Known for Writing
Melissa Marie Mathison (June 3, 1950 – November 4, 2015) was an American film and television screenwriter and an activist for the Tibetan independence movement. She was best known for writing the screenplays for the films The Black Stallion (1979) and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), the latter of which earned her the Saturn Award for Best Writing and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. Mathison later wrote The Indian in the Cupboard (1995), based on Lynne Reid Banks's 1980 children's novel of the same name, and Kundun (1997), a biographical-drama film about the Dalai Lama. Her final film credit was The BFG (2016), which marked her third collaboration with film director Steven Spielberg. Description above from the Wikipedia article Melissa Mathison, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Born
June 3, 1950
Died
November 4, 2015 (age 65)
Birthplace
Los Angeles, California, USA
Filmography
18 films, 1 show


The BFG
2016 · 1h 57m · IN
An orphan little girl befriends a benevolent giant who takes her to Giant Country, where they attempt to stop the man-eating giants that are invading the human world.


Kundun
1997 · 2h 14m · US
From childhood to adulthood, Tibet's fourteenth Dalai Lama deals with Chinese oppression and other problems.


The Indian in the Cupboard
1995 · 1h 36m · US
A nine-year-old boy gets a plastic Indian and a cupboard for his birthday and finds himself involved in adventure when the Indian comes to life and befriends him.


Twilight Zone: The Movie
1983 · 1h 41m · US
An anthology film presenting remakes of three episodes from the "Twilight Zone" TV series—"Kick the Can", "It's a Good Life" and "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet"—and one original story, "Time Out."


The Escape Artist
1982 · 1h 34m · US
The young and self-confident Danny bluffs at the local police-station that he will escape from prison within an hour. What follows is a flashback showing his childhood with his uncle and aunt, who are 'vaudeville'-artists themselves.


The Black Stallion
1979 · 1h 58m · US
While traveling with his father, young Alec becomes fascinated by a mysterious Arabian stallion that is brought on board and stabled in the ship he is sailing on. When it tragically sinks both he and the horse survive only to be stranded on a deserted island. He befriends it, so when finally rescued both return to his home where they soon meet Henry Dailey, a once successful trainer. Together they begin training the horse to race against the fastest ones in the world.