David Benioff | |
|---|---|
 Benioff in 2016 | |
| Born | David Friedman (1970-09-25)September 25, 1970 (age 55) New York City, U.S. |
| Education | Dartmouth College (BA) Trinity College, Dublin (MA) University of California, Irvine (MFA) |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 2001–present |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3 |
| Parent | Stephen Friedman (father) |
David Friedman (/ˈfriːdmən/; born September 25, 1970), known professionally asDavid Benioff (/ˈbɛniɒf/),[1][2] is an American novelist, screenwriter, and producer. Along with his collaboratorD. B. Weiss, he is best known for co-creatingGame of Thrones (2011–2019), theHBO adaptation ofGeorge R. R. Martin's series of books,A Song of Ice and Fire.[3] He also wrote25th Hour (2002),Troy (2004),The Kite Runner (2007),City of Thieves (2008), co-wroteX-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009), andGemini Man (2019).
Benioff was born David Friedman inNew York City, the youngest of three children in aJewish family with ancestral roots in Austria, Romania, Germany, Poland and Russia.[4][5] He is the son of Barbara (née Benioff) andStephen Friedman, a former head ofGoldman Sachs.[6] He grew up inManhattan, first inPeter Cooper Village, then on86th Street where he spent most of his childhood, before eventually moving near theU.N. headquarters when he was 16.[7]
Benioff is an alumnus ofCollegiate School andDartmouth College. At Dartmouth he was a member ofPhi Delta Alpha fraternity and theSphinx Senior Society. After graduating in 1992 with a B.A in English Literature, he had a number of jobs: for a time as aclub bouncer inSan Francisco, and as a high schoolEnglish teacher atPoly Prep inBrooklyn for two years, where he served as the school's wrestling coach.[7][8]
Benioff became interested in an academic career and went toTrinity College, Dublin (TCD), in 1995, for a one-year program to study Irish literature. InDublin he metD. B. Weiss, who later became his collaborator.[4] Benioff wrote a thesis onSamuel Beckett at Trinity College, but decided against a career in academia.[7] He worked as a radio DJ inMoose, Wyoming, for a year—mostly as a side job that he accepted mainly to spend a year in the countryside at a writer's retreat.[9] He then applied to join theUniversity of California, Irvine's creative writing program after readingThe Mysteries of Pittsburgh byMichael Chabon (an alumnus there),[10] and received aMaster of Fine Arts degree in creative writing there in 1999.[11]
In 2001,People magazine included Benioff on its list of America's Top 50 Most Eligible Bachelors.[12]
As an adult, he began using thepen name David Benioff when his first novel was published in 2001. Benioff is his mother'smaiden name. He explained that he did this to avoid confusion with other writers named David Friedman.[13][14] For legal purposes, his copyright filings from the 2010s onward list him as "David Benioff Friedman".[1]
Benioff spent two years writing his first published novel,The 25th Hour,[15][16] originally titledFireman Down, and completed the book as his thesis for his master's degree at Irvine.[17][18] He was asked to adapt the book into a screenplay afterTobey Maguire read a preliminary trade copy and became interested in making a film of the book.[11] The film adaptation,25th Hour, starringEdward Norton, was directed bySpike Lee.[18][19] In 2004 Benioff published a collection of short stories,When the Nines Roll Over (And Other Stories).[20]
He drafted a screenplay of themythological epicTroy (2004), for which Warner Bros. pictures paid him $2.5 million.[21] He also wrote the script for the psychological thrillerStay (2005), directed byMarc Forster and starringEwan McGregor andNaomi Watts. His screenplay forThe Kite Runner (2007), adapted from the novel of the same name, marked his second with Forster.
Benioff was hired in 2004 to write the screenplay for theX-Men spin-offX-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009). He based his script onBarry Windsor-Smith's "Weapon X" story,Chris Claremont andFrank Miller's1982 limited series on the character,[22][23] as well as the 2001 limited seriesOrigin.[24]Hugh Jackman collaborated on the script, which he wanted to be more of a character piece than the previousX-Men films.[25] Fox later hiredSkip Woods to revise and rewrite Benioff's script.[26] Benioff had aimed for a "darker and a bit more brutal" story, writing it with anR rating in mind, but acknowledged the film's final tone would rest with the producers and director.[22]
In 2006, Benioff became interested in adaptingGeorge R. R. Martin's novel seriesA Song of Ice and Fire, and began working withD.B. Weiss on a proposed television series,Game of Thrones.[27] The pilot, "Winter Is Coming", was put into development by HBO in 2007 and the series greenlit in 2010. Benioff and Weiss acted as the show's executive producers,showrunners, and writers. It began airing onHBO in 2011. Benioff and Weiss had previously worked together on a script for a horror film titledThe Headmaster, but it was never made.[7] They also directed three episodes ofGame of Thrones, flipping a coin to decide who would get the credit on the show. Benioff was given the credit forseason 3 episode 3, "Walk of Punishment", while Weiss was credited withseason 4 episode 1, "Two Swords".[7] They co-directed the series finale, "The Iron Throne".[28]
In October 2007,Universal Pictures hired Benioff to write an adapted screenplay of theCharles R. Cross biography ofKurt Cobain, but the screenplay was not used.[29]
In 2008, Benioff's second novel,City of Thieves, was published.[30][31]
In April 2014, Benioff announced he and Weiss had taken on their first feature film project to write, produce, and directDirty White Boys, based on a novel byStephen Hunter.[32][33]21st Century Fox greenlit pre-production on the movie even though at the time, both producers had significant contractual obligations for other projects. Though it was assumed development onDirty White Boys would proceed slowly, promotion for the film not only began slow but stopped altogether. According to Kasey Moore, it has been years since anyone once known to be involved withDirty White Boys, has given an update on the project's status.[34]
In July 2017, Benioff announced that he and Weiss would produce another HBO series,Confederate, after the final season ofGame of Thrones. Benioff and Weiss said, "We have discussedConfederate for years, originally as a concept for a feature film, but our experience onThrones has convinced us that no one provides a bigger, better storytelling canvas than HBO."[35] The announcement ofConfederate met with public animosity and as of August 2019 (when Benioff's and Weiss's deal with Netflix was announced) is not moving forward.[36]
In February 2018,Disney announced that Benioff and Weiss would write and produce a new series ofStar Wars films after the final season ofGame of Thrones ended in 2019.[37]
Towards the end of the final season ofGame of Thrones, a petition toHBO was started onChange.org. It called Benioff and Weiss "woefully incompetent writers" and demanded "competent writers" to remake the eighth season ofGame of Thrones in a manner "that makes sense".[38] The petition eventually amassed over 1.5 million signatures.[39] In theChicago Sun Times,Richard Roeper wrote that the backlash to the eighth season was so great that he doubted he had "ever seen the level of fan (and to a lesser degree, critical) vitriol leveled at"Game of Thrones.[40]
In early August 2019, Benioff and Weiss negotiated an exclusive multi-year film and television deal withNetflix worth $200 million.[41][42] Due to their commitments to Netflix, Benioff and Weiss exited their contract to produceStar Wars films for Disney andLucasfilm.[43][44][45]
Benioff's and Weiss's first project on Netflix was to direct thestand-up comedy specialLeslie Jones: Time Machine.[46]
Benioff, Weiss andAlexander Woo wrote and executive produced the Netflix series3 Body Problem.[47]
On September 30, 2006, Benioff married actressAmanda Peet in a traditionalJewish ceremony inNew York City.[48][4] They have three children.[49] The family divides their time between homes inManhattan andBeverly Hills. He is a second cousin of software entrepreneur and Salesforce CEOMarc Benioff.
| Title | Year | Type | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| The 25th Hour | 2001 | Novel | Paperback: 224 pages Publisher:Plume; Reissue edition (January 29, 2002) Language: English ISBN 0-452-28295-0 |
| When the Nines Roll Over (and Other Stories) | 2004 | Short story collection | Hardcover: 223 pages Publisher:Viking Books (August 19, 2004) Language: English ISBN 0-670-03339-1 |
| City of Thieves | 2008 | Novel | Hardcover: 281 pages Publisher:Viking Books (May 15, 2008) Language: English ISBN 0-670-01870-8 |
| Year | Title | Writer | Producer | Director | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 25th Hour | Yes | No | Spike Lee | Nominated—Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Screenplay |
| 2004 | Troy | Yes | No | Wolfgang Petersen | |
| 2005 | Stay | Yes | No | Marc Forster | |
| When the Nines Roll Over | Yes | Yes | Himself | Short film based on a story fromWhen the Nines Roll Over | |
| 2007 | The Kite Runner | Yes | No | Marc Forster | Christopher Award for Best Feature Film Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film Nominated—BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Adapted Screenplay |
| 2009 | X-Men Origins: Wolverine | Yes | No | Gavin Hood | |
| Brothers | Yes | No | Jim Sheridan | ||
| 2019 | Gemini Man | Yes | No | Ang Lee | |
| 2022 | Metal Lords | No | Yes | Peter Sollett |
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Executive Producer | Creator | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011–2019 | Game of Thrones | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Directed and wrote episodes "Walk of Punishment" and "The Iron Throne" Wrote 45 episodes |
| 2013, 2017 | It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia | No | Yes | No | No | Wrote episode "Flowers for Charlie" Cameo as "Bored Lifeguard #1"(In episode "The Gang Goes to a Water Park") |
| 2020 | Leslie Jones: Time Machine | Yes | No | No | No | TV special; Co-directed withD.B. Weiss |
| 2021 | The Chair | No | No | Yes | No | |
| 2024 - present | 3 Body Problem | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Wrote 4 episodes |
| 2025 | Death by Lightning | No | No | Yes | No |
| Year | Category | Recipient | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Outstanding Drama Series | Game of Thrones | Nominated |
| Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series | Nominated | ||
| 2012 | Outstanding Drama Series | Nominated | |
| 2013 | Outstanding Drama Series | Nominated | |
| Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series | Nominated | ||
| 2014 | Outstanding Drama Series | Nominated | |
| Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series | Nominated | ||
| 2015 | Outstanding Drama Series | Won | |
| Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series | Won | ||
| 2016 | Outstanding Drama Series | Won | |
| Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series | Won | ||
| 2018 | Outstanding Drama Series | Won | |
| Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series | Nominated | ||
| 2019 | Outstanding Drama Series | Won | |
| Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series | Nominated | ||
| 2024 | Outstanding Drama Series | 3 Body Problem | Nominated |
| Year | Category | Recipient | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Drama Series | Game of Thrones | Nominated |
| New Series | Nominated | ||
| 2013 | Drama Series | Nominated | |
| 2015 | Drama Series | Nominated | |
| 2016 | Drama Series | Nominated | |
| Episodic Drama | Nominated | ||
| 2017 | Drama Series | Nominated | |
| Episodic Drama | Nominated | ||
| 2018 | Drama Series | Nominated |
| Year | Title | Award/Nomination |
|---|---|---|
| 2011–2019 | Game of Thrones | Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form (2012)[50] Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form (2013–2014)[51][52] Producers Guild of America Award for Best Episodic Drama (2015)[53] Golden Nymph Awards for Outstanding International Producer (2012)[54] Nominated—Producers Guild of America Award for Best Episodic Drama (2011–2014, 2016, 2018)[55][56][57][58][59][60] Nominated—BAFTA for Best International Programme (2013)[61] Nominated—Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form (2015, 2017)[62][63] Nominated—USC Scripter Award for Best Adapted Screenplay (2016–2017)[64][65] Nominated—Humanitas Prize for 60 Minute Network or Syndicated Television (2017)[66] |
