Charlie Kaufman facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Charlie Kaufman
Kaufman at the 2015 Fantastic Fest
Born	Charles Stuart Kaufman (1958-11-19) November 19, 1958 (age 66) New York City, U.S.
Alma mater	New York University (BFA)
Occupation	Screenwriter producer director novelist
Years active	1983–present
Spouse(s)	Denise Monaghan
Children	1

Charles Stuart Kaufman (born November 19, 1958) is an American writer, film director, and novelist. He is known for creating unique and thought-provoking movies.

Some of his most famous works include writing Being John Malkovich (1999), Adaptation (2002), and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004). He also directed films like Synecdoche, New York (2008), Anomalisa (2015), and I'm Thinking of Ending Things (2020). In 2020, he released his first novel, Antkind.

Charlie Kaufman has won many awards for his writing. These include an Academy Award, three BAFTA Awards, and an Emmy Award. Film critic Roger Ebert even called Synecdoche, New York "the best movie of the decade" in 2009.

Early Life and Education

Charlie Kaufman was born in New York City on November 19, 1958. He grew up in Massapequa, New York, and later moved to West Hartford, Connecticut.

In high school, Kaufman enjoyed being part of the drama club. He acted in many plays. After high school, he studied film at New York University. There, he met Paul Proch, and they wrote many scripts together.

Career

Starting in Comedy (1983–1997)

From 1983 to 1984, Kaufman and Paul Proch wrote funny articles for National Lampoon magazine. They also tried to get their screenplays made into movies.

Kaufman wrote sample scripts for TV shows like Married... with Children and The Simpsons. He worked customer service jobs to support himself while pursuing his writing dream. In the late 1980s, he lived and worked in Minneapolis.

In 1991, Kaufman finally got a talent agent. This led him to move to Los Angeles to find more writing jobs. He was offered a job writing for the sitcom Get a Life. He wrote two episodes before the show ended in 1992.

After Get a Life, Kaufman worked on other comedy shows. These included The Edge and Ned and Stacey. He also worked on The Dana Carvey Show, which had famous writers and performers like Stephen Colbert and Steve Carell. Kaufman often found it challenging to keep his unique ideas in the shows.

He also wrote some pilot scripts for his own TV shows, but none of them were made. He also pitched ideas for movies that were never produced.

Moving to Films (1999–2004)

Kaufman became well-known when his script for Being John Malkovich was made into a movie in 1999. Spike Jonze directed it. Kaufman wrote this script in 1994, but many companies turned it down at first. It eventually reached director Francis Ford Coppola, who shared it with Jonze.

After Being John Malkovich was a success, another of Kaufman's scripts, Human Nature, was produced in 2001. Michel Gondry directed this film.

Kaufman and Jonze worked together again on Adaptation (2002). This movie was unique because it featured a made-up version of Kaufman himself and his fictional brother, Donald. The idea came to Kaufman when he struggled to adapt a book called The Orchid Thief. He turned his struggles into the story of the movie.

Kaufman also wrote the screenplay for Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002). This film was about a game show creator who claimed to be a CIA agent.

In 2004, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind was released. This was Kaufman's second movie with director Michel Gondry. Kaufman won his first Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for this film.

Directing His Own Films (2005–Present)

Kaufman started directing his own films. His first movie as a director was Synecdoche, New York (2008). This film explored big ideas like life and death. It starred Philip Seymour Hoffman. The movie was well-received by some critics and has appeared on lists of the best films of the 21st century.

He also wrote and directed an audio play called Hope Leaves the Theater in 2005. Later, he wrote another play called Anomalisa.

In 2012, a former colleague helped adapt Kaufman's play Anomalisa into a stop motion animated film. They raised money for the film through Kickstarter. Kaufman co-directed Anomalisa (2015) with Duke Johnson. The film was highly praised and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.

Kaufman's first novel, Antkind, was released in July 2020. He said he wrote the novel so it would be impossible to turn into a movie. The book is about a film critic trying to remember a lost stop-motion animation film.

In 2020, Kaufman's film I'm Thinking of Ending Things was released on Netflix. It was based on a novel by Iain Reid. The movie tells the story of a woman's trip to a family farm that takes an unexpected turn.

In 2023, Kaufman directed his first short film, Jackals & Fireflies. It was based on a poem and filmed using a Samsung Galaxy S22 smartphone. He has also written a script about dreams for Ryan Gosling's production company. This script, titled Later the War, is expected to be directed by Kaufman and star Eddie Redmayne, Tessa Thompson, and Patsy Ferran.

Themes and Influences

Charlie Kaufman's movies often explore big questions. These include who we are, what life means, and what happens after we die. His work is sometimes called surrealist, meaning it has dream-like or unusual elements.

He often uses metafiction, which means his stories sometimes talk about themselves or the process of creating them. For example, he includes made-up facts about his own life in some of his works.

Kaufman has mentioned many artists who inspire him. These include writers like Franz Kafka and Philip K. Dick, and directors like David Lynch and the Coen brothers.

Personal Life

As of 2020, Charlie Kaufman lives in Manhattan, New York. He is married to Denise Monaghan, and they have a daughter named Anna.

Works

Film

Executive producer only

Television

Plays

Literature

Awards and Nominations

See also

In Spanish: Charlie Kaufman para niños