SKAAREN, WARREN E. (1946 ~ 1990). The following is a biography for Warren Skaaren, screenwriter, film executive and founding executive director of the Texas Film Commission. The biography was provided by the Skaaren estate.
Warren Skaaren, a motion picture screenwriter and film executive, was appointed in 1971 at age 25 by Texas Governor Preston Smith to be the founder and Executive Director of the Texas Film Commission. In 1974 after establishing the Film Commission, Warren began a decade in private business serving as chairman of a film and television production company in Dallas. Then in the early 1980s he decided to devote himself full time to writing motion picture screenplays.
After writing and directing several documentaries and a feature film, in 1985 he was asked to rewrite the final script and serve as a producer for a motion picture by Paramount Pictures entitled “Top Gun” starring Tom Cruise. That blockbuster movie became the highest-grossing domestic film of the year. This was followed in rapid succession by Warren writing several other popular motion pictures of the late 1980s: Beverly Hills Cop II (1987) for Paramount Pictures, Beetlejuice (1988) for Warner Brothers, and Batman (1989) for Warner Brothers. Batman became the fifth-highest-grossing film in history at the time of its release.
In addition to those films he wrote numerous unproduced screenplays, including Flawless (1986) for Jane Fonda, The Crimson Eagle (1988) for Michael Douglas, and a sequel to Beetlejuice entitled Beetlejuice in Love. In addition to his film interests, Warren was a popular speaker and lecturer as well as avid environmentalist. The Warren Skaaren Environmental Learning Center at Westcave Preserve in Travis County is named in his honor. He also supported various civic and cultural organizations, including the Travis County Foster Parents Association, the Deborah Hay Dance Company, and the East-West Center of Austin.
Born on March 9, 1946, in Rochester, Minnesota, Warren was a precocious young student who earned an Eagle Scout badge and won the Minnesota "Radio Speaking Championship" in 1964 while still in high school. From 1965 to 1967 he attended Rochester Community College where he was elected student body president. He moved to Texas when he received a full scholarship to attend Rice University for his junior and senior college years. At Rice, he was elected president of the student body and graduated in 1969 with a bachelor of arts degree.
Warren Skaaren died of cancer on December 28, 1990 in Austin, Texas -- at the young age of 44 and at the height of his career. To continue his support for charitable endeavors, he left his assets in a trust that supports children, environmental programs, and the film community.
