Jeff Schaffer
{{short description|American producer, writer, and director}}
{{BLP sources|date=September 2016}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2013}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Jeff Schaffer
| image =
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| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1970|01|1|df=y}}
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| education = Harvard University
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| occupation = Producer, writer, director
| yearsactive = 1994—present
| spouse = Jackie Schaffer
| children = 1
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| website =
}}
Jeff Schaffer (born 1970){{cite news |last=Braxton |first=Greg |date=1998-02-24 |title=Résumé Security: 'Seinfeld' |work=The Los Angeles Times |quote='The only reason we got our deal is because of Seinfeld,' said Schaffer, 28, who, like Berg, has been writing comedy for four years. |page=F12}} is an American film and television director, writer, and producer.
Early life and education
Schaffer and his brother Greg (also a film and TV writer and producer){{cite news| url= https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0769831/news?year=2005| publisher= republished by IMDb.com| title= Montecito slate adds two projects| date= June 3, 2005 | work= The Hollywood Reporter | access-date= September 22, 2016}} were raised in the Warren–Howland, Ohio area,{{cite news| title= Warren, Ohio, native Jeff Schaffer is having a ball with 'The League' |url= http://www.cleveland.com/tv-blog/index.ssf/2012/10/warren_ohio_native_jeff_schaffer_is_having_a_ball_with_the_league.html| first= Mark |last= Dawidziak| work= The Plain Dealer at cleveland.com| date= October 6, 2012| access-date= September 22, 2016}}{{cite news| url= http://www.tribtoday.com/page/content.detail/id/501476/Local-writers-ready-to-get-back-to-work.html| title= Local writers ready to get back to work — Guild members split on Hollywood labor agreement| date= February 14, 2008| first= Andy| last= Gray| work= Tribune Chronicle| location= Warren, Ohio| access-date= September 22, 2016| archive-date= September 23, 2016| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160923100433/http://www.tribtoday.com/page/content.detail/id/501476/Local-writers-ready-to-get-back-to-work.html| url-status= dead}} about {{convert|50|mi|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} east of Cleveland. He is Jewish.{{cite web | url=https://jewishinsider.com/2021/10/larry-david-jeff-schaffer-curb-your-enthusiasm-season-11/ | title='Like a bathroom baby': 'Curb' director Jeff Schaffer says new season will bring surprises | date=October 24, 2021 }}
After graduating from Western Reserve Academy in Hudson, Ohio, Schaffer attended Harvard College, where he was on the staff of the humor publication The Harvard Lampoon.
Career
=Television=
After college, Schaffer and his Harvard Lampoon writing pals Alec Berg and David Mandel wrote several episodes of the sitcom Seinfeld. He also served as executive producer during its ninth season. He also held various other positions on the show such as program consultant, supervising producer and story editor. Schaffer is credited with creating the Festivus pole.
Schaffer directed several episodes of Curb Your Enthusiasm and also served as executive producer for several episodes. Notably, Schaffer directed "Seinfeld", the finale episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm{{'}}s seventh season, which featured a reunion of the original cast of the Seinfeld series (for which the star and creator of Curb Your Enthusiasm, Larry David, was co-creator, head writer and executive producer).
The League is a "semi-improvised series" which was created by Schaffer and his wife Jackie Schaffer.
Schaffer worked with Dave Burd to create Dave, a sitcom that is loosely based on Burd's life as a rapper. The show premiered on FXX on March 4, 2020. The show's second season premiered on June 16, 2021.{{Citation|title=Dave|url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt8531222/|access-date=2020-03-04}}
=Film=
Schaffer wrote and directed EuroTrip, a 2004 teen comedy, and participated in the screenplay for the 2003 adaptation of the Dr. Seuss book The Cat in the Hat.{{IMDb name|0769840}} Other scripts he helped write include two comedy features starring Sacha Baron Cohen, Brüno (2009) and The Dictator (2012). On the latter film, Alec Berg and David Mandel — former Seinfeld writers as well as friends and collaborators with Schaffer since college — also collaborated, and veteran Seinfeld writer and Curb Your Enthusiasm director Larry Charles directed.{{IMDb title|id= 1645170| title= The Dictator}} All four would later write the TV movie Clear History starring Larry David.{{cite web| url= http://chicagotheband.us/profiles/blogs/chicago-to-appear-in-hbo-films-clear-history-debuts-in-august| website= Chicagotheband.us| title= Chicago to appear in HBO Films: 'CLEAR HISTORY' -Debuts in August!| author= Chicago -Admin| date= July 14, 2013| access-date= September 22, 2016| archive-date= December 29, 2016| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20161229210348/http://chicagotheband.us/profiles/blogs/chicago-to-appear-in-hbo-films-clear-history-debuts-in-august| url-status= dead}}
Festivus pole
Dan O'Keefe, who worked with Schaffer on Seinfeld, credits Schaffer with introducing the concept of the Festivus pole as the only decoration for Festivus, the December 23 holiday. Festivus was popularized in the 1997 Seinfeld episode "The Strike". The aluminum pole was not part of the original O'Keefe family celebration, which centered on putting a clock in a bag and nailing it to a wall.{{cite web|url=http://newday.blogs.cnn.com/2013/12/24/the-origins-of-festivus/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131225095813/http://newday.blogs.cnn.com/2013/12/24/the-origins-of-festivus/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 25, 2013 | title=The Origins of Festivus |publisher=cnn.com | date=December 24, 2013 |access-date=December 24, 2013}}
Personal life
Schaffer married the former Jackie Marcus, also his professional partner, particularly on The League;{{cite news|title= 10 Power Showrunners: A Day in the Life, From Carlton Cuse to Jenji Kohan| date= October 16, 2013| editor-first= Stacey |editor-last= Wilson| first= Stacey| last= Wilson| work= The Hollywood Reporter}} their life experiences have often been translated into the plot of the series. They have a daughter, Arwen (named for the character in The Lord of the Rings), born in 2012.
Notes
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|0769840}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schaffer, Jeff}}
Category:American male screenwriters
Category:Film directors from Ohio
Category:American television directors
Category:Television producers from Ohio
Category:American television writers
Category:German-language film directors
Category:Writers from Cleveland
Category:American male television writers
Category:The Harvard Lampoon alumni
Category:Screenwriters from Ohio
Category:Film producers from Ohio