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Shane Salerno (b. 1972) is a Hollywood screenwriter. His screenplays include Armageddon, Breakdown, Alien vs. Predator, and Shaft.

Fade In Magazine selected Salerno as one of the "100 people you need to know in Hollywood" in the 2001 issue. Detour Magazine voted him one of "Hollywood's true shapers of pop culture" in their annual "hot thirty under thirty" edition.

Directors who have chosen Salerno to write or rewrite their films include Oscar winners Steven Spielberg (Thunder Below), Ron Howard (Bay of Pigs) William Friedkin (Night Train) Oscar nominees Michael Mann (The Border) and John Singleton (Shaft) and blockbuster directors Michael Bay (Armageddon), Wolfgang Petersen (L.A. Fed), Jonathan Mostow (Breakdown), and most recently Jan De Bont (MEG).

Salerno has written or re-written star vehicles for Oscar winners Michael Douglas and Nicolas Cage as well as Bruce Willis, George Clooney, Ben Affleck, Samuel L. Jackson, James Woods, Christian Bale, Jeffrey Wright, Liv Tyler, Ving Rhames, Eva Mendes, Wes Bentley, Billy Bob Thornton, Vera Farmiga, Treat Williams and Kurt Russell among many others.

Shane Salerno was born in Memphis, Tennessee. While a senior in high school, Salerno wrote, produced and directed the award winning documentary short film "Sundown: The Future of Children and Drugs". The film debuted on Larry King Live in September 1991. Larry King ended the interview by saying "And Shane Salerno, one has a feeling we are going to be hearing about you. I have this feeling." "Sundown" won several "best documentary of the year" honors and was showcased on every major talk show. Additionally Salerno was honored, in separate ceremonies, in both houses of Congress.

The critical acclaim "Sundown" received led nine-time Emmy Award winner Gregory Hoblit to invite a then nineteen year old Salerno to apprentice on the first season of NYPD Blue as a writer-director. Salerno credits the backstage pass to the series during a year when they were honored with a record 26 Emmy nominations and David Caruso's storied exit as a truly unique front line film school.

By age 22, Salerno was consistently writing the highest rated episodes of the FOX TV series New York Undercover. At the end of the first season, Salerno asked to be let out of his contract in order to pursue feature opportunities that he was being offered.

In a three month period he sold A Season in Hell in a high profile, page one spec sale, script doctored the screenplay to the Paramount film Breakdown and adapted the World War II submarine thriller Thunder Below for Steven Spielberg and the newly formed Dreamworks Pictures.

At just 24, director Michael Bay recruited Salerno to rewrite Armageddon based on an original screenplay by Jonathan Hensleigh. In Visions of Armageddon, the book on the making of the film, Michael Bay calls Salerno's work on the script "brilliant". The blockbuster film debuted at #1 on July 1, 1998 and was the highest grossing film of the year, earning over $570 million worldwide.

In 1998, at the age of 25, Variety selected Salerno as one of the "hottest new creatives on the film scene." Based on Thunder Below and Armageddon, John Singleton (the youngest director ever nominated for an Oscar) asked Salerno to serve as his writing partner on Shaft which Paramount Pictures was mounting. The Singleton-Salerno collaboration (aided by novelist Richard Price) resulted in Salerno's second #1 film when "Shaft" debuted at the top of the box office on June 16, 2000.

That year, Salerno returned to television at age 27 by co-creating (with novelist Don Winslow), executive producing and serving as showrunner, head writer, and music supervisor for the NBC television series UC: Undercover starring Vera Farmiga, Oded Fehr, and Golden Globe winner Ving Rhames. The short-lived series won and was nominated for awards in acting, cinematography and sound.

Salerno lured former career criminal turned bestselling novelist and actor Ed Bunker (Reservoir Dogs’ Mr. Blue) as a technical advisor, Peabody-winning journalist Jerry Nachman and acclaimed playwright Stephen Adly Guirgis (Jesus Hopped the A Train) as members of his writing staff.

Possessing a rabid devotion to film music, Salerno served as music supervisor on UC: Undercover where he recruited Grammy-winning film composer David Arnold, known for his brilliant scores for Independence Day and the James Bond films, to score the series' main title theme. Seeking a new sound for the weekly score, Salerno convinced the Dust Brothers (known for their work in David Fincher's Fight Club) to compose for their first television series. The series was up against ABC's multi Emmy-winning powerhouse The Practice, however, and it was cancelled in 2002.

At 30, Salerno rewrote Alien vs. Predator heavily throughout pre-production and production in Prague although (over the strong protest of 20th Century Fox and the producers)^{[citation needed]} Salerno did not receive screen credit. The film debuted at #1 on August 13, 2004 with a $38.3 opening weekend and went on to become Fox's most profitable film of 2004. A sequel is being readied.

In 2004 Salerno became the youngest "Guest of Honor" speaker in the history of the Los Angeles Screenwriting Expo, attended by over 5,000 people. The response was so strong to his 2004 appearance that he was asked back in 2005. His second appearance was a sold out, standing room only affair. Other guests of honor that year included such distinguished names as two-time Oscar winner William Goldman, Aaron Sorkin, David Koepp, and David Milch.

In January 2006, Shane Salerno formed The Story Factory to develop and produce television series and films. His work continues to make him a much sought-after writer whose unique writing draws in actors, directors, and studios that are eager to work with him.

• Shane Salerno at the Internet Movie Database