Eric Schaeffer
Encyclopedia
Eric Schaeffer is an American
actor, writer and director.
, New York
.
Schaeffer graduated with a degree in drama and dance from Bard College
, located in Annandale-on-Hudson
, New York.
Schaeffer rose to fame with fellow actor/writer/director Donal Lardner Ward on the independent film
, My Life's in Turnaround (1993), which was made in fifteen days for only $200,000. Schaeffer and Ward parlayed Turnaround's success into Too Something
(1995–1996), a short-lived situation-comedy television series that was briefly renamed New York Daze.
He signed on as a client of Creative Artists Agency and made a deal to direct the romantic comedy film
If Lucy Fell
(1996), for $3.5 million for Columbia TriStar.
Schaeffer starred opposite model Amanda de Cadenet
in the romantic
drama film
Fall
(1997), about a cab driver who picks up a model and takes her back to his apartment, where they begin a passionate affair.
He released the comedy film
Wirey Spindell (2000), a semi-autobiographical tale. This was followed by the romantic comedy film
Never Again (2001), starring Jill Clayburgh
and Jeffrey Tambor
, and Mind the Gap
(2004).
In recent years Schaeffer has been writing an autobiographical blog, I Can't Believe I'm Still Single, about his relationships and ongoing search for love. Schaeffer has turned the blog into a book, I Can't Believe I'm Still Single – Sane, Slightly Neurotic (But in a Sane Way) Filmmaker into Good Yoga, Bad Reality TV, Too Much Chocolate, and a Little Kinky Sex Seeks Smart, Emotionally Evolved ... Oh Hell, At This Point Anyone Who'll Let Me Watch Football (2007).
In 2008, Schaeffer debuted a reality television
series on Showtime, also called, I Can't Believe I'm Still Single.
In 2009, Schaeffer and Jill Franklyn created the half-hour dramedy series Gravity
for Starz. The series about people who have failed at suicide – originally titled Failure to Fly – stars Schaeffer along with Krysten Ritter
, Ivan Sergei
, Ving Rhames
and Rachel Hunter
. It began airing in April 2010; on June 30, 2010, the show was cancelled.
Americans
The people of the United States, also known as simply Americans or American people, are the inhabitants or citizens of the United States. The United States is a multi-ethnic nation, home to people of different ethnic and national backgrounds...
actor, writer and director.
Early life and education
He was born in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
.
Schaeffer graduated with a degree in drama and dance from Bard College
Bard College
Bard College, founded in 1860 as "St. Stephen's College", is a small four-year liberal arts college located in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York.-Location:...
, located in Annandale-on-Hudson
Annandale-on-Hudson, New York
Annandale-on-Hudson is a hamlet in Dutchess County, New York, USA, in the Hudson Valley in the town of Red Hook, across the Hudson River from Kingston....
, New York.
Career
After graduating, he drove a New York City taxi for nine years, during which time he wrote two stage plays, a novel, twenty screenplays and various other works.Schaeffer rose to fame with fellow actor/writer/director Donal Lardner Ward on the independent film
Independent film
An independent film, or indie film, is a professional film production resulting in a feature film that is produced mostly or completely outside of the major film studio system. In addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies, independent films are also produced...
, My Life's in Turnaround (1993), which was made in fifteen days for only $200,000. Schaeffer and Ward parlayed Turnaround's success into Too Something
Too Something
Too Something is an American sitcom that aired on the Fox network in October 1995 and again from May, 1996 to June 23, 1996.-Premise:The show centered on Eric McDougal, a would-be author, and Donny Reeves, a photographer, who were roommates in Manhattan....
(1995–1996), a short-lived situation-comedy television series that was briefly renamed New York Daze.
He signed on as a client of Creative Artists Agency and made a deal to direct the romantic comedy film
Romantic comedy film
Romantic comedy films are films with light-hearted, humorous plotlines, centered on romantic ideals such as that true love is able to surmount most obstacles. One dictionary definition is "a funny movie, play, or television program about a love story that ends happily"...
If Lucy Fell
If Lucy Fell
If Lucy Fell is a 1996 romantic comedy starring Sarah Jessica Parker, Eric Schaeffer and Ben Stiller. The film is rated R and runs for 92 minutes...
(1996), for $3.5 million for Columbia TriStar.
Schaeffer starred opposite model Amanda de Cadenet
Amanda de Cadenet
-Biography:De Cadenet is the daughter of racing car driver Alain de Cadenet. She began her career as a co-presenter for The Word, a late-night Channel 4 magazine show. She also co-hosted The Big Breakfast....
in the romantic
Romance film
Romance films are love stories that focus on passion, emotion, and the affectionate involvement of the main characters and the journey that their love takes through courtship or marriage. Romance films make the love story or the search for love the main plot focus...
drama film
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
Fall
Fall (1997 film)
Fall is a 1997 film directed by, written by and starring Eric Schaeffer, alongside Amanda de Cadenet.-Plot:Michael Shiver is a cab driver in New York. One day, supermodel Sarah Easton enters his taxi and they have a short but intense exchange...
(1997), about a cab driver who picks up a model and takes her back to his apartment, where they begin a passionate affair.
He released the comedy film
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
Wirey Spindell (2000), a semi-autobiographical tale. This was followed by the romantic comedy film
Romantic comedy film
Romantic comedy films are films with light-hearted, humorous plotlines, centered on romantic ideals such as that true love is able to surmount most obstacles. One dictionary definition is "a funny movie, play, or television program about a love story that ends happily"...
Never Again (2001), starring Jill Clayburgh
Jill Clayburgh
Jill Clayburgh was an American actress. She received Academy Award nominations for her roles in An Unmarried Woman and Starting Over.-Personal life:...
and Jeffrey Tambor
Jeffrey Tambor
Jeffrey Michael Tambor is an American actor, perhaps best known for his roles as George Bluth Sr. and Oscar Bluth on Arrested Development and Hank Kingsley on The Larry Sanders Show.-Early life:...
, and Mind the Gap
Mind The Gap (2004 film)
Mind The Gap is a multi-story 2004 film written & directed by Eric Schaeffer.The film moves back and forth between five separate stories that touch on each other by the end of the film....
(2004).
In recent years Schaeffer has been writing an autobiographical blog, I Can't Believe I'm Still Single, about his relationships and ongoing search for love. Schaeffer has turned the blog into a book, I Can't Believe I'm Still Single – Sane, Slightly Neurotic (But in a Sane Way) Filmmaker into Good Yoga, Bad Reality TV, Too Much Chocolate, and a Little Kinky Sex Seeks Smart, Emotionally Evolved ... Oh Hell, At This Point Anyone Who'll Let Me Watch Football (2007).
In 2008, Schaeffer debuted a reality television
Reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors, sometimes in a contest or other situation where a prize is awarded...
series on Showtime, also called, I Can't Believe I'm Still Single.
In 2009, Schaeffer and Jill Franklyn created the half-hour dramedy series Gravity
Gravity (TV series)
Gravity is an American comedy-drama television series created by Jill Franklyn and Eric Schaeffer. It premiered on April 23, 2010 on Starz in the United States.On June 30, 2010, Starz reported that Gravity had been canceled.-Premise:...
for Starz. The series about people who have failed at suicide – originally titled Failure to Fly – stars Schaeffer along with Krysten Ritter
Krysten Ritter
Krysten Alyce Ritter is an American actress and former model. Ritter is well known for her critically acclaimed turn as Jane Margolis on AMC's Breaking Bad where she first appeared as the property manager and neighbor of Aaron Paul's Jesse Pinkman...
, Ivan Sergei
Ivan Sergei
Ivan Sergei is an American actor known for his work in television.-Personal life:Sergei was born Ivan Sergei Gaudio in Hawthorne, New Jersey, and is of Dutch and Italian descent. Ivan attended Hawthorne High School, where he was a member of the graduating class of 1989, and was a quarterback on...
, Ving Rhames
Ving Rhames
Irving Rameses "Ving" Rhames is an American actor best known for his work in Bringing Out the Dead, Pulp Fiction, Baby Boy, Don King: Only in America, and the Mission: Impossible film series.-Early life and education:...
and Rachel Hunter
Rachel Hunter
Rachel Hunter is a New Zealand born American model, actress and reality TV show host who now resides in the U.S. She is best known for her appearance in Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issues and her longtime marriage to singer Rod Stewart, which ended in 2006...
. It began airing in April 2010; on June 30, 2010, the show was cancelled.
Actor, director and screenwriter
| Year | Title | Genre Genre Genre , Greek: genos, γένος) is the term for any category of literature or other forms of art or culture, e.g. music, and in general, any type of discourse, whether written or spoken, audial or visual, based on some set of stylistic criteria. Genres are formed by conventions that change over time... | Role | | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | My Life's in Turnaround | romantic Romantic comedy film Romantic comedy films are films with light-hearted, humorous plotlines, centered on romantic ideals such as that true love is able to surmount most obstacles. One dictionary definition is "a funny movie, play, or television program about a love story that ends happily"... comedy-drama Comedy-drama Comedy-drama is a genre of theatre, film and television programs which combines humorous and serious content.-Theatre:Traditional western theatre, beginning with the ancient Greeks, was divided into comedy and tragedy... |
Splick | |
| 1995–1996 | Too Something Too Something Too Something is an American sitcom that aired on the Fox network in October 1995 and again from May, 1996 to June 23, 1996.-Premise:The show centered on Eric McDougal, a would-be author, and Donny Reeves, a photographer, who were roommates in Manhattan.... |
situation comedy | Eric McDougal | television series |
| 1996 | If Lucy Fell If Lucy Fell If Lucy Fell is a 1996 romantic comedy starring Sarah Jessica Parker, Eric Schaeffer and Ben Stiller. The film is rated R and runs for 92 minutes... |
romantic comedy Romantic comedy film Romantic comedy films are films with light-hearted, humorous plotlines, centered on romantic ideals such as that true love is able to surmount most obstacles. One dictionary definition is "a funny movie, play, or television program about a love story that ends happily"... |
Joe MacGonaughgill | |
| 1997 | Fall Fall (1997 film) Fall is a 1997 film directed by, written by and starring Eric Schaeffer, alongside Amanda de Cadenet.-Plot:Michael Shiver is a cab driver in New York. One day, supermodel Sarah Easton enters his taxi and they have a short but intense exchange... |
romantic Romance film Romance films are love stories that focus on passion, emotion, and the affectionate involvement of the main characters and the journey that their love takes through courtship or marriage. Romance films make the love story or the search for love the main plot focus... drama Drama film A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women... |
Michael Shiver | |
| 2000 | Wirey Spindell | comedy Comedy film Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences... |
Wirey Spindell | |
| 2001 | Never Again | romantic comedy Romantic comedy film Romantic comedy films are films with light-hearted, humorous plotlines, centered on romantic ideals such as that true love is able to surmount most obstacles. One dictionary definition is "a funny movie, play, or television program about a love story that ends happily"... |
– | no acting |
| 2004 | Mind the Gap Mind The Gap (2004 film) Mind The Gap is a multi-story 2004 film written & directed by Eric Schaeffer.The film moves back and forth between five separate stories that touch on each other by the end of the film.... |
comedy-drama Comedy-drama Comedy-drama is a genre of theatre, film and television programs which combines humorous and serious content.-Theatre:Traditional western theatre, beginning with the ancient Greeks, was divided into comedy and tragedy... |
Sam Blue | |
| 2006 | Starved (2005 series) | situation comedy | Sam | television series |
| 2010 | Gravity Gravity (TV series) Gravity is an American comedy-drama television series created by Jill Franklyn and Eric Schaeffer. It premiered on April 23, 2010 on Starz in the United States.On June 30, 2010, Starz reported that Gravity had been canceled.-Premise:... |
comedy-drama Comedy-drama Comedy-drama is a genre of theatre, film and television programs which combines humorous and serious content.-Theatre:Traditional western theatre, beginning with the ancient Greeks, was divided into comedy and tragedy... |
Detective Miller | television series |
| 2011 | They're Out of the Business | comedy Comedy film Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences... |
Splick | |
| 2011 | After Fall, Winter | drama Drama film A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women... |
Michael Shiver |
Actor (only)
| Year | Title | Genre Genre Genre , Greek: genos, γένος) is the term for any category of literature or other forms of art or culture, e.g. music, and in general, any type of discourse, whether written or spoken, audial or visual, based on some set of stylistic criteria. Genres are formed by conventions that change over time... | Role | | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes | Rich Prentiss | ||
| 1998 | Gunshy | crime Crime film Crime films are films which focus on the lives of criminals. The stylistic approach to a crime film varies from realistic portrayals of real-life criminal figures, to the far-fetched evil doings of imaginary arch-villains. Criminal acts are almost always glorified in these movies.- Plays and films... drama Drama film A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women... |
Gwynne | |
| 1999 | Everything's Relative | Marty Gorelick | television series | |
| 2001 | First Years | Sam O'Donnell | television series | |
| 2001 | One Night at McCool's One Night at McCool's One Night at McCool's is a 2001 American dark comedy/neo-noir film, directed by Harald Zwart and starring Liv Tyler, Matt Dillon, Michael Douglas, John Goodman, Paul Reiser, Reba McEntire and Andrew Dice Clay.-Plot:... |
dark comedy Black comedy A black comedy, or dark comedy, is a comic work that employs black humor or gallows humor. The definition of black humor is problematic; it has been argued that it corresponds to the earlier concept of gallows humor; and that, as humor has been defined since Freud as a comedic act that anesthetizes... neo-noir Neo-noir Neo-noir is a style often seen in modern motion pictures and other forms that prominently utilize elements of film noir, but with updated themes, content, style, visual elements or media that were absent in films noir of the 1940s and 1950s.-History:The term Film Noir was coined by... |
Greg Spradling | |
| 2003 | The Dead Zone The Dead Zone (TV series) The Dead Zone, aka Stephen King's Dead Zone is an American-Canadian science fiction/suspense series starring Anthony Michael Hall as Johnny Smith, who discovers he has developed psychic abilities after a coma... |
science-fiction Science fiction Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities... suspense |
Francis Ritter | television series episode: "Valley of the Shadow" (January 5, 2003) |
| 2004 | Century City Century City (TV series) Century City is an American science fiction-legal drama television series set in Los Angeles in the year 2030.-Synopsis:The show follows the legal team of Crane, Constable, McNeil & Montero... |
science-fiction Science fiction Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities... legal drama Legal drama A legal drama is a work of dramatic fiction about crime and civil litigation. Subtypes of legal dramas include courtroom dramas and legal thrillers, and come in all forms, including novels, television shows, and films. Legal drama sometimes overlap with crime drama, most notably in the case of Law... |
Darwin McNeil | television series |
| 2004 | Marmalade | comedy Comedy film Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences... |
Dan | |
| 2004 | Spanglish Spanglish (film) Spanglish is a 2004 American comedy-drama film written and directed by James L. Brooks, and starring Adam Sandler, Paz Vega, and Téa Leoni. It was released in the United States on December 17, 2004 by Columbia Pictures and by Gracie Films, and in other countries over the first several months of... |
comedy-drama Comedy-drama Comedy-drama is a genre of theatre, film and television programs which combines humorous and serious content.-Theatre:Traditional western theatre, beginning with the ancient Greeks, was divided into comedy and tragedy... |
Rabid Sports Fan |
Book
Schaeffer, Eric (2007). I Can't Believe I'm Still Single – Sane, Slightly Neurotic (But in a Sane Way) Filmmaker into Good Yoga, Bad Reality TV, Too Much Chocolate, and a Little Kinky Sex Seeks Smart, Emotionally Evolved ... Oh Hell, At This Point Anyone Who'll Let Me Watch Football. New York City: Thunder's Mouth Press. ISBN 978-1-568-58337-2.See also
- Lists of American writers
- List of film and television directors
- List of people from New York City
External links
- Bankrate.com interview
- UGO interview
- Eric Schaeffer wants to marry you - Salon.com
- Whipping Boy - interview from Nerve.com