Jason Keller

Jason Keller (born December 12, 1968) is an American playwright and screenwriter. He has also been credited under the anagram pen name of Arnell Jesko. He is a New Harmony Writing Fellowship recipient, a two-time Bronx New Voices nominee, a Satellite Award nominee for Best Original Screenplay, an Oglethorpe Award nominee, and the recipient of an IFJA Hoosier Award.

Keller began his screenwriting career by writing Marc Forster's film Machine Gun Preacher, which was released by Relativity Media in 2011. Keller went on to write Tarsem Singh's film Mirror Mirror, starring Julia Roberts, as well as Mikael Håfström's 2013 action film Escape Plan, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone. He is also the executive producer of the fifth movie in the Die Hard franchise, A Good Day to Die Hard, starring Bruce Willis. In 2011, it was announced that Keller would collaborate with director Matt Reeves on the adaptation of the Justin Cronin novel The Passage with Ridley Scott producing.

In June 2015, it was reported that Keller’s 2006 Black List script A Willing Patriot had been bought by Open Road Films. It was expected to go into production in 2020, with Martin Zandvliet directing and Liam Neeson starring.

Keller also wrote Ford v. Ferrari, which was directed by James Mangold and starred Matt Damon and Christian Bale. The movie was released in November 2019 by 20th Century Fox. It was nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Picture.

In 2022, it was announced that Keller had written the upcoming biopic about famed female Indycar driver Janet Guthrie, who became the first woman to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 in 1977. Hilary Swank will star in the film, which is being produced by Keller, Joel David Moore, Rishi Bajaj, and Philip Schneider. The film is planned for a mid-2026 release.

Keller is also set to make his directorial debut with the feature film La Sombra (The Shadow), from his original screenplay, to be financed by Sherborne Media Finance.[ 11] The film will be produced by Luillo Ruiz, Gary Raskin, Alastair Burlingham, and Academy Award-nominated producer Robbie Brenner. A fall 2026 production is currently planned, with casting underway.

With co-writer Eric Pfeffinger, Keller wrote The Paladin, which he is producing with David Dobkin and Robbie Brenner.[ 12] The film is based on a novel by Brian Garfield, and tells the true story of how the British government orchestrated a monumental shift in World War II through a top-secret program which turned a 15-year-old boy into one of England’s deadliest assassins.

Keller created and was the showrunner on the Apple TV+ original series Stick, a half-hour, single-camera comedy that was scheduled to premiere on June 4, 2025. It stars Owen Wilson, Marc Maron, Mariana Treviño, Peter Dagar, Lilli Kay, Judy Greer, and Timothy Olyphant.

Keller's father is former major league pitcher Ron Keller, who played for the Minnesota Twins. His mother is J Susie Keller (nee Westfall), SAG/Aftra TV spokesperson.

In late 2016, Andrea Anders revealed she was pregnant, talking about the experience at length during a stand-up comedy set on December 15, 2016. She has never publicly discussed the child's birth, name or father. She did refer to the baby as "she", when announcing "She's here" via Instagram; in response, the mother of Jason Keller referred to the child as her granddaughter.[ 13] [ 14] [ 15]

Keller has been outspoken about his work to raise awareness for child and adult victims of parental alienation. In interviews, he has suggested he lost a daughter to this form of child psychological abuse, and has supported the non-profit organization the Anti-Alienation Project.