Alfred Gough

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Alfred Gough
Born
Alfred Gough III

(1967-08-22) August 22, 1967 (age 56)
EducationUSC School of Cinematic Arts
Occupation(s)Screenwriter, producer
Known forSmallville
Spider-Man 2
The Shannara Chronicles
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
Into the Badlands
Wednesday

Alfred Gough (born August 22, 1967) is an American screenwriter, producer and showrunner.

He is best known as co-creator of The WB/The CW's Superman television series Smallville, as well as co-creating Netflix's Tim Burton's The Addams Family spin-off television series Wednesday. Alongside longtime writing/producing partner Miles Millar, Gough also co-created AMC's wuxia-influenced dystopian television series Into the Badlands and the epic fantasy series The Shannara Chronicles (based on The Sword of Shannara Trilogy book trilogy by Terry Brooks). Among his many feature film credits are Tom Dey's Shanghai Noon, Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 2, Rob Cohen's The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor and Tim Burton's Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.

Early life[edit]

Born in Leonardtown, Maryland, Gough graduated from St. Mary's Ryken High School (1985) and The Catholic University of America (1989). Gough attended The Peter Stark Producing Program at the University of Southern California where he teamed up with his writing partner Miles Millar.

Gough and Millar sold their first script while still studying at USC. "Mango", a buddy-cop story where a cop who was allergic to animals was paired with an orangutan, sold to New Line Cinema for $400,000.[1] The film was never made, but launched the duo's professional careers.

Career[edit]

Gough and Miles Millar are prolific writers/producers. Their feature credits include the action-adventure The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, the hit action-comedy Shanghai Noon, as well as its sequel Shanghai Knights, Spider-Man 2 directed by Sam Raimi, Herbie: Fully Loaded, Lethal Weapon 4, and I Am Number Four. They also produced Hannah Montana: The Movie, based on the smash hit Disney Channel series.[2] The feature marked the first for the duo's production studio, Millar-Gough Ink.

Gough and Millar’s work also spans the world of television. The duo created and served as executive producers/showrunners for the critically acclaimed action-adventure series Smallville, which aired from 2001-2011. Smallville is the longest-running comic book-based series of all time and was the top show in the history of the WB Television Network. Gough and Millar left the series in 2008, after seven seasons, breaking the news of their departure with an open letter posted to a Smallville fan site.[3] In 2010, Gough and Millar filed a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against the WB Television Network, claiming the company had licensed Smallville to its co-owned WB and CW networks for excessively low fees, thereby cutting Gough and Millar out of tens of millions of dollars.[4] The lawsuit was finally settled in May 2013, mere weeks before a scheduled June trial; the terms of the settlement were not made to the public.[4][5]

In 2015, Gough and Millar created The Shannara Chronicles an epic fantasy television series for MTV. It is an adaptation of The Sword of Shannara trilogy of fantasy novels by Terry Brooks. It follows three heroes as they protect an ancient tree to stop the escape of banished demons. The series was filmed in the Auckland Film Studios and on location elsewhere in New Zealand. The series starred Austin Butler, Ivana Baquero and Manu Bennett. Jon Favreau was one of the executive producers along with Dan Farrah. The pilot episode was directed by Jonathan Liebesman.

The first season of The Shannara Chronicles premiered on MTV in the United States on January 5, 2016, and consisted of 10 episodes. MTV originally greenlit a second season in April 2016; however, in May 2017, it was announced that the series would relocate to Spike (now Paramount Network). The second season premiered on October 11, 2017, and concluded November 22, 2017. On January 16, 2018, it was announced that the series had been cancelled after two seasons and that the producers were shopping the series to other networks. The series was later considered officially concluded but has since generated a cult following on Netflix.

In June 2015, Gough and Millar began production of Into the Badlands a series they created for AMC Networks. The martial arts drama was set in a gun free post apocalyptic America where warring barons had personal armies of lethally trained fighters. The series was notable as one of the only hour long dramas in American television history to feature an Asian American (Daniel Wu) as its lead. The show was a ratings hit, but received a mix response from critics. Nick Frost joined the cast in season two and proved a very popular addition to the fans of the series. The show's mythology was very loosely based on the classic Chinese text, Journey to the West. Each episode featured intricate martial arts fights that were staged and directed by legendary Hong Kong fight choreographers Huen Chiu Ku (aka Master Dee Dee Ku) and Andy Cheng. The series starred Daniel Wu, Marton Csokas, Emily Beecham, Aramis Knight and Orla Brady. The first season was filmed in New Orleans, but subsequent seasons were shot in and around Dublin, Ireland. Into The Badlands ran for 32 episodes and was cancelled due to a regime change at AMC Networks.

In October 2020, Gough and Millar sold a series to Netflix based on the character of Wednesday Addams.[6][7] The series was created by Gough and Millar but Tim Burton teamed with the duo as an executive producer and directed the first four episodes. Wednesday represents Burton's first foray into television and stars Jenna Ortega in the title role. The series also stars Catherine Zeta-Jones as Morticia Addams, Luis Guzman as Gomez Addams as well as Gwendoline Christie as Larissa Weems. Gough, Millar, Burton, and Ortega collaborated again on Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, set for release in September 2024.[8]

Millar and Gough created two other short-lived TV series; The Strip starring Sean Patrick Flannery, the ABC's reboot of Charlie's Angels. Both ran 8 episodes.

Personal life[edit]

Gough has been married to Beth Corets, an attorney, since September 1, 1996. They have three children.[9]

Filmography[edit]

Film[edit]

Writer

Producer

Television[edit]

Year Title Writer Executive
Producer
Creator Notes
1995–1997 Bugs Yes No No
1997–1998 Timecop Yes No No Also story editor
1998 Black Jaq Yes Co-executive No TV movie
1998–1999 Martial Law Yes No No Also co-producer
1999–2000 The Strip Yes Yes Yes
2001–2011 Smallville Yes Yes Developer
2006 Aquaman No Yes Yes Unsold pilot
Smallville: Vengeance Chronicles No Yes No Miniseries
2011 Charlie's Angels Yes Yes Developer
2015–2019 Into the Badlands Yes Yes Yes
2016–2018 The Shannara Chronicles Yes Yes Yes
2022–present Wednesday Yes Yes Yes

References[edit]

  1. ^ Fleming, Michael (February 10, 1994). "'Mango' Lined Up". Variety. Archived from the original on October 22, 2012.
  2. ^ Kit, Borys (June 15, 2010). "'Smallville' Duo to Write 'Monster High' Film". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on June 19, 2010.
  3. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (April 3, 2008). "Gough, Millar Exit 'Smallville'". The Hollywood Reporter.
  4. ^ a b Melrose, Kevin (May 21, 2013). "Warner Bros & Smallville Creators Settle Multi-million Dollar Fight". CBR.com. Retrieved August 21, 2020.
  5. ^ Gardner, Eriq (May 20, 2013). "Warner Bros. Wraps Smallville Lawsuit by Settling with Writers". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved August 21, 2020.
  6. ^ Breznican, Anthony (August 16, 2022). "Meet the New Addams Family From Tim Burton's Wednesday". Vanity Fair. Condé Nast. ISSN 0733-8899. Archived from the original on August 23, 2022.
  7. ^ Kroll, Justin (October 22, 2020). "'Addams Family' Live-Action TV Series From Tim Burton Heats Up TV Marketplace". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved February 24, 2021.
  8. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (May 9, 2023). "'Beetlejuice 2' Sets 2024 Fall Release Date". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved May 10, 2023.
  9. ^ "Alfred Gough (Creator)".

External links[edit]