Brian Thomas Helgeland (born January 17, 1961) is an acclaimed American screenwriter, film producer, and director, best known for his screenplays for the films L.A. Confidential and Mystic River. His work on LA Confidential awarded him the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. He wrote and directed films such as 42, a biopic of Jackie Robinson, and Legend, chronicling the rise and fall of the notorious Kray twins. Born in Providence, Rhode Island to Norwegian parents, he pursued a degree in English at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. He discovered his passion towards cinema and joined the film school at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.

His early career started with a collaboration with Rhet Topham, leading to 976-EVIL, his first horror comedy film that sold for $12,000. This was followed by numerous successful screenplays, including A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master and Highway to Hell. He is credited for both an Oscar-winning and a Razzie-winning screenplay in the same year, 1998, maintaining both statues as reminders of Hollywood's expectations. In his recent works, he lent his skills to Green Zone and The Taking of Pelham 123. In 2017, HBO announced his collaboration on a potential pilot for a Game of Thrones spin-off.