"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined."

-Henry David Thoreau

"The harder I work, the luckie

Dax Phelan was born in St. Louis, MO on July 8, 1975. He graduated from St. Louis Country Day School in 1994 and then moved to Dallas, TX, in order to pursue a BA in Pre-Med (Biology) at Southern Methodist University.

It was during his first semester at university that Phelan, a film lover since childhood, began writing his first screenplay. The screenwriting bug took hold over Phelan. He eventually dropped out of the Pre-Med program and enrolled in some Cinema and English Literature classes.

Phelan graduated with BAs in Communication Arts: Cinema and English Literature with a Creative Writing Specialization in 1997 and then moved to Los Angeles, CA to attend graduate school at the American Film Institute in 1998.

During the summer of 1999, Phelan began working as a development intern for veteran producer Mace Neufeld (“The Omen,” “No Way Out,” “The Hunt For Red October,” etc.) at Paramount Pictures.

In 2000, when Phelan graduated from the American Film Institute with an MFA in Screenwriting, Neufeld hired him as Story Editor under his new first look deal with Sony Pictures Entertainment. In 2001, Neufeld promoted Phelan to Creative Executive. During his tenure at Mace Neufeld Productions, Phelan worked on such projects as “The General’s Daughter,” “The Sum of All Fears,” and “Asylum.”

In 2003, after selling his first screenplay, Phelan left Mace Neufeld Productions, in order to write full-time.

Since then, Phelan has written both original work and adaptations in a variety of genres, trying to work on whatever project excites him the most at the moment. Some of his credits include:

If Only (2001, Drama) Feature-Length Screenplay/Co-writer/Producer: Academy Award-winner, Seth Winston.

The Keep (2003, Horror) Feature-Length Screenplay/Based on the novel by F. Paul Wilson/Producers: Susanna Jolly, Sandy Climan, The Solomon Brothers

The Key to Rebecca (2004, WWII Spy Thriller) Feature-Length Screenplay/Based on the novel by Ken Follett/Producer: Mace Neufeld

Dead Drop (2004, Spy Thriller) Pitch/Based on the film, “A Dandy in Aspic”/Producer: Mace Neufeld

Untitled Byron Mann Project (2005, Action/Drama) Feature-Length Screenplay/Producers: Byron Mann & Chris Lee

At Your Service (2006, Action/Comedy) Co-creator/TV Series Pitch/Producers: CBS/Paramount, Circle of Confusion, Dax Phelan, James Thompson

Jasmine (2007-Present, Drama/Thriller) Feature-Length Screenplay/Producers: Jason Tobin, Dax Phelan/Director: Dax Phelan

Medium Cool (2007, Spy Thriller) Feature-Length Screenplay/Producer: Thom Barry

Be Water, My Friend (2008, Dramedy) Co-Story/Producers: Jason Tobin, Dax Phelan

Lest They Be Forgotten (2008, Horror) Co-story/Pitch/Producers: Byron Mann, Dax Phelan

"G.F.E." (2008, Dramedy) Feature-Length Screenplay/Producers: Glen Chin, Dax Phelan

Anonymous (2008-Present, Drama) Feature-Length Screenplay/Producer: Dax Phelan/Director: Dax Phelan

Secrets in the Fields (2008-Present, Documentary) Producers: Charlie Gumbiner, Dax Phelan

Untitled Martin Strachan Project (2009, Dramedy) Feature-Length Screenplay/Producer: Martin Strachan

Laughing Buddha (2009, Dramedy) Feature-Length Screenplay/Producers: Glen Chin, Roberta Chow, Dax Phelan

Killers, Inc. (2010) Feature-Length Screenplay/Producers: Lloyd Chao, Pat Lee Director: Pat Lee

Swordsman (2012) Feature-Length Screenplay/Producer: Imagimax, Sy Koshpasharin Director: Sy Koshpasharin

Chink (2013) Producers: Koji Sakai, Stanley Yung, Quentin Lee Executive Producer: Dax Phelan Director: Stanley Yung

The Canyons (2013) Producer: Braxton Pope Associate Producer: Dax Phelan Screenwriter: Bret Easton Ellis Director: Paul Schrader

Semper Fidelis: The Charlie Two Shoes Story (2012) Producers: Stratton Leopold, Dax Phelan, David Perlmutt Director: Dax Phelan

She's Lost Control (2013) Producer: Mollye Asher Executive Producers: Oren Moverman, Dax Phelan Screenwriter/Director: Anja Marquardt

Phelan recently wrapped principal photography on his feature directorial debut, "Jasmine," for Shanghai Street Films. He is repped by Robert Lazar at ICM, Mason Novick at Benderspink, and Robert Szymanski at Eclipse Law Corp.