Steve Kloves
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Stephen Keith Kloves (born March 18, 1960) is an American filmmaker. He wrote and directed the 1989 film ''
The Fabulous Baker Boys ''The Fabulous Baker Boys'' is a 1989 American romantic comedy-drama musical film written and directed by Steve Kloves. Primarily set in Seattle, Washington, the film follows a piano duo consisting of brothers, who hire an attractive singer t ...
'' and is mainly known for his
adaptations In biology, adaptation has three related meanings. Firstly, it is the dynamic evolutionary process of natural selection that fits organisms to their environment, enhancing their evolutionary fitness. Secondly, it is a state reached by the ...
of novels, especially for all but one of the ''Harry Potter'' films (the exception being ''
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix ''Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix'' is a fantasy novel written by British author J. K. Rowling and the fifth novel in the ''Harry Potter'' series. It follows Harry Potter's struggles through his fifth year at Hogwarts School of Wi ...
'') and for ''
Wonder Boys ''Wonder Boys'' is a 1995 novel by the American writer Michael Chabon. It was adapted into a film with the same title in 2000. Plot summary Pittsburgh professor and author Grady Tripp is working on an unwieldy 2,611-page manuscript that is mean ...
'', for which he was nominated for the
Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay The Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay is the Academy Award for the best screenplay Film adaptation, adapted from previously established material. The most frequently adapted media are novels, but other adapted narrative formats include st ...
.


Life and career

Kloves, born in
Austin Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...
, Texas, grew up in
Sunnyvale Sunnyvale () is a city located in the Santa Clara Valley in northwest Santa Clara County in the U.S. state of California. Sunnyvale lies along the historic El Camino Real and Highway 101 and is bordered by portions of San Jose to the nort ...
, California, where he graduated from Fremont High School. He attended the
University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the Californ ...
but dropped out when he was not admitted into the
film school A film school is an educational institution dedicated to teaching aspects of filmmaking, including such subjects as film production, film theory, digital media production, and screenwriting. Film history courses and hands-on technical training ar ...
in his third year. As an unpaid
intern An internship is a period of work experience offered by an organization for a limited period of time. Once confined to medical graduates, internship is used practice for a wide range of placements in businesses, non-profit organizations and gove ...
for a Hollywood agent, he gained attention for a screenplay he wrote called ''Swings''. This led to a meeting where he successfully pitched ''
Racing with the Moon ''Racing with the Moon'' is a 1984 American drama film starring Sean Penn, Elizabeth McGovern, and Nicolas Cage. It was directed by Richard Benjamin and written by Steve Kloves. The original music score was composed by Dave Grusin. The film's ti ...
'' (1984). His first experience with professional screenwriting left him wanting more interaction with the actors so that the characters would stay true to his vision. Kloves wrote ''
The Fabulous Baker Boys ''The Fabulous Baker Boys'' is a 1989 American romantic comedy-drama musical film written and directed by Steve Kloves. Primarily set in Seattle, Washington, the film follows a piano duo consisting of brothers, who hire an attractive singer t ...
'' and also intended it to be his directorial debut. After years of trying to sell the project in Hollywood, the film finally got off the ground and was released in 1989. ''The Fabulous Baker Boys'' did reasonably well and was critically acclaimed, but his next shot as writer/director for ''
Flesh and Bone Flesh and Bone may refer to: * ''Flesh and Bone'' (film), a 1993 film starring Meg Ryan, Dennis Quaid and James Caan * ''Flesh and Bone'' (miniseries), a 2015 American television series on Starz * "Flesh and Bone" (Battlestar Galactica), an epis ...
'' in 1993 fared poorly at the box office. Kloves then stopped writing for three years. Interview with Steve Kloves. Realizing that he had to return to writing to support his family, he began adapting
Michael Chabon Michael Chabon ( ; born May 24, 1963) is an American novelist, screenwriter, columnist, and short story writer. Born in Washington, DC, he spent a year studying at Carnegie Mellon University before transferring to the University of Pittsburgh, gr ...
's novel ''
Wonder Boys ''Wonder Boys'' is a 1995 novel by the American writer Michael Chabon. It was adapted into a film with the same title in 2000. Plot summary Pittsburgh professor and author Grady Tripp is working on an unwieldy 2,611-page manuscript that is mean ...
'' into a screenplay. Kloves was offered the chance to direct but he declined, preferring to direct only his own original work. This was his first try at adapting another work to film. His screenplay was nominated for a
Golden Globe The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of ...
and an
Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
after the film's release in 2000.
Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...
sent Kloves a list of novels that the company was considering to adapt as films. The listing included the first ''Harry Potter'' novel, which intrigued him despite his usual indifference to these catalogs. He went on to write the screenplays for the first four films in the series. However, he turned down writing the fifth film, stating that "The fourth film, ''Goblet of Fire'', was really hard to do. I wrote on it for two years. But it’s not that simple and I don't know that I'll ever fully understand why I didn't do it." After
Michael Goldenberg Michael Goldenberg (born January 18, 1965) is an American playwright, screenwriter and film director. He graduated from the Carnegie Mellon College of Drama in 1986 with a B.F.A. Goldenberg is best known for writing the screenplay for the film '' ...
wrote the screenplay for the fifth film, Kloves then returned to write the sixth, seventh and eighth installments. In 2011, Kloves was attached to work on a film adaptation of
Mark Haddon Mark Haddon (born 28 October 1962) is an English novelist, best known for ''The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time'' (2003). He won the Whitbread Award, the Dolly Gray Children's Literature Award, Guardian Prize, and a Commonwealth Wr ...
's novel ''
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time ''The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time'' is a 2003 mystery novel by British writer Mark Haddon. Its title refers to an observation by the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes (created by Arthur Conan Doyle) in the 1892 short story " ...
''. Since 2016, Kloves produced the ''
Fantastic Beasts ''Fantastic Beasts'' is a film series directed by David Yates, and a spin-off prequel to the ''Harry Potter'' novel and film series. The series is distributed by Warner Bros. and consists of three fantasy films as of 2022, beginning with ...
'' films, a spinoff prequel series to the main ''
Harry Potter ''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young wizard, Harry Potter, and his friends Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, all of whom are students at ...
'' series. Kloves co-wrote the third installment with
J.K. Rowling Joanne Rowling ( "rolling"; born 31 July 1965), also known by her pen name J. K. Rowling, is a British author and philanthropist. She wrote ''Harry Potter'', a seven-volume children's fantasy series published from 1997 to 2007. The ser ...
. Kloves produced the
Andy Serkis Andrew Clement Serkis (born 20 April 1964) is an English actor, director, and producer. He is best known for his performance capture roles comprising motion capture acting, animation, and voice work for computer-generated characters such as Go ...
-directed movie, '' Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle''. His daughter, Callie, wrote the screenplay.


Filmography


Films

Other credits


Attraction

* 2010: ''
Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey is a motion-based dark ride located in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter-themed areas of Islands of Adventure in Orlando, Florida; Universal Studios Hollywood in Universal City, California; Universal S ...
'' (written with Chick Russell)


References


External links

* *https://www.aglassofrain.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Kloves, Steve 1960 births American male screenwriters American film producers Living people Writers from Austin, Texas Writers from Sunnyvale, California Film directors from Texas Film directors from California Film producers from Texas Screenwriters from California Screenwriters from Texas