Charlie Kaufman | |
|---|---|
_(cropped).jpg) Kaufman at the 2015Fantastic Fest | |
| Born | Charles Stuart Kaufman (1958-11-19)November 19, 1958 (age 66) New York City, U.S. |
| Alma mater | New York University (BFA) |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1983–present |
| Spouse | Denise Monaghan |
| Children | 1 |
Charles Stuart Kaufman (/ˈkɔːfmən/; born November 19, 1958) is an American filmmaker and novelist. His work is distinguished bypostmodernist andsurrealist storytelling, with many critics considering him anauteur. Getting his start as a television writer, Kaufman gained prominence for his collaborations with directorsSpike Jonze andMichel Gondry onBeing John Malkovich (1999),Adaptation (2002), andEternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), before going on to direct films himself withSynecdoche, New York (2008),Anomalisa (2015), andI'm Thinking of Ending Things (2020). In 2020, he released a novel,Antkind.
One of the most celebrated screenwriters of his era,[1][2][3][4] Kaufman has receivednumerous accolades, including anAcademy Award, threeBAFTA Awards, twoIndependent Spirit Awards, anEmmy Award, and aWriters Guild of America Award. Film criticRoger Ebert calledSynecdoche, New York "the best movie of the decade" in 2009.[5] Three of Kaufman's scripts appear in theWriters Guild of America's list of the 101 greatest movie screenplays ever written.[6]
Kaufman was born in New York City to aJewish family[7][8][9][10] on November 19, 1958, the son of Helen and Myron Kaufman.[11] He grew up inMassapequa, New York, before moving toWest Hartford, Connecticut.[12] In high school, Kaufman was in the drama club, performing in numerous productions before landing the lead role in a production ofPlay It Again, Sam during his senior year.[12] After high school graduation, Kaufman attendedBoston University before transferring toNew York University, where he studied film. While attending NYU, Kaufman met Paul Proch, with whom he wrote many unproduced scripts and plays.[12]
Between 1983 and 1984, Kaufman and Proch wrote comedic articles and spoofs forNational Lampoon. His work included parodies ofKurt Vonnegut and theX-Men.[13] Kaufman and Proch tried to get their screenplays produced, sending them to many people in the film industry. The only response the two ever received was a supportive letter fromAlan Arkin about their screenplayPurely Coincidental.[14] In hope of finding atalent agent, he wrote a portfolio ofspec scripts based on television series such asMarried... with Children,Newhart,It's Garry Shandling's Show andThe Simpsons. While pursuing his writing career, he began working odd jobs incustomer service to support himself and his wife, Denise.[15] During the late 1980s, Kaufman lived and worked inMinneapolis, working at theStar Tribune circulation department for four and a half years, as well as theMinneapolis Institute of Art.[12]
In 1991, one of Kaufman's spec scripts finally got attention, and he gained a talent agent. The agent suggested Kaufman move fromMinneapolis toLos Angeles in search of more job prospects. He moved to Los Angeles alone for two months, interviewing for a variety of different television writing jobs. The only offer he got was aComedy Central series titledAccess America, hosted by actorFred Willard, which coincidentally was being filmed in Minneapolis. Kaufman was prepared to accept the job and move back to Minneapolis until he was offered a job byDavid Mirkin, writing for the second season of his andChris Elliott's sitcomGet a Life, starring Elliott.[12] He wrote two episodes ofGet a Life before its cancellation in 1992. At first, Kaufman found the experience of working on a writing staff nerve-wracking and did not speak in the writer's room for the first few weeks. After his work was well received by other members of the staff, Kaufman overcame his timidity and became more amenable to showing others his work.[15]
AfterGet a Life's cancellation, Kaufman tried to get work on series such asSeinfeld,The Larry Sanders Show,The Simpsons andMr. Show, but was not hired by any of them. He continued to work on other comedic series: Fox's sketch comedy showThe Edge,The Trouble with Larry andNed and Stacey, the last of which he also produced. The most notable series he worked on in this period wasThe Dana Carvey Show, which featured writers and performers such asLouis C.K.,Robert Smigel,Greg Daniels,Stephen Colbert andSteve Carell. On all these series, Kaufman struggled to keep his material from being adulterated or not produced at all, because of his unconventional writing and his quiet nature.[15]
Kaufman also wrote somepilot scripts of his own, but none of them were produced.[12][16] These included two pilots forDisney,Depressed Roomies andRambling Pants (the former a surrealist take on the "buddy sitcom" and the latter focused on the adventures of a time-travelling poet named Pants) and a pilot forHBO,In Limbo, a naturalistic look at a romantic relationship devoid of the usual tropes ofromantic films.[15] BeforeBeing John Malkovich was released, he was hired to pitch and write scripts for film projects that were never produced. These unproduced projects included a script for an adaptation ofPhilip K. Dick's novelA Scanner Darkly, a pitch for astar vehicle forDon Rickles andRodney Dangerfield in which they would play a washed-up, murderouscomedy duo (an idea Kaufman used inAntkind), and a pitch for aR-rated version of the TV seriesGilligan's Island.
Kaufman first came to mainstream notice as the writer ofBeing John Malkovich, directed bySpike Jonze, earning anAcademy Award nomination for his effort and winning aBAFTA. He wrote the script on spec in 1994, sending it to many companies and studios, all of which turned it down. The script eventually reachedFrancis Ford Coppola, who passed it on to his then-son-in-law Jonze, who agreed to direct the film.[17]
After the success ofBeing John Malkovich, another of Kaufman's screenplays was produced:Human Nature, which was directed byMichel Gondry and produced by Kaufman and Jonze. Kaufman and Jonze reunited yet again as the screenwriter and director ofAdaptation, which earned him another Academy Award nomination and his second BAFTA.Adaptation featured a fictionalized version of Kaufman and his fictional brother, Donald, who is credited as writer of the film along with Kaufman. The idea came to Kaufman while attempting to adaptSusan Orlean's bookThe Orchid Thief into film. Struggling withwriter's block, Kaufman turned the script into an exaggerated account of his struggles with adapting the screenplay.[18]
Kaufman wrote the screenplay forConfessions of a Dangerous Mind, a biopic based on the "unauthorized autobiography" ofChuck Barris, the creator of such popular game shows asThe Dating Game and host ofThe Gong Show. The film focuses on Barris's claim to have been aCIAhit man. It wasGeorge Clooney's directorial debut. Kaufman criticized Clooney for making drastic alterations to the script without consulting him (instead, Clooney consulted Barris). Kaufman said in an interview with William Arnold: "The usual thing for a writer is to deliver a script and then disappear. That's not for me. I want to be involved from beginning to end. And these directors [Gondry and Jonze] know that, and respect it."[19]
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, released in 2004, was Kaufman's second pairing with directorMichel Gondry. Kaufman won his firstAcademy Award forBest Original Screenplay and third BAFTA for the film together with Gondry and French artistPierre Bismuth. The trio also received the prestigiousPEN American Center 2005 prize for screenplay for the film.[20]David Edelstein described the film inSlate as "The Awful Truth turned inside-out byPhilip K. Dick, with nods toSamuel Beckett,Chris Marker,John Guare—the greatest dramatists of our modern fractured consciousness. But the weave is pure Kaufman."[21]
After agreeing to participate inCarter Burwell'sTheater of the New Ear, a double bill "sound play", Kaufman wrote and directed the audio playHope Leaves the Theater, while the other play in the production,Sawbones, was written and directed by theCoen Brothers.Hope Leaves the Theater follows a middle-aged woman, dissatisfied with her life and relationships, watching a play-within-the-play, and featured performances byHope Davis,Peter Dinklage andMeryl Streep.[22]Theater of the New Ear debuted in April 2005 atSt. Ann's Warehouse inBrooklyn, New York.[23] Due to scheduling conflicts, later productions ofTheater of the New Ear did not feature the Coens' play, replacing it withAnomalisa, which Kaufman wrote under the pseudonym "'Francis Fregoli".Anomalisa centers on a man (David Thewlis) who perceives everyone in the world to be the same person (Tom Noonan) until he meets an exception (Jennifer Jason Leigh).[24]
Kaufman made his directorial film debut with thepostmodern filmSynecdoche, New York, starring an ensemble cast led byPhilip Seymour Hoffman.[25] It premiered at theCannes Film Festival in 2008. The idea for the film came when Kaufman and Spike Jonze were approached to direct ahorror film. Rather than make a conventional horror film, the two agreed to have the film deal with things they found frightening, such as mortality and life's brevity.[26] Kaufman decided to direct the film after Jonze left the project to directWhere the Wild Things Are instead. The film premiered at the2008 Cannes Film Festival where it split critics, with some calling it the best film of the year and others finding it pretentious.[27][failed verification][28] In the years since its release, it has appeared on multiple lists ranking the best films of the 21st century.[29][30] The film's poor box office resulted in Kaufman finding it difficult to gain funding for scripts to which he has attached himself as director.[31]
Kaufman was slated to write and direct a film with the working titleFrank or Francis. Few details have been confirmed about the plot, except that it is amusical comedy aboutinternet anger culture and was set to starJack Black, Nicolas Cage, Steve Carell,Kevin Kline, Catherine Keener,Paul Reubens,Jacki Weaver andElizabeth Banks.[32] In July 2012, Black said that funding for the project had fallen through, as the studio was unsure about its chances for success after the financial failure ofSynecdoche, New York. Although the future of the project is not certain, Kaufman says "It could still happen. It would have to be reinvented, though. We had a whole cast and we were headed into pre-production. So, I'd have to get people back and who knows if they would be interested anymore. But at this point, we don't have any money, so that's a secondary concern."[31]
Trying to make a return to television when the funding forFrank or Francis fell through, Kaufman sold a series to HBO in May 2012 with Catherine Keener attached to star, but the series did not get past the scripting stage.[33] Kaufman also directed and wrote a pilot forFX titledHow and Why in 2014. The plot was described as being about a "man (played byJohn Hawkes) who can explain how and why a nuclear reactor works but is clueless about life". Along with Hawkes, the pilot co-starredMichael Cera,Sally Hawkins, Catherine Keener andTom Noonan. FX decided to not pick up the pilot.[34]
While struggling to get his directorial work made, Kaufman continued to work as a writer for hire, writing numerous unproduced screenplays. These included a satire set on a planet inhabited by everyone who ever lived, to be directed by Spike Jonze; an adaptation ofGeorge Saunders's bookCivilWarLand in Bad Decline, to be directed byBen Stiller; and an adaptation ofArthur Herzog's novelIQ 83, starring Steve Carell.[35][36] He later attempted to develop hisIQ 83 screenplay into a limited series forHBO, to no avail.[37] He also did uncredited rewrites on films such asKung Fu Panda 2 andAd Astra.[35] In April 2012, Kaufman was hired to adaptPatrick Ness'sChaos Walking book series, of which he wrote the first draft before leaving the project. After multiple rewrites by other writers, thefilm was released in 2021 with Kaufman uncredited.[38]
Dino Stamatopoulos, a former colleague of Kaufman's fromThe Dana Carvey Show, became interested in adapting Kaufman'sAnomalisa play script into astop motionanimated film. With Kaufman's permission, Stamatopoulos turned to thecrowd-funding websiteKickstarter to fund the film. The Kickstarter page was set up in August 2012 and by the time funding had ended $406,237 was pledged.[39] The rest of the $8 million budget was funded by the film's production company, Starburns Industries.[40] Kaufman co-directed the film withDuke Johnson, who had previous experience in stop motion filmmaking, and the original cast of the play production returned to reprise their roles. It had its world premiere at theTelluride Film Festival on September 4, 2015,[41] receiving universal acclaim from critics.[42] The film went on to win theGrand Jury Prize at theVenice Film Festival and was nominated for anAcademy Award forBest Animated Feature, but likeSynecdoche, it did poorly at the box office.[43]
Kaufman'sdebut novel,Antkind, was released in July 2020. Kaufman said in 2016 that the novel was being written so as to be unfilmable, and is itself about "animpossible movie".[44] InAntkind, film critic B. Rosenberg attempts to recall a three-month long stop-motion animation film that perished in a fire. Believing the film to be his last chance at achieving the respect and admiration of his peers, B. embarks on an absurdist journey that explorescomedy,film theory,philosophy, andsocial commentary acrossAntkind's 706 pages.[45]
In January 2018, it was announced that Kaufman was working on writing and directingan adaptation ofIain Reid's 2016 novelI'm Thinking of Ending Things.[46] In December 2018, it was announced thatBrie Larson andJesse Plemons were signed to co-star as the leads; the film was described as "the story of a woman's trip to a family farm that leads to an unexpected detour leaving her stranded, [and] a twisted mix of palpable tension, psychological frailty and sheer terror ensues."[47][48] The project began filming in March 2019, withJessie Buckley having replaced Larson, andToni Collette andDavid Thewlis joining the cast, and was released on Netflix in September 2020 to positive reviews.[49][50]
In 2023, Kaufman directed his first short film,Jackals & Fireflies. Based on a poem by Eva H.D., who also portrays the lead character, the film was shot entirely on aSamsung Galaxy S22smartphone by cinematographer Chayse Irvin.[51] Kaufman has written a script about dreams forRyan Gosling's production company and an adaptation of the novelThe Memory Police thatReed Morano is slated to direct.[52] In 2025, the script centered on dreams was revealed to be titledLater the War, based on Iddo Gefen's short story "Debby’s Dream House".Eddie Redmayne,Tessa Thompson, andPatsy Ferran are slated to star, with Kaufman directing.[53]
Kaufman's works explore such universal themes asidentity crisis,mortality, and themeaning of life through ametaphysical orparapsychological framework. While his work resists labels, it is sometimes described assurrealist.[54] He usesmetafiction as a literary device, and sometimes includes fictionalized "facts" about his life in his work, notablyAdaptation.,Hope Leaves the Theater, andAntkind.Gender identity is also a recurrent theme in his work.[55] Non-human primates also recur in Kaufman's early work: inBeing John Malkovich, Lotte has a pet chimpanzee named Elijah; inHuman Nature, Puff was raised as a chimpanzee; inConfessions of a Dangerous Mind, Penny dreams about a monkey; and inAdaptation, the originaldeus ex machina was a Bigfoot-like "Swamp Ape".[56]
Some writers and directors Kaufman has named as favorites of his, or as influences, areFranz Kafka,[33]Samuel Beckett,[57]Eugene Ionesco,Stanisław Lem,[58]Flannery O'Connor,[59]Shirley Jackson,[59]Philip K. Dick,[60]Patricia Highsmith,[60]Stephen Dixon,[60]David Lynch,[33]Lars von Trier,[33]Roy Andersson,[33]Woody Allen,[61] and theCoen brothers.[62] He has also mentionedTom Noonan'sWhat Happened Was... as a favorite of his.[63]
As of 2020[update], Kaufman lives inManhattan,[64] having lived inPasadena, California, since 1998.[65][16] He is married to Denise Monaghan,[66] with whom he has a daughter, Anna.[64][67]
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Being John Malkovich | No | Yes | Executive | Nominated for theAcademy Award for Best Original Screenplay |
| 2001 | Human Nature | No | Yes | Yes | |
| 2002 | Adaptation | No | Yes | Executive | Nominated for theAcademy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay |
| Confessions of a Dangerous Mind | No | Yes | No | ||
| 2004 | Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind | No | Yes | Executive | Winner of theAcademy Award for Best Original Screenplay |
| 2008 | Synecdoche, New York | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 2015 | Anomalisa | Yes | Yes | Yes | Nominated for theAcademy Award for Best Animated Feature Co-directed withDuke Johnson |
| 2020 | I'm Thinking of Ending Things | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 2023 | Jackals & Fireflies | Yes | No | Yes | Short film |
| 2024 | Orion and the Dark | No | Yes | No | |
| 2025 | How to Shoot a Ghost | Yes | No | Yes | Short film |
Executive producer only
| Year | Title |
|---|---|
| 2024 | Darkest Miriam |
| 2025 | The Actor |
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991–1992 | Get a Life | No | Yes | No | 2 episodes |
| 1992–1993 | The Edge | No | Yes | No | 20 episodes |
| 1993 | The Trouble with Larry | No | Yes | No | Also story editor 7 episodes |
| 1995 | Misery Loves Company | No | No | Yes | 6 episodes |
| 1996 | The Dana Carvey Show | No | Yes | No | 8 episodes |
| 1996–1997 | Ned and Stacey | No | Yes | Yes | 3 episodes |
| 2014 | How and Why | Yes | Yes | Executive | Also creator Unaired pilot[68] |
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Hope Leaves the Theater | Yes | Yes | |
| Anomalisa | Yes | Yes | Under the pseudonym Francis Fregoli | |
| 2024 | Pre-Existing Condition | No | No | Producer only |
| Year | Title | Publisher | ISBN | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Antkind | Random House | 978-0399589683 | Novel |
| 2024 | "This Fact Can Even Be Proved by Means of the Sense of Hearing" | Little, Brown Book Group | 978-1646222636 | Short story |
