History Creator / AaronSorkin

* BasedOnATrueStory: His last five screenplays are all adaptations of nonfiction books.

* FoxNewsLiberal: His political bias in favor of the US left tends to show and he has been accused of writing figures who disagree with him politically badly. He has written some characters deliberately to address this in character, most notably (moderate Republican) Will [=McAvoy=] in The Newsroom, who is accused in the series of being a "Republican in name only"

* [[StrawCharacter Strawman Political]]: Any and all conservative characters will be so bad at arguing their points it's a wonder they can tie their shoes. ''Unless'' they're an MSNBCConservative who joins in taking shots at the more "extreme" ones....
** Especially hilarious, considering Sorkin's [[BlatantLies constant denial that his material ever has a political agenda....]]
** While Sorkin does give some conservative positions a fair hearing (if only to better rebut them), he doesn't even bother when discussing gun control, invariably making gun rights activists inarticulate fools. One ''West Wing'' episode is devoted entirely to Leo and Josh convincing five Congressmen to change their votes on a gun control bill - and ''none of them'' even tries to defend their position, opposing the bill solely to further their personal agendas.
** He's also been accused of doing this with [[UsefulNotes/PoliticalIdeologies socialists and social/modern/'left'-liberals]] - basically, anyone to the left of him gets the same treatment. He's particularly bad about portraying (trade-)protectionists.
** For one specific example of the above, one episode of the ''The West Wing'' features an ultra-liberal Senator who [[WhatTheHellHero chews Toby out]] for the President alienating his base,[[note]] by criticizing environmental extremists, mentioning the possibility of raising the retirement age and lauding a police officer accused of abusing a black suspect[[/note]] and he's portrayed as a {{Jerkass}} despite making a perfectly reasonable point.
* TakeThat: Has been notorious for including references to people he didn't like in his works. ''Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip'' was when it reached its peak as almost every episode contained a cheap shot at someone Sorkin had dealt with. He has since improved a lot though.
** Or the more egregious example of him devoting an entire subplot of ''Series/TheWestWing'' to insulting an Internet forum critical of the show.

* ''The Trial of the Chicago Seven'' (2020)

** Actors who have worked on his shows equate his scripts to playing in an orchestra. Unlike most acting gigs where actors can freestyle and include their own takes and personality (like in jazz), Sorkin performers have to follow every note on the page, every inflection, every punctuation exactly to its last detail, because his cadence builds and swells with a natural, organized rhythm. The best example of this is the Pilot to ''Series/TheWestWing'', where dozens of characters talk and bicker and argue, call and respond to each other, escalate to a dramatic crescendo... only to fall silent to the solo performance by the President himself.

* FoxNewsLiberal: His political bias in favor of the US left tends to show and he has been accused of writing figures who disagree with him politically badly. He has written some characters deliberately to address this in character, most notably (moderate Republican) Will Mc Avoy in The Newsroom, who is accused in the series of being a "Republican in name only"

He had a well known on/off relationship with Creator/KristinChenoweth for several years.

* ''Theatre/TheFarnsworthInvention'' (2007)

His most recent venture into Television, the {{Creator/HBO}} TV series ''Series/TheNewsroom'', starring Creator/JeffDaniels premiered in 2012 and ended with a shortened final season in December 2014. Unlike several of his other TV projects, ''The Newsroom'' was not canceled by the network and he also wasn't thrown out (as happened on ''The West Wing'') but he thought the story and characters did not provide material for more seasons. Sorkin has since stated in interviews that he does not want to write anything but theater and feature length movies in the future, explicitly citing that his MagnumOpus, ''Series/TheWestWing'', is a ToughActToFollow.

* ''Theatre/ToKillAMockingbird'' (2017) [[note]] Broadway adaptation of the Harper Lee novel[[/note]]
[[/index]]

Sorkin also wrote several plays, such as ''Film/AFewGoodMen'' and screenplays such as the film adaptation of ''A Few Good Men'', ''Film/TheAmericanPresident'', ''Film/CharlieWilsonsWar'', ''Film/TheSocialNetwork'', for which he won an [[UsefulNotes/AcademyAward Oscar]] for Best Adapted Screenplay, and ''Film/{{Moneyball}}''.

Other projects include a ''Film/SteveJobs'' biopic and a film based on the scandals of the John Edwards presidential campaign. The {{Creator/HBO}} TV series ''Series/TheNewsroom'', starring Creator/JeffDaniels premiered in 2012 and ended with a shortened final season in December 2014. Unlike several of his other TV projects, ''The Newsroom'' was not canceled by the network and he also wasn't thrown out (as happened on ''The West Wing'') but he thought the story and characters did not provide material for more seasons. Sorkin has since stated in interviews that he does not want to write anything but theater and feature length movies in the future, explicitly citing that his MagnumOpus, ''Series/TheWestWing'', is a ToughActToFollow.

* CannotTellAJoke: Dana in ''Series/{{Sports Night}}'' and Harriet in ''Series/{{Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip}}''

* WalkAndTalk: His stuff is a TropeCodifier (and former TropeNamer: "SorkinWalk"), to the point of a moment in ''Series/TheWestWing'' where the characters who've just done it stop and wonder where the heck they're going....
%%* WriterOnBoard

%%* DearNegativeReader: The "Lemon Lyman" subplot on Series/TheWestWing as well as Will [=McAvoy's=] defense of his GOP bonafides on Series/TheNewsroom are seen as responses to criticism his writing gets. He also likes to make points about people on the Internet being nasty

%%* RousseauWasRight With very few exceptions both his characters and his plotlines are highly idealistic and even when people get screwed over they don't lose the faith in humanity

%%* DearNegativeReader

%%* RousseauWasRight

* ShoutOut: You'd be surprised how many references to Gilbert and Sullivan he can cram into his works. Outright quoting the songs, an episode on Studio 60 centered around a MajorGerneralSong and to say nothing of the fact that every second resume ends with "and I'm never ever sick at sea"

* SignatureStyle: Machine gun fast dialogue. Comedic repetition. Casual {{ShoutOut}}s by the metric ton. Tall, smart, sexy, sassy women who give as good as they get. Characters who veer oh-so-close to cynicism, only to come back to hope and idealism. Extremely liberal world view (at least by US standards). He also has an odd fondness for names like Donna, Dana, Danny and so on and likes the shouted across the room. He includes common criticisms of his writing style in his short play ''Hidden in this Picture''; a film director tells his Sorkin-proxy screenwriter the following

-->"I think your work has a tendency to be long-winded and cynical, I think you have trouble handling exposition, you take forever to introduce the inciting action, and all your female characters talk and act as if they've just stepped off TheLoveBoat."

He had a well known on/off relationship with KristinChenoweth for several years.

* DearNegativeReader

* UncreditedRole:[[invoked]]He was a script doctor for several films, including ''Film/SchindlersList'', ''Film/TheRock'', ''Film/{{Bulworth}}'' and ''Film/EnemyOfTheState''.

* UncreditedRole: He was a script doctor for several films, including ''Film/SchindlersList'', ''Film/TheRock'', ''Film/{{Bulworth}}'' and ''Film/EnemyOfTheState''.

* AuthorCatchphrase: "What Kind Of Day Has It Been" is the title for many of his finale episodes, including ''The West Wing'', ''Sports Night'', and ''The Newsroom''.

Aaron Benjamin Sorkin (born June 9, 1961) is an American screenwriter, producer and playwright. He's the man behind ''Series/Studio60OnTheSunsetStrip'', ''Series/SportsNight'', ''Series/TheNewsroom'' and ''Series/TheWestWing''. His scripts have many distinctive traits, including a dialogue style known for timing and finesse that has garnered the moniker "Sorkinese". His shows are also notorious for characters [[WalkAndTalk walking down hallways]] while [[{{Exposition}} expositing]] at high speed.

* RousseauWasRight

* WriterOnBoard

Other projects include a ''Film/SteveJobs'' biopic and a film based on the scandals of the John Edwards presidential campaign. The {{Creator/HBO}} TV series ''Series/TheNewsroom'', starring Jeff Daniels premiered in 2012 and ended with a shortened final season in December 2014. Unlike several of his other TV projects, ''The Newsroom'' was not canceled by the network and he also wasn't thrown out (as happened on ''The West Wing'') but he thought the story and characters did not provide material for more seasons. Sorkin has since stated in interviews that he does not want to write anything but theater and feature length movies in the future, explicitly citing that his MagnumOpus, ''Series/TheWestWing'', is a ToughActToFollow.

Aaron Benjamin Sorkin (born 1961) is an American screenwriter, producer and playwright. He's the man behind ''Series/Studio60OnTheSunsetStrip'', ''Series/SportsNight'', ''Series/TheNewsroom'' and ''Series/TheWestWing''. His scripts have many distinctive traits, including a dialogue style known for timing and finesse that has garnered the moniker "Sorkinese". His shows are also notorious for characters [[WalkAndTalk walking down hallways]] while [[{{Exposition}} expositing]] at high speed.

Other projects include a ''Film/SteveJobs'' biopic and a film based on the scandals of the John Edwards presidential campaign. The {{Creator/HBO}} TV series ''Series/TheNewsroom'', starring Jeff Daniels premiered in 2012 and ended with a shortened final season in December 2014. Unlike several of his other TV projects, the Newsroom was not canceled by the network and he also wasn't thrown out (as happened on the West Wing) but he thought the story and characters did not provide material for more seasons. Sorkin has since stated in interviews that he does not want to write anything but theater and feature length movies in the future, explicitly citing that his MagnumOpus the West Wing is a ToughActToFollow.

* SignatureStyle: Machine gun fast dialogue. Comedic repetition. Casual {{ShoutOut}}s by the metric ton. Tall, smart, sexy, sassy women who give as good as they get. Characters who veer oh-so-close to cynicism, only to come back to hope and idealism. Extremely liberal world view (at least by US standards). He includes common criticisms of his writing style in his short play ''Hidden in this Picture''; a film director tells his Sorkin-proxy screenwriter the following

* SpeechCentricWork