Charles Stuart Kaufman (born November 19, 1958) is an American filmmaker and novelist. He wrote the films Being John Malkovich (1999), Adaptation (2002), and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004). He both wrote and directed the films Synecdoche, New York (2008), Anomalisa (2015), and I'm Thinking of Ending Things (2020). In 2020, Kaufman made his literary debut with the release of his first novel, Antkind. One of the most celebrated screenwriters of his era, Kaufman has received an Academy Award, three BAFTA Awards, two Independent Spirit Awards, and a Writers Guild of America Award. Film critic Roger Ebert called Synecdoche, New York "the best movie of the decade" in 2009. Three of Kaufman's scripts appear in the Writers Guild of America's list of the 101 greatest movie screenplays ever written.

Filmography

• 2026Uchronia — Executive Producer
• 2025Darkest Miriam — Executive Producer
• 2025How to Shoot a Ghost — Director
• 2025The Actor — Executive Producer
• 2024Orion and the Dark — Writer
• 2023Jackals & Fireflies — Director, Producer
• 2020Beth Stelling: Girl Daddy — Thanks
• 2020I'm Thinking of Ending Things — Director, Screenplay, Producer
• 2015Anomalisa — Writer, Theatre Play, Producer, Director
• 2013Her — Thanks
• 2011Kung Fu Panda 2 — Script Consultant
• 2010Waking Up — Thanks
• 2008Synecdoche, New York — Producer, Director, Writer
• Moral Orel — Story
• 2004Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind — Screenplay, Story, Executive Producer
• 2002Adaptation. — Screenplay, Executive Producer
• 2002Confessions of a Dangerous Mind — Screenplay
• 2001Human Nature — Producer, Writer
• 1999Being John Malkovich — Executive Producer, Writer
• The Dana Carvey Show — Writer
• Misery Loves Company — Co-Producer
• Ned & Stacey — Writer, Producer
• The Trouble with Larry — Writer, Story Editor
• The Edge — Writer
• Get a Life — Writer
• How and Why — Director, Writer
• Later the War — Director, Screenplay
• The Memory Police — Screenplay

Appearances as themselves (3)

• 2023Michel Gondry: Do It Yourself — Self - Screenwriter
• 2017Too Funny to Fail: The Life & Death of The Dana Carvey Show — Self (archive footage)
• 2016None of Them Are You: Crafting Anomalisa — Self