Steven Conrad
{{short description|American filmmaker}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Steven Conrad
| image = Steve Conrad, Patriot- A Special Preview (cropped).jpg
| caption = Steve Conrad discusses Patriot for New America in 2017
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1968|05|20}}
| birth_place = Fort Lauderdale, Florida, U.S.
| death_date =
| death_place =
| nationality = American
| alma_mater = Florida State University
Northwestern University
| occupation = Screenwriter, director, film producer
| years_active = 1986-present
| spouse =
}}
Steven Conrad (born May 20, 1968){{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0175726/|title=Steve Conrad|website=IMDb|accessdate=12 October 2017}} is an American filmmaker.
Personal life
Steven Conrad was born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and briefly attended Florida State University before transferring to Northwestern University, 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.{{citation needed|date=July 2018}}
Career
Shortly after attending Northwestern, at age 19, he sold his first screenplay, Wrestling Ernest Hemingway, adapted from a short story 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. He wrote, directed, and edited The Promotion, which premiered at South by Southwest in March 2008 and was released by Dimension Films 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 and The Expanding Mailman with Jack Black.{{cite web|url=http://www.chicagoreader.com/features/stories/ourtown/080306/|title=News & Politics|website=Chicago Reader|accessdate=October 12, 2017}}
In 2013, he adapted a James Thurber short story for the film The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, directed by and starring Ben Stiller. In 2015, Conrad developed Patriot for Amazon Studios. Its pilot led to a full series order,{{Cite web|url=https://variety.com/2015/digital/news/amazon-drama-comedy-series-orders-2016-1201663182/|title=Amazon Picks Up Slew of Comedy, Drama, Kids Series|last=Wagmeister|first=Elizabeth|date=December 18, 2015|language=en-US|website=Variety.com|access-date=September 18, 2016}} and it premiered in its entirety on February 24, 2017.{{cite news|last1=Petski|first1=Denise|title='Patriot' Gets February Premiere Date On Amazon|url=https://deadline.com/2017/01/patriot-february-premiere-date-amazon-1201895476/|date=January 27, 2017|website=Deadline Hollywood}} In addition to executive-producing the series, he has also written and directed most of the first season's episodes.{{cn|date=December 2022}}
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 and Stephen Chbosky, with the latter having directed the film,{{cite news|last1=Kit|first1=Borys|title='Paddington' Director Books Lionsgate's YA Adaptation 'Wonder' (Exclusive)|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/paddington-director-books-lionsgates-ya-791118|accessdate=July 16, 2016|work=The Hollywood Reporter|date=April 23, 2015}} which was released on November 17, 2017.
In 2019, Conrad's series Perpetual Grace, LTD, starring Sir Ben Kingsley and featuring many of the actors from Patriot, premiered on Epix. In 2021, Conrad's stop-motion animated series Ultra City Smiths premiered on AMC+.
Filmography
=Film=
| class="wikitable"
! rowspan="2" |Year ! rowspan="2" |Title ! colspan="3" |Credited as ! rowspan="2" |Notes |
| Director
!Writer !Producer |
|---|
| 1993
|{{no}} |{{yes}} |{{no}} | |
| 2004
|Lawrence Melm |{{yes}} |{{yes}} |{{no}} |Directorial debut |
| 2005
|{{no}} |{{yes}} |{{yes}} | |
| 2006
|{{no}} |{{yes}} |{{no}} | |
| 2008
|{{yes}} |{{yes}} |{{no}} | |
| 2013
|The Secret Life of Walter Mitty |{{no}} |{{yes}} |{{no}} | |
| 2015
|{{no}} |{{yes}} |{{no}} | |
| 2017
|{{no}} |{{yes}} |{{no}} | |
=Television=
| class="wikitable"
! rowspan="2" |Year ! rowspan="2" |Title ! colspan="3" |Credited as ! rowspan="2" |Notes |
| Director
!Writer !Producer |
|---|
| 2011
|Connie Banks the Actor |{{yes}} |{{yes}} |{{no}} |Unaired pilot |
| 2013
|Timms Valley |{{yes}} |{{yes}} |{{no}} |Unaired pilot |
| 2015–2018
|{{yes}} |{{yes}} |{{yes}} |Creator; Writer (14 episodes), director (14 episodes) |
| 2019
|{{yes}} |{{yes}} |{{yes}} |Co-creator; writer (10 episodes), director (6 episodes) |
| 2021
|{{yes}} |{{yes}} |{{yes}} |Creator; writer (6 episodes), director (6 episodes) |
Awards
| class="sortable wikitable" |
| Year
! Award ! Award category ! Nominated work ! Result |
|---|
| rowspan="2"|2018
|Critics' Choice Television Awards |{{nom}} |
| Critics' Choice Awards
|{{nom}} |
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|0175726}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20080326231755/http://www.brightcove.tv/title.jsp?title=1453557069&channel=301783424 March 11, 2008 Conrad interview at SXSW]
{{Steven Conrad}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Conrad, Steven}}
Category:American male screenwriters
Category:Northwestern University alumni
Category:Writers from Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Category:Florida State University alumni
Category:Screenwriters from Florida
Category:Film directors from Florida
Category:Film producers from Florida
Category:American television directors
Category:American male television writers
Category:American television writers