---
name: "Nick Santora"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/nick-santora"
fi1m_id: "nick-santora"
imdb_id: "nm1238801"
tmdb_id: 78417
wikidata_id: "Q1267825"
roles: ["Writer","Producer"]
born: "1 January 1970"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 5
average_fi1m_score: 69
average_as: "writer"
average_over: 5
updated: "2026-10-23T04:22:32.352759+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Nick Santora

## Identity

Nick Santora

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/nick-santora
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** nick-santora
- **IMDb ID:** nm1238801
- **TMDB ID:** 78417
- **Wikidata ID:** Q1267825
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Santora, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1267825, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1238801/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/78417

Writer and producer. Born 1 January 1970 in Queens, New York City, New York, USA.

## Details

- **Work:** Writer, Producer
- **Born:** 1 January 1970, Queens, New York City, New York, USA
- **Active:** 1990–present
- **Also known as:** Ник Сантора, 닉 산토라
- **Frequently works with:** [Nicholas Wootton](https://film.one/person/nicholas-wootton.md), [Phil Abraham](https://film.one/person/phil-abraham.md), [Agatha Barnes](https://film.one/person/agatha-barnes.md), [Alan Taylor](https://film.one/person/alan-taylor.md), [Allen Coulter](https://film.one/person/allen-coulter.md), [Dean White](https://film.one/person/dean-white.md), [Fred Gerber](https://film.one/person/fred-gerber.md), [Gary Fleder](https://film.one/person/gary-fleder.md)
- **Average Fi1m score:** 69, as writer, over 5 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1990s 83 (2), 2000s 68 (1), 2010s 45 (1), 2020s 64 (1)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 68 to 66 across 4 titles
- **Score spread:** 1 at 80+, 3 at 60–79, 1 under 60
- **Genres:** Drama 5, Crime 4, Action & Adventure 1, Mystery 1
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Santora, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1267825, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1238801/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/78417

## Coming up

- *Mr. Irrelevant* (2026-12-25), Writer — [page](https://film.one/film/mr-irrelevant.md)

## Streaming the US now

- **HBO Max:** [*The Sopranos*](https://film.one/tv/the-sopranos.md) (94)
- **Hulu:** [*Law & Order*](https://film.one/tv/law-and-order.md) (72)
- **Disney+:** [*Prison Break*](https://film.one/tv/prison-break.md) (68)
- **Tubi:** [*Hostages*](https://film.one/tv/hostages.md) (45)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Nick Santora

> Nick Santora builds the television that keeps being renewed: teams, fugitives, one formidable person and a great deal of talking between the fights. It is made with skill and without pretension, and on the evidence of *Neagley* it explains more than it needs to.

Somebody in a Nick Santora series is always better than everyone else at something, and somebody else is always there to take the air out of it. Frances Neagley in *Reacher* (2022) was the colleague who spoke when it mattered and hit when it mattered more; *Scorpion* (2014) put a team of geniuses to work on problems nobody else could touch; *Breakout Kings* (2011) sent a team after fugitives. Santora has said that he and his co-creator Matt Olmstead wanted "a show where the heroes weren’t earnest", and that is as close to a creed as he has offered. The fights are taken seriously. The people are not allowed to be.

He came to it late and sideways. He practised law for six years, wrote a screenplay for fun, won a contest with it, and on the strength of that was given an episode of *The Sopranos* (2002). Then came *Law & Order*, then *Prison Break* (2005–2009), where he moved from writer up through the producing ranks. Our reviews of *The Sopranos* and *Law & Order* do not pause on his episodes, which is the fate of the hired writer and not a judgement on him. *Breakout Kings* (2011), made with Olmstead, was the first series with his name on the door; *Scorpion* (2014–2018) made him a showrunner; *Reacher* (2022) is his highest-profile success so far.

The complaint against him is that this is procedural television done well rather than television with a signature, and we would not argue with the first half. His years in a law office show in how the cases are built, and his taste for the quick line keeps his teams from lecturing each other. What he has not shown is much interest in leaving anything out. *Neagley* (2026), the *Reacher* spin-off he created with Nicholas Wootton, is the clearest case we have reviewed. Maria Sten holds the series with a stillness *Reacher* never asked of anyone, and the fights and chases are as clean as ever. Between them the show explains her, at length, and we grew restless every time it did, because the point of the character was always that she kept out of the light. The writers do not trust that we noticed.

That is the pattern, and it is why we rate him as a builder rather than the maker of anything we would press on a stranger. He knows how to keep a series on the air for years and how to write a team that enjoys itself, and those are not small things; most people who try cannot manage either. If you have an evening and want capable people solving something with a joke between the blows, his name on a series is a fair guide. Just expect to be told twice.

## Biography

Nick Santora is an American screenwriter, producer and author. Born in Queens, New York, in 1970, he graduated from Washington University in St. Louis and Columbia Law School, then practised law for six years before turning to writing.

He wrote the teleplay for an episode of *The Sopranos* (2002) and has written for or produced series including *The Guardian*, *Law & Order*, *Prison Break* (2005–2009), *Lie to Me*, *Scorpion* (2014–2018) and *Reacher* (2022–). He created and executive produced *Beauty and the Geek* and co-created *Breakout Kings*. His screenwriting credits also include the films *The Longshots* (2008) and *Punisher: War Zone* (2008).

Santora has written the novels *Slip & Fall* and *Fifteen Digits*.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (5)

- *Neagley* (2026), Fi1m 64, Creator, Executive Producer, Writer — [page](https://film.one/tv/neagley.md)
- *Hostages* (2013), Fi1m 45, Writer — [page](https://film.one/tv/hostages.md)
- *Prison Break* (2005), Fi1m 68, Writer, Producer, Supervising Producer, Co-Executive Producer — [page](https://film.one/tv/prison-break.md)
- *The Sopranos* (1999), Fi1m 94, Teleplay — [page](https://film.one/tv/the-sopranos.md)
- *Law & Order* (1990), Fi1m 72, Writer, Story — [page](https://film.one/tv/law-and-order.md)

## Complete filmography (23)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Mr. Irrelevant* (2026), Writer, Producer — coming soon, [page](https://film.one/film/mr-irrelevant.md)
- *Neagley* (2026), series, Executive Producer, Writer, Creator — Fi1m 64, [page](https://film.one/tv/neagley.md)
- *FUBAR* (2023), series, Executive Producer, Writer, Creator
- *Dog Gone* (2023), Writer
- *Reacher* (2022), series, Executive Producer, Writer, Creator
- *Safety* (2020), Screenplay
- *The Fugitive* (2020), series, Executive Producer, Teleplay, Story, Writer, Creator
- *Most Dangerous Game* (2020), series, Executive Producer, Writer, Creator
- *Most Dangerous Game* (2020), Executive Producer, Writer
- *FBI* (2018), series, Writer
- *Scorpion* (2014), series, Writer, Teleplay, Director, Creator
- *Hostages* (2013), series, Writer — Fi1m 45, [page](https://film.one/tv/hostages.md)
- *Vegas* (2012), series, Writer
- *Breakout Kings* (2011), series, Writer, Producer, Creator
- *Prison Break: The Final Break* (2009), Co-Executive Producer, Teleplay
- *Lie to Me* (2009), series, Writer
- *Punisher: War Zone* (2008), Writer
- *The Longshots* (2008), Producer, Writer
- *Prison Break* (2005), series, Producer, Writer, Supervising Producer, Co-Executive Producer — Fi1m 68, [page](https://film.one/tv/prison-break.md)
- *The Guardian* (2001), series, Writer
- *The Sopranos* (1999), series, Teleplay — Fi1m 94, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-sopranos.md)
- *Law & Order* (1990), series, Writer, Story, Producer — Fi1m 72, [page](https://film.one/tv/law-and-order.md)
- *Playing for Pizza*, Writer

## Gallery

- ![Nick Santora and Walter O'Brien speaking at the 2014 San Diego Comic Con International, for "Scorpion", at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, Califor](https://film.one/media/person/60970/gallery-e017f727cf07.jpg) Nick Santora and Walter O'Brien speaking at the 2014 San Diego Comic Con International, for "Scorpion", at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, Califor — Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ee/Nick_Santora_%26_Walter_O%27Brien_%2814767736184%29.jpg/1280px-Nick_Santora_%26_Walter_O%27Brien_%2814767736184%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Nick Santora speaking at the 2014 San Diego Comic Con International, for "Scorpion", at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, California. Please attribu](https://film.one/media/person/60970/gallery-8089886f077b.jpg) Nick Santora speaking at the 2014 San Diego Comic Con International, for "Scorpion", at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, California. Please attribu — Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0c/Nick_Santora_%2814789929513%29.jpg/1280px-Nick_Santora_%2814789929513%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Nick Santora](https://film.one/media/person/60970/gallery-190701751545.jpg) Nick Santora — Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/62/Nick_Santora_SDCC_2014.jpg/1280px-Nick_Santora_SDCC_2014.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman, Robert Patrick, Katharine McPhee, Elyes Gabel, Nick Santora, Walter O'Brien and Nicholas Wootton speaking at the 2014 San Diego Com](https://film.one/media/person/60970/gallery-b43b3e9cad52.jpg) Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman, Robert Patrick, Katharine McPhee, Elyes Gabel, Nick Santora, Walter O'Brien and Nicholas Wootton speaking at the 2014 San Diego Com — Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3b/Roberto_Orci%2C_Alex_Kurtzman%2C_Robert_Patrick%2C_Katharine_McPhee%2C_Elyes_Gabel%2C_Nick_Santora%2C_Walter_O%27Brien_%26_Nicholas_Wootton_%2814583564777%29.jpg/1280px-Roberto_Orci%2C_Alex_Kurtzman%2C_Robert_Patrick%2C_Katharine_McPhee%2C_Elyes_Gabel%2C_Nick_Santora%2C_Walter_O%27Brien_%26_Nicholas_Wootton_%2814583564777%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/nick-santora