Age: 67
male
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.
Set in the bleak landscape of 1930s America, Fallen Dreamer follows Nathanael West as he drifts from one soul-crushing job to another, desperately trying to sustain himself while writing novels that no one seems to want. The film opens with West arriving in Hollywood, where he takes a job as a scriptwriter for B-movies — his ticket to survival but also a source of constant compromise. West quickly sees through the glamour of the industry, sensing the despair and delusion that lurk beneath the bright lights and sweeping backlots. Intercutting between the gritty streets of Los Angeles and West’s feverish imagination, we watch him begin to pen his masterpiece, The Day of the Locust. Inspired by his encounters with outcast actors, broken dreamers, and Hollywood’s underbelly, West captures the fragmented psyche of a country clinging to illusions. But as his literary vision comes to life, his personal life unravels. In the company of kindred spirit and fellow writer F. Scott Fitzgerald, he experiences both moments of wild inspiration and deep despair, struggling with relationships and finding himself increasingly isolated by his insights into the human condition.
