Lee Eisenberg (born April 5, 1977) is an American film and television writer and producer. He usually works with Gene Stupnitsky, with whom he founded Quantity Entertainment.

Life and career

Eisenberg was born in

Needham, Massachusetts Needham ( ) is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. A suburb of Boston, its population was 32,091 in the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. Census. It is the home of Olin College. History ...

. His father is an immigrant from

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

. He graduated from

Connecticut College Connecticut College (Conn) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in New London, Connecticut. Originally chartered as Thames College, it was founded in 1911 as the state's only women's colle ...

in 1999, after which he wrote the independent short film ''Flush'', and was once a contestant on the game show ''

Pyramid A pyramid () is a structure whose visible surfaces are triangular in broad outline and converge toward the top, making the appearance roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be of any polygon shape, such as trian ...

''.

Television

In 2005, Eisenberg and Stupnitsky joined the staff of the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

comedy series ''

The Office ''The Office'' is the title of several mockumentary sitcoms based on a British series originally created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant as '' The Office'' in 2001. The original series also starred Gervais as manager and primary charac ...

'', where they remained from seasons 2 to 6. In addition to writing, he served as a co-executive producer and directed two episodes with Stupnitsky, " Michael Scott Paper Company" and " The Lover". Although he is not credited for directing "Michael Scott Paper Company", similarly Stupnitsky is not credited for directing "The Lover", as only one person can be credited with directing the episode. They also directed '' The Outburst'', a webisode series for ''The Office''. He acted as Gino, one of the Vance Refrigeration delivery people, along with Stupnitsky, present in several episodes of ''The Office''. In 2013, Eisenberg and Stupnitsky 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. It is updated several times a day, with en ...

''s "Overachievers" of pilot season. Along with

Stephen Merchant Stephen James Merchant (born 24 November 1974) is an English comedian, writer, director, and actor. He was the co-writer and co-director of the British TV comedy series ''The Office (British TV series), The Office'' (2001–2003), and co-writer ...

, they created, executive produced, and wrote for the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

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 2 ...

'', which ran for one season and concluded with a feature-length special. That same year, they wrote a pilot for ABC based on the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

series '' Pulling'', in addition to serving as executive producers on the series ''

Trophy Wife A trophy wife is a wife who is regarded as a status symbol for the husband. The term is often used in a derogatory or disparaging way, implying that the wife in question has little personal merit besides her physical attractiveness, requires subs ...

'' on ABC. They also executive produced the series ''

Bad Teacher ''Bad Teacher'' is a 2011 American comedy film directed by Jake Kasdan and written by Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky. The film stars Cameron Diaz, Justin Timberlake, Lucy Punch, John Michael Higgins, and Jason Segel, and follows a cynic ...

'' for CBS, which is based on their original screenplay. Eisenberg and Stupnitsky created the 2023 miniseries ''

Jury Duty Jury duty or jury service is a Civil service, service as a juror in a legal proceeding. Different countries have different approaches to juries: variations include the kinds of cases tried before a jury, how many jurors hear a trial, and whether th ...

'' winning a

Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Foster Peabody, George Peabody, honor what are described as the most powerful, enlightening, and in ...

for "wrapping up a lesson of civic responsibility within a warmhearted comedic tale, and for creating a bold feat of nonfiction storytelling that proves reality television can, surprisingly, bring out the best in all of us."

Film

Eisenberg and Stupnitsky have worked together on several screenplays, many of which they have produced as well. Along with

Harold Ramis Harold Allen Ramis ( ; November 21, 1944 – February 24, 2014) was an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. His film acting roles include Egon Spengler in ''Ghostbusters'' (1984) and ''Ghostbusters II'' (1989), and as Russell Ziskey in '' St ...

, they wrote the screenplay for ''

Year One The term "Year One" in political history usually refers to the institution of radical, revolutionary change. This usage dates from the time of the French Revolution. After the official abolition of the French monarchy on 21 September 1792, the ...

'', which starred

Jack Black Thomas Jacob "Jack" Black (born August 28, 1969) is an American actor, comedian, and musician. He is known for roles in family and comedy films, in addition to his voice work in animated films. His awards include a Children's and Family Emmy ...

and

Michael Cera Michael Austin Cera ( ; ; born June 7, 1988) is a Canadian actor. Over his career he has received nominations for a British Academy Film Award, three Critics' Choice Movie Awards, four Screen Actors Guild Awards, and a Tony Award. Cera beca ...

, and was released in 2009. Following that, they wrote and produced the film ''

'', which starred

Cameron Diaz Cameron Michelle Diaz (born August 30, 1972) is an American actress. Prolific in both comedy and drama, Cameron Diaz filmography, her films have grossed over $3 billion in the U.S. box-office. Her output of romantic comedies in the late 1990s a ...

and

Justin Timberlake Justin Randall Timberlake (born January 31, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, actor, record producer, and dancer. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Prince of Pop", ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' honored him as the b ...

. They were to serve as producers of a proposed sequel. Eisenberg and Stupnitsky wrote a screenplay for '' Ghostbusters III'' that was not used for the franchise. The duo also wrote the screenplay for '' Good Boys'', which was released in 2019.

Filmography

Film TV

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Eisenberg, Lee American television writers American male television writers American people of Israeli descent Jewish American television writers Connecticut College alumni Living people Place of birth missing (living people) Writers Guild of America Award winners 1977 births 21st-century American Jews