Charlie Kaufman
An American screenwriter known for his metatextual references, use of absurdism, and headache-inducing tendencies. Spike Jonze and Michel Gondry have each directed several of Kaufman's screenplays. Considered to be among the most brilliant contemporary screenplay-writers.
His works include:
- Being John Malkovich
- Human Nature (the feature debut of director Michel Gondry)
- Adaptation (a meta-adaptation of The Orchid Thief, framed as the story of Kaufman's struggle to script an unfilmable novel adaptation, and with his evil-hack-writer-twin.)
- Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (The directorial debut of George Clooney.)
- Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Kaufman won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for this.)
- Synecdoche New York (Kaufman's directorial debut, about a stage director who creates a life-sized model of New York City in his pursuit of verisimilitude on the stage.) Considered by Roger Ebert to be the best movie of the last decade.