Steven Conrad

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Steven Conrad
Steve Conrad, Patriot- A Special Preview (cropped).jpg
Steve Conrad discusses Patriot for New America in 2017
Born (1968-05-20) May 20, 1968 (age 57)
Nationality American
Alma mater Florida State University
Northwestern University
Occupation(s) Screenwriter, director, film producer
Years active1986-present

Steven Conrad (born May 20, 1968) [1] is an American filmmaker, Screenwriter, and film producer.

Contents

Early life

Steven Conrad was born on May 20, 1968 [2] in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and briefly attended Florida State University before transferring to Northwestern University, where he majored in creative writing.

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. [3]

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, [4] and it premiered in its entirety on February 24, 2017. [5] In addition to executive-producing the series, he has also written and directed most of the first season's episodes.[ citation needed ]

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, [6] 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+.

Personal life

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 ]

Filmography

Film

YearTitleCredited asNotes
DirectorWriterProducer
1993 Wrestling Ernest Hemingway NoYesNo
2004Lawrence MelmYesYesNoDirectorial debut
2005 The Weather Man NoYesYes
2006 The Pursuit of Happyness NoYesNo
2008 The Promotion YesYesNo
2013 The Secret Life of Walter Mitty NoYesNo
2015 Unfinished Business NoYesNo
2017 Wonder NoYesNo

Television

YearTitleCredited asNotes
DirectorWriterProducer
2011Connie Banks the ActorYesYesNoUnaired pilot
2013Timms ValleyYesYesNoUnaired pilot
2015–2018 Patriot YesYesYesCreator; Writer (14 episodes), director (14 episodes)
2019 Perpetual Grace, LTD YesYesYesCo-creator; writer (10 episodes), director (6 episodes)
2021 Ultra City Smiths YesYesYesCreator; writer (6 episodes), director (6 episodes)
2026 DTF St. Louis [7] YesYesYesCreator; writer, director

Awards

YearAwardAward categoryNominated workResult
2018 Critics' Choice Television Awards Best Comedy Series Patriot Nominated
Critics' Choice Awards Best Adapted Screenplay Wonder Nominated

References

  1. "Steve Conrad". IMDb. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
  2. "Steve Conrad". IMDb. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
  3. "News & Politics". Chicago Reader. Retrieved October 12, 2017.
  4. Wagmeister, Elizabeth (December 18, 2015). "Amazon Picks Up Slew of Comedy, Drama, Kids Series". Variety.com. Retrieved September 18, 2016.
  5. Petski, Denise (January 27, 2017). "'Patriot' Gets February Premiere Date On Amazon". Deadline Hollywood .
  6. Kit, Borys (April 23, 2015). "'Paddington' Director Books Lionsgate's YA Adaptation 'Wonder' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved July 16, 2016.
  7. Otterson, Joe (November 1, 2024). "HBO Orders Limited Series 'DTF St. Louis' Starring David Harbour & Jason Bateman". Variety. Retrieved August 30, 2025.