Jason Miller

Victor Miller is an American writer primarily recognized for his contributions to film and television. He penned the original screenplay for the iconic horror film Friday the 13th, a work that launched a successful franchise, though he was not involved in subsequent installments. Miller also holds the distinction of creating the characters Jason Voorhees, Pamela Voorhees, and Alice Hardy. His career extends to extensive work in daytime television, where he has earned multiple Daytime Emmy Awards for his writing on popular series such as Guiding Light, One Life to Live, Another World, and All My Children. Miller's early life included studies at Milton Academy and Yale, followed by a year in TV programming and co-founding a theater education center. He has also adapted novels into films and written several books, including a series of Kojak novels and works on Aikido and personal development.

Victor Miller's most significant cinematic achievement is the original Friday the 13th (1980), which achieved considerable financial success on a modest budget and became the foundation for a major horror franchise. Miller, however, was not involved in any of the sequels, largely due to his disapproval of the direction the character of Jason Voorhees took. He was instrumental in a legal battle to regain rights to his screenplay, ultimately prevailing in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, which ruled he was an independent contractor and had the right to terminate his rights to the work. Beyond Friday the 13th, Miller has adapted literary works into film, including Mary Higgins Clark's A Stranger Is Watching and Scott O'Dell's The Black Pearl. He has also contributed to more recent horror films like Rock Paper Dead and co-written scripts for Eden Falls.

Miller has enjoyed a prolific career in daytime television, earning substantial recognition for his writing. He has won three Daytime Emmy Awards for his work on various soap operas, including All My Children, for which he received multiple nominations and wins for Best Writing. His contributions also extend to other long-running series such as Guiding Light, One Life to Live, and Another World. Much of his tenure on these shows involved collaborating with head writer Megan McTavish. His extensive writing credits in this genre highlight his skill in crafting compelling narratives for serialized television.

In addition to his screenwriting, Victor Miller has authored several books. He penned a series of novels based on the character Kojak between 1974 and 1975. His other published works include Fernanda, Hide The Children, Toga Party, and Angel's Blood. Notably, he co-authored Aikido In Everyday Life: Giving In to Get Your Way with Terry Dobson, which expands on themes of personal strategy and conflict resolution. Miller also developed the book Giving In To Get Your Way: The attack-tics system for winning your everyday battles. His early career included co-founding the American Shakespeare Theatre's Center for Theatre Techniques in Education and attending playwriting classes in New York City.