Dean Lorey (born November 17, 1967) is an American writer whose projects include movies such as Major Payne and Animal Crackers, television shows which include My Wife and Kids and Arrested Development, and most recently a children’s book, the first of a series, entitled Nightmare Academy.Lorey grew up in Conyers, Georgia before attending New York University's film school, where he wrote book cover copy for Simon and Schuster and Bantam as well as writing commercials for MTV and Nickelodeon.