---
name: "Charlie Kaufman"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/charlie-kaufman"
fi1m_id: "charlie-kaufman"
imdb_id: "nm0442109"
tmdb_id: 202
wikidata_id: "Q312751"
roles: ["Writer","Producer","Director"]
born: "19 November 1958"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 5
average_fi1m_score: 87
average_as: "writer"
average_over: 3
updated: "2026-10-05T12:01:06.900071+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Charlie Kaufman

## Identity

Charlie Kaufman

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/charlie-kaufman
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** charlie-kaufman
- **IMDb ID:** nm0442109
- **TMDB ID:** 202
- **Wikidata ID:** Q312751
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Kaufman, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q312751, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0442109/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/202

Writer and producer. Born 19 November 1958 in New York City, New York, USA.

## Details

- **Work:** Writer, Producer, Director
- **Born:** 19 November 1958, New York City, New York, USA
- **Active:** 1999–2015
- **Also known as:** Charles Kaufman, Donald Kaufman
- **Titles on Fi1m:** 5: 2 directing, 3 writing
- **Frequently works with:** [Spike Jonze](https://film.one/person/spike-jonze.md), [Anthony Bregman](https://film.one/person/anthony-bregman.md), [Catherine Keener](https://film.one/person/catherine-keener.md), [Steve Golin](https://film.one/person/steve-golin.md)
- **Academy Awards:** 1 Oscar (1 won · 3 nominated)
- **Average Fi1m score:** 87, as writer, over 3 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1990s 89 (1), 2000s 85 (3), 2010s 82 (1)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 87 to 81 across 3 titles
- **Score spread:** 3 at 80+, 0 at 60–79, 0 under 60
- **Genres:** Drama 3, Comedy 2, Crime 1, Fantasy 1, Romance 1, Science Fiction 1
- **Screen time:** 6 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $128m across 3 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Kaufman, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q312751, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0442109/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/202

## Streaming the US now

- **The Roku Channel:** [*Synecdoche, New York*](https://film.one/film/synecdoche-new-york.md) (84)
- **Amazon Prime Video:** [*Adaptation.*](https://film.one/film/adaptation.md) (83)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Charlie Kaufman

> Charlie Kaufman makes the wish to escape yourself funny, distressing and worth following. His best scripts care about the people trapped in their peculiar situations, though he sometimes keeps inventing when they need time to feel.

In *Being John Malkovich* (1999), borrowing an actor’s identity seems almost practical. Spike Jonze directs Kaufman’s screenplay calmly enough for us to recognise the ordinary wants behind it: relief from themselves, admiration and someone else’s affection. This is excellent comic writing, because the selfishness that makes people funny also makes it difficult for them to find company. The busy plotting sometimes hurries past their feelings, a weakness that recurs in Kaufman’s work.

With *Adaptation.* (2002), Jonze and Kaufman make a writer’s inability to adapt Susan Orlean’s *The Orchid Thief* into the story itself. Nicolas Cage plays the screen version of Kaufman and Donald, his fictional twin. Charlie’s embarrassment stays funny because Kaufman is willing to make his counterpart tiresome as well as sympathetic. Our reservation is how much of that awkward, affectionate comedy gets hurried aside as the film presses its jokes harder.

*Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind* (2004), directed by Michel Gondry, gives the writing more room for affection. Jim Carrey’s Joel and Kate Winslet’s Clementine attract and irritate one another, and neither actor smooths away the difficulty. Kaufman asks what erasing a memory would feel like rather than explaining the equipment. The visual tricks occasionally crowd the couple out, but their attraction is convincing before the storytelling grows complicated. We care about both without needing either to be blameless.

Kaufman began directing with *Synecdoche, New York* (2008), about a theatre director trying to stage his own life. Philip Seymour Hoffman makes Caden Cotard’s hope that work might settle his worries painfully understandable. The repeated reminders of mortality can test our patience. Samantha Morton’s Hazel gives us someone else to care about, though the script too often treats those around Caden as important chiefly for their connection to him. The bleak humour matters: without it, attending to his distress would become a duty.

In the opening of *Anomalisa* (2015), co-directed with Duke Johnson, Michael Stone keeps meeting people with the same face and voice. We felt close to panic as Tom Noonan’s mild voice kept returning through different people, because Kaufman suggests that the sameness comes from Michael himself. Joe Passarelli’s shallow focus and warm bedside-lamp lighting make the puppet hotel feel ordinary, which helps the unease. It is tender, though too indulgent of Michael’s misery. For a first encounter, choose *Being John Malkovich* and leave the explanation until afterwards.

## Biography

Charlie Kaufman is an American screenwriter, director and novelist. Born in New York City on 19 November 1958, he studied film at New York University. He began his career writing for television comedies including Get a Life before moving into feature films.

Kaufman wrote the screenplay for Being John Malkovich (1999), directed by Spike Jonze. He went on to write Adaptation. (2002), Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) and Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002). He also wrote Human Nature (2001).

Kaufman made his directorial debut with Synecdoche, New York (2008). He later directed Anomalisa (2015) and I'm Thinking of Ending Things (2020). In 2020 he published his first novel, Antkind. He is also credited under the names Charles Kaufman and Donald Kaufman.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, britannica.com, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (5)

### Directed (2)

- *Anomalisa* (2015), Fi1m 82, Director, Theatre Play, Producer, Writer — [page](https://film.one/film/anomalisa.md)
- *Synecdoche, New York* (2008), Fi1m 84, Director, Producer, Writer — [page](https://film.one/film/synecdoche-new-york.md)

### Wrote (3) — the average rests on these

- *Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind* (2004), Fi1m 88, Story, Screenplay, Executive Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/eternal-sunshine-of-the-spotless-mind.md)
- *Adaptation.* (2002), Fi1m 83, Screenplay, Executive Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/adaptation.md)
- *Being John Malkovich* (1999), Fi1m 89, Writer, Executive Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/being-john-malkovich.md)

## Complete filmography (27)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Uchronia* (2026), Executive Producer
- *How to Shoot a Ghost* (2025), Director
- *Darkest Miriam* (2025), Executive Producer
- *The Actor* (2025), Executive Producer
- *Orion and the Dark* (2024), Writer
- *Jackals & Fireflies* (2023), Director, Producer
- *I'm Thinking of Ending Things* (2020), Director, Screenplay, Producer
- *Beth Stelling: Girl Daddy* (2020), Thanks
- *Anomalisa* (2015), Writer, Theatre Play, Producer, Director — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/film/anomalisa.md)
- *Her* (2013), Thanks — Fi1m 84, [page](https://film.one/film/her.md)
- *Kung Fu Panda 2* (2011), Script Consultant
- *Waking Up* (2010), Thanks
- *Synecdoche, New York* (2008), Producer, Director, Writer — Fi1m 84, [page](https://film.one/film/synecdoche-new-york.md)
- *Moral Orel* (2005), series, Story
- *Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind* (2004), Screenplay, Story, Executive Producer — Fi1m 88, [page](https://film.one/film/eternal-sunshine-of-the-spotless-mind.md)
- *Confessions of a Dangerous Mind* (2002), Screenplay
- *Adaptation.* (2002), Screenplay, Executive Producer — Fi1m 83, [page](https://film.one/film/adaptation.md)
- *Human Nature* (2001), Producer, Writer
- *Being John Malkovich* (1999), Executive Producer, Writer — Fi1m 89, [page](https://film.one/film/being-john-malkovich.md)
- *The Dana Carvey Show* (1996), series, Writer
- *Misery Loves Company* (1995), series, Co-Producer
- *Ned & Stacey* (1995), series, Writer, Producer
- *The Trouble with Larry* (1993), series, Writer, Story Editor
- *Get a Life* (1990), series, Writer
- *Later the War*, Director, Screenplay
- *How and Why*, Director, Writer
- *The Memory Police*, Screenplay

## Gallery

- ![Anomalisa Q&A with Charlie Kaufman Fantastic Fest 2015-0237.jpg](https://film.one/media/person/88412/gallery-746a07871d73.jpg) Anomalisa Q&A with Charlie Kaufman Fantastic Fest 2015-0237.jpg — anna Hanks from Austin, Texas, USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f5/Anomalisa_Q%26A_with_Charlie_Kaufman_Fantastic_Fest_2015-0237_%2827407096646%29.jpg/1280px-Anomalisa_Q%26A_with_Charlie_Kaufman_Fantastic_Fest_2015-0237_%2827407096646%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Anomalisa Q&A with Charlie Kaufman Fantastic Fest 2015-0257.jpg](https://film.one/media/person/88412/gallery-2598b44bd4fb.jpg) Anomalisa Q&A with Charlie Kaufman Fantastic Fest 2015-0257.jpg — anna Hanks from Austin, Texas, USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ed/Anomalisa_Q%26A_with_Charlie_Kaufman_Fantastic_Fest_2015-0257_%2827441349145%29.jpg/1280px-Anomalisa_Q%26A_with_Charlie_Kaufman_Fantastic_Fest_2015-0257_%2827441349145%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson accepting the Grand Jury Award for Anomalisa in 2015](https://film.one/media/person/88412/gallery-29af854d5abe.jpg) Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson accepting the Grand Jury Award for Anomalisa in 2015 — Bruno Chatelin, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/66/Charlie_Kaufman_%26_Duke_Johnson_2015.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Charlie Kaufman](https://film.one/media/person/88412/gallery-0f19bc0aed57.jpg) Charlie Kaufman — anna Hanks from Austin, Texas, USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8b/Charlie_Kaufman_Fantastic_Fest_2015-0257_%2827441349145%29_%28cropped%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Charlie Kaufman](https://film.one/media/person/88412/gallery-c4803aa5d2bd.jpg) Charlie Kaufman — Image via TMDB
- ![Charlie Kaufman auf dem Sarajevo Film Festival 2008](https://film.one/media/person/88412/gallery-17a4cfbd4091.jpg) Charlie Kaufman auf dem Sarajevo Film Festival 2008 — KoljaHub, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5d/Charliekaufman.JPG?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)

## Awards

### Academy Awards — 1 won, 3 nominated

- 2016: Best Animated Feature (nominated), for *Anomalisa*
- 2005: Best Writing, Original Screenplay (won), for *Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind*
- 2003: Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay (nominated), for *Adaptation*
- 2000: Best Writing, Original Screenplay (nominated), for *Being John Malkovich*

### Other awards — 1 won

- Time Machine Award 2008: Time Machine Award (won)

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/charlie-kaufman