Ben Schiffer (born 12 July 1983) is a British

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

and

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

. He is married to actress Emily Taaffe.

Early life and education

Schiffer was born in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

, the Netherlands, the second son of Jewish American emigrants. He moved to London at the age of two. He attended

University College School University College School, also known as UCS, is a private day school in Frognal, Hampstead, London, England. The school was founded in 1830 by University College London and inherited many of that institution's progressive and secular views. ...

before moving to

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, Ireland to read English and History at

Trinity College Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...

, graduating with a

First-Class Honours The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading structure used for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and integrated master's degrees in the United Kingdom. The system has been applied, sometimes with significant var ...

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

in 2006. His first commission, whilst still at University, was the short film ''Hot Or Not'', broadcast on BBC One in 2006.

Career

Theatre

Schiffer wrote his first play, ''Paper Tigers'', whilst still at university; the play ran to sell-out crowds at the

Edinburgh Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as the Edinburgh Fringe, the Fringe or the Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest performance arts festival, which in 2024 spanned 25 days, sold more than 2.6 million tickets and featur ...

. His recent theatre work includes ''His Ghostly Heart'' and ''50 Ways To Leave Your Lover'', both commissioned by and performed at The

Bush Theatre The Bush Theatre is located in the Passmore Edwards Public Library, Shepherd's Bush, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. It was established in 1972 as a showcase for the work of new writers. Artistic Directors * Brian McDermott ...

as well as at the

Edinburgh Fringe Festival The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as the Edinburgh Fringe, the Fringe or the Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest performance arts festival, which in 2024 spanned 25 days, sold more than 2.6 million tickets and featur ...

. Ben has been on the

Royal Court Theatre The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a West End theatre#London's non-commercial theatres, non-commercial theatre in Sloane Square, London, England, opene ...

's Young Writers Scheme and has had his previous plays performed in London, Dublin, Edinburgh and the Latitude Festival.

Television

Schiffer wrote episodes of '' Brief Encounters'' and '' Spooks: Code 9'' in 2006 and 2008, respectively. He then would work on the UK teen drama '' Skins'', writing a total of five episodes for the first four series, as well as contributing a story for the episode ''Abbud'' in 2011. In 2013, he wrote and co-executive produced ''

Dates Date or dates may refer to: * Date, the fruit of the date palm (''Phoenix dactylifera'') * Jujube, also known as red date or Chinese date, the fruit of ''Ziziphus jujuba'' Social activity *Dating, a form of courtship involving social activit ...

'', created by ''Skins'' creator

Bryan Elsley Bryan Elsley (born 17 May 1961 in Dalkeith, Midlothian) is a Scottish television writer, best known for the co-creation of E4 teen drama '' Skins'' with his son, Jamie Brittain. Other television dramas include ''Rose and Maloney'', '' The Young ...

for

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

. He wrote a pilot, ''Goths'', with

Jack Thorne Jack Thorne FRSL (born 6 December 1978) is a British playwright, television writer, screenwriter, and producer. A massive fan of hard science fiction, he is best known for writing the stage play '' Harry Potter and the Cursed Child'', the fil ...

, for Shine Media. His previous comedy pilot ''Not Safe For Work'' won an RTS Student Award in 2010. He would contribute episodes to ''

Stan Lee's Lucky Man ''Stan Lee's Lucky Man'' is a British superhero crime drama television series created by Stan Lee and Neil Biswas. The series is produced by Carnival Films and POW! Entertainment for Sky 1, which follows the story of Murder Squad detective Har ...

'', Netflix's ''

Young Wallander ''Young Wallander'' is a crime drama television series, based on Henning Mankell's fictional Inspector Kurt Wallander. The series premiered on Netflix on 3 September 2020. Star Adam Pålsson explained that the pre-imagining (i.e., ''Young Walla ...

'', Sky's '' Intergalactic'' and ''

Ransom Ransom refers to the practice of holding a prisoner or item to extort money or property to secure their release. It also refers to the sum of money paid by the other party to secure a captive's freedom. When ransom means "payment", the word ...

'', on which he also served as co-producer. Most recently, he served as the Creator and Showrunner of ''

The Turkish Detective ''The Turkish Detective'' is an American-British-Turkish crime drama television series, adapted from Barbara Nadel's ''Çetin İkmen'' book series. Premise Turkish-born, British-raised police officer Mehmet Süleyman transfers from London to ...

'', an adaptation of Barbara Nadel's 'DI Ikmen' novels for

Paramount+ Paramount+ (formerly known as CBS All Access in the United States and 10 All Access in Australia) is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, stream ...

Film

He was cited as one of

Screen International ''Screen International'' is a British film magazine covering the international film business. It is published by Media Business Insight, a British B2B media company which also owned '' Broadcast''. The magazine is primarily aimed at those involv ...

's ''Stars of Tomorrow'' in 2009 and his screenplay ''Cheerleaders 3D'' came second in the 2010 ''Brit List'' with 8 Votes.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Schiffer, Ben 1983 births Living people Alumni of Trinity College Dublin 21st-century British male writers British television writers British male screenwriters British dramatists and playwrights British male dramatists and playwrights British male television writers 21st-century British screenwriters People educated at University College School