Steven Conrad (born May 20, 1968) is an American

filmmaker Filmmaking or film production is the process by which a Film, motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, beginning with an initial story, idea, or commission. Production then continues through screen ...

Personal life

Steven Conrad was born in

Fort Lauderdale, Florida Fort Lauderdale ( ) is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and most populous city in Broward County, Florida, Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the ...

, and briefly attended

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

before transferring to

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

, where he majored in creative writing. His brother, Chris Conrad, is an actor and has frequently appeared in Steven's productions. Their mother was a teacher at St. Gregory the Great Catholic School, Plantation, Broward County, Florida.

Career

Shortly after attending Northwestern, at age 19, he sold his first screenplay, ''

Wrestling Ernest Hemingway ''Wrestling Ernest Hemingway'' is a 1993 American romantic drama film written by Steve Conrad and directed by Randa Haines, starring Richard Harris, Robert Duvall, Sandra Bullock, Shirley MacLaine, and Piper Laurie. The film is about two elder ...

'', adapted from a

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the old ...

he had written for a creative writing class. Eleven years passed before he tackled his next project, ''Lawrence Melm'', which he wrote and directed. He followed this with '' The Weather Man'' (which he also produced) and ''

The Pursuit of Happyness ''The Pursuit of '' is a 2006 American biographical drama film directed by Gabriele Muccino and starring Will Smith as Chris Gardner, a homeless salesman. Smith's son Jaden Smith co-stars, making his film debut as Gardner's son, Christopher Jr. ...

''. He wrote, directed, and edited ''

The Promotion ''The Promotion'' is a 2008 American comedy film written and directed by Steven Conrad. The film stars Seann William Scott, John C. Reilly, Jenna Fischer, Lili Taylor, Fred Armisen, and Gil Bellows. A look at the quest for the American D ...

'', which premiered at

South by Southwest South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

in March 2008 and was released by

Dimension Films Dimension Films was an American independent film and television production and distribution label founded in 1992, and currently owned by independent studio Lantern Entertainment. Formally one of the American " mini-majors" (i.e., small to m ...

later that year. His projects include an adaptation of the Chang-Rae Lee novel ''Aloft'' for Scott Rudin; ''Chad Schmidt'', about a talented actor with a resemblance to

Brad Pitt William Bradley Pitt (born December 18, 1963) is an American actor and film producer. In a Brad Pitt filmography, film career spanning more than thirty years, Pitt has received list of awards and nominations received by Brad Pitt, numerous a ...

and ''The Expanding Mailman'' with

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 ...

. In 2013, he adapted a

James Thurber James Grover Thurber (December 8, 1894 – November 2, 1961) was an American cartoonist, writer, humorist, journalist, and playwright. He was best known for his gag cartoon, cartoons and short stories, published mainly in ''The New Yorker'' an ...

short story for the film ''

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" (1939) is a short story by James Thurber. The most famous of Thurber's stories, it first appeared in ''The New Yorker'' on March 18, 1939, and was first collected in his book ''My World and Welcome to It'' ( Ha ...

'', directed by and starring

Ben Stiller Benjamin Edward Meara Stiller (born November 30, 1965) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. Known for his blend of slapstick humor and sharp wit, Stiller rose to fame through comedies such as ''There's Something About Mary'' (1998), ' ...

. In 2015, Conrad developed '' Patriot'' for

Amazon Studios Amazon MGM Studios is an American film and television production and distribution company owned by Amazon, and headquartered at the Culver Studios complex in Culver City, California. Launched on November 16, 2010, it took its current name on O ...

. Its

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...

led to a full series order, and it premiered in its entirety on February 24, 2017. In addition to executive-producing the series, he has also written and directed most of the first season's episodes. In the same year, Conrad re-wrote the script for '' Wonder'', a film adaptation of the 2012 novel of the same name by R. J. Palacio. The script was also written by

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 ...

and

Stephen Chbosky Stephen Chbosky (; born January 25, 1970) is an American film director, screenwriter, and author. He is best-known for writing the bestselling coming-of-age novel '' The Perks of Being a Wallflower'' (1999), and writing and directing its 2012 fi ...

, with the latter having directed the film, which was released on November 17, 2017. In 2019, Conrad's series ''

Perpetual Grace, LTD ''Perpetual Grace, LTD'' is an American neo-noir thriller television series that premiered on Epix on June 2, 2019. The series is produced by MGM Television and FX Productions, with co-creators Steven Conrad and Bruce Terris writing each episod ...

'', starring Sir

Ben Kingsley Sir Ben Kingsley (born Krishna Pandit Bhanji; 31 December 1943) is an English actor. He has received List of awards and nominations received by Ben Kingsley, various accolades throughout Ben Kingsley on screen and stage, his career spanning fi ...

and featuring many of the actors from ''Patriot'', premiered on

Epix MGM+ (formerly known as Epix; pronounced ''epics'' and stylized as eᴘix), is an American premium cable and satellite television network owned by the MGMPlus Entertainment subsidiary of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), which is itself a subsidiary ...

. In 2021, Conrad's stop-motion animated series '' Ultra City Smiths'' premiered on

AMC+ AMC+ is an American subscription video on demand streaming service owned by AMC Networks that was launched on June 11, 2020. The service is a premium bundle that includes the live feeds and program libraries of the company's television networks ...

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards

References

External links

*
March 11, 2008 Conrad interview at SXSW
{{DEFAULTSORT:Conrad, Steven 1968 births American male screenwriters Living people Conrad, Steven Northwestern University alumni Writers from Fort Lauderdale, Florida Florida State University alumni Screenwriters from Florida Film directors from Florida Film producers from Florida American television directors American male television writers American television writers Television producers from Florida American expatriates in England