Charlie Kaufman
Charlie Kaufman
Charles Stuart "Charlie" Kaufmanis an American screenwriter, producer, director, and lyricist. He wrote the films Being John Malkovich, Adaptation, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. He made his directorial debut with Synecdoche, New York, which was also well-received; film critic Roger Ebert named it "the best movie of the decade" in 2009. It was followed by Anomalisa...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionScreenwriter
Date of Birth19 November 1958
CityNew York City, NY
CountryUnited States of America
You get a kind of surreal feeling and also it allows you to focus on the things we want you to focus on in a new way - the stuff that's very small and mundane that happens in a person's life when they're in a hotel room. There's more interest because you're seeing a puppet do things that you're very familiar with that you might not notice if it was a human doing it.
I think if something resonates, even if it's surreal, it's because it is relatable and I think that that's a core issue for me.
I think I've had pretty good experiences for the most part with the people who have directed my screenplays.
I have ideas written down some places, but usually I can't find them. I'm not very organized.
And also the idea of not making it apparent that it's different from the rest of the film, even though there are visual differences, the audience is supposed to think that they are with him when he wakes up in the morning.
I have a tendency to hire people who tend to be unattractive to the studios. Maybe this is a bad idea.
I have a lot of health anxiety.
I graduated from college in 1980.
I don't think screenwriting is therapeutic. It's actually really, really hard for me. It's not an enjoyable process.
I do throw out a lot of ideas, and I forget completely about them.
I will be dying and so will you, and so will everyone here. That's what I want to explore. We're all hurtling towards death, yet here we are for the moment, alive. Each of us knowing we're going to die, each of us secretly believing we won't.
I was trying to figure out what a memory feels like.
I'm not into extreme sports or something. I just live a quiet life.
The sad thing about working on a movie is that you can never see the movie.