Gene Stupnitsky (born August 26, 1977) is a Ukrainian-born American film and television writer and producer. He grew up in the suburbs of Chicago. He usually works with
Lee Eisenberg, with whom he founded Quantity Entertainment.
Life and career
Gene Stupnitsky was born in
Kyiv
Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the seventh-most populous city in Europe.
Kyi ...
,
Ukrainian SSR
The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic ( uk, Украї́нська Радя́нська Соціалісти́чна Респу́бліка, ; russian: Украи́нская Сове́тская Социалисти́ческая Респ ...
,
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
(present-day Kyiv, Ukraine) to Jewish parents. He attended
Stevenson High School and graduated from the
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized into 12 col ...
in 2000.
Television
In 2005, Eisenberg and Stupnitsky joined the staff of the
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
comedy series ''
The Office
''The Office'' is a mockumentary sitcom created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, first made in the United Kingdom, then Germany, and subsequently the United States. It has since been remade in ten other countries.
The original series o ...
'', where they remained from seasons 2 to 6. In addition to writing, he served as a co-executive producer and directed two episodes with Eisenberg, "
Michael Scott Paper Company
"Michael Scott Paper Company" is the twenty-third episode of the fifth season of the television series ''The Office'', and the 95th overall episode of the series. It originally aired on NBC in the United States on April 9, 2009.
In the episode, ...
" and "
The Lover". Although he is not credited for directing "The Lover", similarly Eisenberg is not credited for directing "Michael Scott Paper Company", as only one person can be credited with directing the episode. They also directed ''
The Outburst'', a webisode series for ''The Office''. He also acted as one of the Vance Refrigeration delivery guys (Leo), along with Eisenberg, present in several episodes of ''The Office''. Stupnitsky, alongside Eisenberg, co-wrote two of the most critically acclaimed episodes, including
Dinner Party and
Scott’s Tots.
In 2013, Eisenberg and Stupnitsky had a busy year in television, and were listed as two of ''
Deadline Hollywood
''Deadline Hollywood'', commonly known as ''Deadline'' and also referred to as ''Deadline.com'', is an online news site founded as the news blog ''Deadline Hollywood Daily'' by Nikki Finke in 2006. The site is updated several times a day, wit ...
s "Overachievers" of the pilot season. Along with
Stephen Merchant
Stephen James Merchant (born 24 November 1974) is an English comedian, actor, director, presenter and writer.
Alongside Ricky Gervais, Merchant was the co-writer and co-director of the British TV comedy series ''The Office'' (2001–2003), and ...
, they created, executive produced, and wrote for the HBO series ''
Hello Ladies
''Hello Ladies'' is an American sitcom created by Stephen Merchant, Lee Eisenberg, and Gene Stupnitsky. It stars Merchant as an Englishman looking for love in modern Los Angeles. The series premiered on the American network HBO on September 29, ...
'', which ran for one season and concluded with a feature-length special. That same year, they wrote a pilot for ABC based on the popular
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
'', which aired for one season on ABC. They also executive produced the TV series ''
Eisenberg and Stupnitsky have worked together on several screenplays, many of which they have produced as well. Alongside
, and was released in 2009. Following that, they wrote and produced the film ''
and had worldwide success. They were to serve as producers of a proposed sequel.
Eisenberg and Stupnitsky wrote a screenplay for ''
'', but it was never produced.
Stupnitsky made his directorial debut with the 2019 comedy hit ''
''.
, which he co-wrote and is directing. It stars