Blacklist" / Rod Serling for "It's Mental Work" (1964)
* David Karp for "The 700 Year Old Gang" (1965)
* Millard Lampell for "Eagle in a Cage" (1966)
* Bruce Geller for "Mission: Impossible" (1967)
* Loring Mandel for "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night" (1968)
* JP Miller for "The People Next Door" (1969)

1970s|

* Richard Levinson & William Link for "My Sweet Charlie" (1970)
* Joel Oliansky for "To Taste of Death But Once" (1971)
* Richard Levinson & William Link for "Death Lends a Hand" (1972)
* John McGreevey for "The Scholar" (1973)
* Joanna Lee for "The Thanksgiving Story" (1974)
* Howard Fast for "Benjamin Franklin: The Ambassador" (1975)
* Sherman Yellen for "John Adams: Lawyer" (1976)
* William Blinn & Ernest Kinoy for "Show #2" (1977)
* Gerald Green for "Holocaust" (1978)
* Michele Gallery for "Dying" (1979)

1980s|

* Seth Freeman for "Cop" (1980)
* Michael Kozoll & Steven Bochco for "Hill Street Station" (1981)
* Steven Bochco & Michael Kozoll & Jeff Lewis & Michael Wagner & Anthony Yerkovich for "Freedom's Last Stand" (1982)
* David Milch for "Trial by Fury" (1983)
* John Ford Noonan, John Masius & Tom Fontana for "The Women" (1984)
* Patricia Green for "Who Said It's Fair, Part 2" (1985)
* Tom Fontana, John Masius & Joe Tinker for "Time Heals, Parts I & II" (1986)
* Steven Bochco & Terry Louise Fisher for "The Venus Butterfly" (1987)
* Paul Haggis & Marshall Herskovitz for "Business as Usual" (1988)
* Joseph Dougherty for "First Day/Last Day" (1989)

1990s|

* David E. Kelley for "Blood, Sweat, and Fears" (1990)
* David E. Kelley for "On the Toad Again" (1991)
* Diane Frolov & Andrew Schneider for "Seoul Mates" (1992)
* Tom Fontana for "Three Men and Adena" (1993)
* Ann Biderman for "Steroid Roy" (1994)
* Lance A. Gentile for "Love's Labor Lost" (1995)
* Darin Morgan for "Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose" (1996)
* David Milch, Stephen Gaghan and Michael R. Perry for "Where's Swaldo?" (1997)
* David Milch, Nicholas Wootton and Bill Clark for "Lost Israel: Part II" (1998)
* James Manos Jr. and David Chase for "College" (1999)

2000s|

* Rick Cleveland & Aaron Sorkin for "In Excelsis Deo" (2000)
* Mitchell Burgess & Robin Green for "Employee of the Month" (2001)
* Joel Surnow and Robert Cochran for "12:00 a.m. – 1:00 a.m." (2002)
* Mitchell Burgess & David Chase & Robin Green for "Whitecaps" (2003)
* Terence Winter for "Long Term Parking" (2004)
* David Shore for "Three Stories" (2005)
* Terence Winter for "Members Only" (2006)
* David Chase for "Made in America" (2007)
* Matthew Weiner for "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" (2008)
* Kater Gordon & Matthew Weiner for "Meditations in an Emergency" (2009)

2010s|

* Erin Levy & Matthew Weiner for "Shut the Door. Have a Seat." (2010)
* Jason Katims for "Always" (2011)
* Alex Gansa & Howard Gordon & Gideon Raff for "Pilot" (Homeland) (2012)
* Henry Bromell for "Q&A" (2013)
* Moira Walley-Beckett for "Ozymandias" (2014)
* David Benioff & D. B. Weiss for "Mother's Mercy" (2015)
* David Benioff & D. B. Weiss for "Battle of the Bastards" (2016)
* Bruce Miller for "Offred" (2017)
* Joel Fields and Joe Weisberg for "START" (2018)
* Jesse Armstrong for "Nobody Is Ever Missing" (2019)

2020s|

* Jesse Armstrong for "This Is Not for Tears" (2020)
* Peter Morgan for "War" (2021)
* Jesse Armstrong for "All the Bells Say" (2022)
* Jesse Armstrong for "Connor's Wedding" (2023)
* Will Smith for "Negotiating with Tigers" (2024)

* v
* t
* e

National Board of Review Award for Best Adapted Screenplay

* Ted Tally (2000)
* Robert Festinger and Todd Field (2001)
* Charlie Kaufman (2002)
* Anthony Minghella (2003)
* Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor (2004)
* Stephen Gaghan (2005)
* Ron Nyswaner (2006)
* Joel Coen and Ethan Coen (2007)
* Simon Beaufoy / Eric Roth (2008)
* Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner (2009)
* Aaron Sorkin (2010)
* Nat Faxon, Alexander Payne and Jim Rash (2011)
* David O. Russell (2012)
* Terence Winter (2013)
* Paul Thomas Anderson (2014)
* Drew Goddard (2015)
* Jay Cocks and Martin Scorsese (2016)
* Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber (2017)
* Barry Jenkins (2018)
* Steven Zaillian (2019)
* Paul Greengrass and Luke Davies (2020)
* Joel Coen (2021)
* Edward Berger, Lesley Paterson and Ian Stokell (2022)
* Tony McNamara (2023)
* Clint Bentley and Greg Kwedar (2024)

* v
* t
* e

Writers Guild of America Award for Television: Episodic Drama (2000–2009)

* Rick Cleveland and Aaron Sorkin for "In Excelsis Deo" (2000)
* Tim Van Patten and Terence Winter for "Pine Barrens" (2001)
* Dawn Prestwich and Nicole Yorkin for "Pilot" (The Education of Max Bickford) (2002)
* Evan Katz for "Day 2: 7:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m." (2003)
* Debora Cahn for "The Supremes" (2004)
* Lawrence Kaplow for "Autopsy" (2005)
* Mark V. Olsen and Will Scheffer for "Pilot" (Big Love) (2006)
* Terence Winter for "The Second Coming" (2007)
* Vince Gilligan for "Pilot" (Breaking Bad) (2008)
* David Foster, Russel Friend, Garrett Lerner, and David Shore for "Broken" (2009)

* Complete list
* 1960s
* 1970s
* 1980s
* 1990s
* 2000s
* 2010s
* 2020s

* v
* t
* e

Boardwalk Empire

* Awards and nominations

Episodes|

| Season 1|

* "Boardwalk Empire"
* "The Ivory Tower"
* "Broadway Limited"
* "Anastasia"
* "Nights in Ballygran"
* "Family Limitation"
* "Home"
* "Hold Me in Paradise"
* "Belle Femme"
* "The Emerald City"
* "Paris Green"
* "A Return to Normalcy"

|

Season 2|

* "21"
* "Ourselves Alone"
* "A Dangerous Maid"
* "What Does the Bee Do?"
* "Gimcrack & Bunkum"
* "The Age of Reason"
* "Peg of Old"
* "Two Boats and a Lifeguard"
* "Battle of the Century"
* "Georgia Peaches"
* "Under God's Power She Flourishes"
* "To the Lost"

Season 3|

* "Resolution"
* "Spaghetti & Coffee"
* "Bone for Tuna"
* "Blue Bell Boy"
* "You'd Be Surprised"
* "Ging Gang Goolie"
* "Sunday Best"
* "The Pony"
* "The Milkmaid's Lot"
* "A Man, a Plan..."
* "Two Imposters"
* "Margate Sands"

Season 4|

* "New York Sour"
* "Resignation"
* "Acres of Diamonds"
* "All In"
* "Erlkönig"
* "The North Star"
* "William Wilson"
* "The Old Ship of Zion"
* "Marriage and Hunting"
* "White Horse Pike"
* "Havre de Grace"
* "Farewell Daddy Blues"

Season 5|

* "Golden Days for Boys and Girls"
* "The Good Listener"
* "What Jesus Said"
* "Cuanto"
* "King of Norway"
* "Devil You Know"
* "Friendless Child"
* "Eldorado"

Characters|

* Nucky Thompson
* Jimmy Darmody
* Margaret Thompson
* Nelson Van Alden
* Mickey Doyle
* Richard Harrow
* Gyp Rosetti
* Valentin Narcisse

Soundtrack|

* Volume 1
* Volume 2
* Volume 3

* Category

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI
* VIAF
* WorldCat

National|

* Germany
* United States
* France
* BnF data
* Czech Republic
* Spain
* Netherlands
* Poland
* Israel

Artists|

* MusicBrainz
* Emmy Awards

Other|

* IdRef
* Yale LUX

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