At 25 , in the hopes of being the lead actor in his own film , Strong wrote a dark comedy about two men who kill an elderly man for his rent-controlled apartment . The film never materialized , but it sparked his desire to become a full-time writer . His first successful script was '' Recount '' , a film about the 2000 US Elections , produced by HBO and directed by Jay Roach . The film starred Kevin Spacey , Laura Dern , Denis Leary , John Hurt and Tom Wilkinson and premiered on May 25 , 2008 . The script had been voted number one on the 2007 Hollywood Black List , a list of the " most liked " but unproduced scripts as voted on by the Hollywood community and insiders . Strong was nominated for a 2008 Emmy Award for Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries , Movie or a Dramatic Special for '' Recount '' . The film was nominated for Best Television Miniseries or Film at the 66th Golden Globe Awards and won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Made for Television Movie as well as the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay for a Television movie
2008 Emmy Award
60th Primetime Emmy Awards
Danny Strong