Robert Rodat (born c. 1960) is an American screenwriter and producer of film and television. He is known for writing the films Saving Private Ryan (1998), which earned him Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Original Screenplay; Fly Away Home (1996), The Patriot (2000), and The Catcher Was a Spy (2018). He is also the creator of the television series Falling Skies (2011–15) and Those About to Die (2024).
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Life and career
Rodat was born in Keene, New Hampshire. His father was a World War II veteran. He attended Colgate University, Harvard Business School, and the University of Southern California.
He wrote Saving Private Ryan (1998), The Comrades of Summer (1992), Tall Tale (1995), Fly Away Home with Vince McKewin (1996), and The Patriot (2000). He worked on the revision of the script for the 2008 film 10,000 BC and helped with the story of 2013 film Thor: The Dark World. Rodat also contributed to a screenplay for a film adaptation of Warcraft, work that was ultimately rebooted with the exit of the film's then-attached director, Sam Raimi.
In 2009, Rodat created the TNT science-fiction series Falling Skies, produced by Steven Spielberg. The series did not premiere until summer 2011. Its fifth and final season was broadcast in the summer of 2015. The show is about human survivors of a semi-post apocalyptic world due to an alien invasion.
In 2022, Rodat created the Peacock period drama series Those About to Die. The series premiered on July 18, 2024.