Screenwriter turned director who, after earning a couple of screen credits as production assistant and set dresser, got a break when he sold an original screenplay, ultimately unproduced, to producer Jere Henshaw and Apollo Pictures. Darabont received his first screenplay credit when he helped director Chuck Russell rewrite A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 3: DREAM WARRIORS (1987). The film's popularity and Darabont's longstanding love of horror films led to his penning screenplays for the remake of THE BLOB (1988), the sequel THE FLY II (1989) and several episodes of TV's "Tales from the Crypt." He cut his teeth as a producer on a TV horror flick, BURIED ALIVE (1990) and began to branch out from scary material, writing for the ABC adventure series "The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles" (1992).

Darabont crafted his most ambitious, adult work to date adapting a Stephen King novella for THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION (1994). Offered a healthy $2.4 million for his adaptation, Darabont held out for the chance to direct—the result was a critically praised prison story about an unusual but powerful friendship between a level-headed banker convicted of murdering his wife and a seasoned lifer with a knack for acquisitions. For his efforts, Darabont was awarded a DGA nomination, a WGA nomination, and an Oscar nomination for Best Screenplay.

Filmografie
1981   Hell Night   production assistant
1984   Crimes of Passion set decorator
1987   A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors      screenplay
1988   The Blob      screenplay
1989   The Fly II     screenplay
1990   Buried Alive  (TV MOVIE)  director
1994   MARY SHELLEY'S FRANKENSTEIN/ Frankenstein          screenplay

1994   The Shawshank Redemption director, screenwriter

1999   The Green Mile  (screenplay)
2007   The Mist (2007) (post-production) (screenplay)
2008   Fahrenheit 451 (2008) (announced) (screenplay)

Academy Awards®
Nominated for Writing - Screenplay (Based on Material Previously Produced or Published) 1994: THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION