Charlie Kaufman

The wonderful creative talent Charlie Kaufman is a filmmaker and novelist, best known for his quirky movies, which include Being John Malkovich, and Adaptation. He was awarded with the Best Original Screenplay Oscar in 2005 for his movie Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. His debut novel, Antkind, was published in 2020.

Born and raised in New York City, and then later in Connecticut, Kaufman became interested in drama during his High School years. He attended Boston University and then New York University to study film, where he met his writing partner Paul Proch. After graduating the duo wrote comedic articles and spoofs for National Lampoon, as well as a number of unproduced screenplays. Kaufman then relocated to Los Angeles to pursue a writing career, where he secured work on such shows as Get a Life, The Trouble with Larry, and The Dana Carvey Show.

Kaufman came to mainstream notice when his screenplay Being John Malkovich earned him an Oscar nomination. After it’s success his work began to find a home, and his screenplays for Adaptation, Human Nature, and George Clooney’s directorial debut Confessions of a Dangerous Mind all got produced. Then in 2005 his screenplay Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind won the Best Original Screenplay Oscar.

Kaufman made his directorial debut in 2004 with Synecdoche, New York, and he went on to write and direct Anomalisa in 2015, and I’m Thinking of Ending Things in 2020, which was the same year his debut novel, Antkind, was published.