Jeff Schaffer (born ) is an American film and television director, writer, and producer.

Early life and education

Schaffer and his brother

Greg Greg is a masculine given name, and often a shortened form of the given name Gregory. Greg (more commonly spelled " Gregg") is also a surname. People with the name *Greg Abbott (disambiguation), multiple people *Greg Abel (born 1961/1962), Canadi ...

(also a film and TV writer and producer) were raised in the

Warren A warren is a network of wild rodent or lagomorph, typically rabbit burrows. Domestic warrens are artificial, enclosed establishment of animal husbandry dedicated to the raising of rabbits for meat and fur. The term evolved from the medieval A ...

–

Howland, Ohio Howland Township is one of the twenty-four townships of Trumbull County, Ohio, United States. Along with Liberty Township, it is one of two urban townships in Trumbull County. The 2000 census found 19,451 people in the township, 17,546 of whom ...

area, about east of Cleveland. He is Jewish. After graduating from

Western Reserve Academy , motto_translation = Light and Truth , address = 115 College Street , city = Hudson , state = Ohio , zipcode = 44236-2999 , country = United ...

Hudson, Ohio Hudson is a city in Summit County, Ohio, United States. The population was 23,110 at the 2020 census. It is a suburban community in the Akron metropolitan statistical area and the larger Cleveland–Akron–Canton Combined Statistical Area, th ...

, Schaffer attended

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...

, where he was on the staff of the humor publication ''

The Harvard Lampoon ''The Harvard Lampoon'' is an undergraduate humor publication founded in 1876 by seven undergraduates at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Overview The ''Harvard Lampoon'' publication was founded in 1876 by seven undergraduates ...

''.

Career

Television

After college, Schaffer and his ''Harvard Lampoon ''writing pals

Alec Berg Alec Berg is an American television writer, director and executive producer. He wrote for the sitcom ''Seinfeld'' and is co-creator and executive producer of ''Barry Barry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Barry (name), including ...

and

David Mandel David Mandel (born ) is writer, actor, director, and producer. He was an executive producer and showrunner of '' Veep'', and was also an executive producer and director of '' Curb Your Enthusiasm'' and '' Seinfeld''. He is also a comedian, an ...

wrote several episodes of the

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

Seinfeld ''Seinfeld'' ( ) is an American television sitcom created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld. It aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, over nine seasons and List of Seinfeld episodes, 180 episodes. It stars Seinfeld as Jerry Seinfeld ( ...

. He also served as

executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the making of a commercial entertainment product. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights o ...

during its ninth season. He also held various other positions on the show such as program consultant, supervising producer and story editor. Schaffer is credited with creating the Festivus pole. Schaffer directed several episodes of ''

Curb Your Enthusiasm ''Curb Your Enthusiasm'' is an American television sitcom produced and broadcast by HBO since October 15, 2000, and created by Larry David, who stars as a semi-fictionalized version of himself. It follows David's life as a semi-retired televisio ...

'' and also served as executive producer for several episodes. Notably, Schaffer directed "

", the finale episode of ''Curb Your Enthusiasm''s seventh season, which featured a reunion of the original cast of the ''Seinfeld'' series (for which the star and creator of ''Curb Your Enthusiasm'',

Larry David Lawrence Gene David (born July 2, 1947) is an American comedian, writer, actor, and television producer. He and Jerry Seinfeld created the television sitcom ''Seinfeld'', on which David was head writer and executive producer for the first seve ...

, was co-creator, head writer and executive producer). ''

The League ''The League'' is an American sitcom that aired on FX and later FXX from October 29, 2009, to December 9, 2015, for a total of seven seasons. The series, set in Chicago, Illinois, is a semi-improvised comedy show about a fantasy football league ...

'' is a "semi-improvised series." The sitcom which was created by Schaffer and his wife

Jackie Schaffer Jackie Schaffer (née Marcus) is an American screenwriter. Filmography * '' EuroTrip'' (2004) (producer) * '' Trailer Park Boys: The Movie'' (executive producer 2006) * '' Disturbia'' (2007) (producer) * '' Worst Enemy'' (2010) (executive produc ...

. It is written and directed by Jeff Schaffer. Schaffer worked with Dave Burd to create ''

Dave Dave may refer to: Film, television, and theater * ''Dave'' (film), a 1993 film starring Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver * ''Dave'' (musical), a 2018 stage musical adaptation of the film * Dave (TV channel), a digital television channel in the ...

'', a sitcom that is loosely based on Burd's life as a rapper. The show premiered on

FXX FXX is an American basic cable channel owned by the Walt Disney Television unit of The Walt Disney Company through FX Networks, LLC. It is the partner channel of FX, with its programming focusing on original and acquired comedy series and fe ...

on March 4, 2020. The show's second season premiered on June 16, 2021.

Film

Schaffer wrote and directed '' EuroTrip'', a 2004 teen comedy, and participated in the screenplay for the 2003 adaptation of the

Dr. Seuss Theodor Seuss Geisel (;"Seuss"
'' The Cat in the Hat ''The Cat in the Hat'' is a 1957 children's book written and illustrated by the American author Theodor Geisel, using the pen name Dr. Seuss. The story centers on a tall anthropomorphic cat who wears a red and white-striped top hat and a red bow ...

''. Other scripts he helped write include two comedy features starring

Sacha Baron Cohen Sacha Noam Baron Cohen (born 13 October 1971) is an English actor, comedian, producer, and screenwriter. He is best known for his creation and portrayal of the fictional satirical characters Ali G, Borat Sagdiyev, Brüno Gehard, and Admiral ...

, ''

Brüno ''Brüno'' is a 2009 mockumentary comedy film directed by Larry Charles and starring Sacha Baron Cohen, who produced, co-wrote, and played the gay Austrian fashion journalist Brüno. It is the third film based on one of Cohen's characters from ...

'' (2009) and '' The Dictator'' (2012). On the latter film, Alec Berg and David Mandel — former ''Seinfeld'' writers as well as friends and collaborators with Schaffer since college — also collaborated, and veteran ''Seinfeld'' writer and ''Curb Your Enthusiasm'' director

Larry Charles Larry Charles (born ) is an American comedian, screenwriter, director, actor, and producer. He was a staff writer for the sitcom ''Seinfeld'' for its first five seasons. He has also directed the documentary film ''Religulous'' and the mockument ...

directed. All four would later write the TV movie ''

Clear History ''Clear History'' is a 2013 American comedy film written by Larry David, Alec Berg, David Mandel and Jeff Schaffer, directed by Greg Mottola and starring Larry David, Kate Hudson, Danny McBride, Philip Baker Hall, Jon Hamm, Michael Keaton, Eva Me ...

'' starring Larry David.

Festivus pole

Dan O'Keefe, who worked with Schaffer on ''

'', credits Schaffer with introducing the concept of the Festivus pole as the only decoration for

Festivus Festivus () is a secular holiday celebrated on December 23 as an alternative to the pressures and commercialism of the Christmas season. Originally created by author Daniel O'Keefe, Festivus entered popular culture after it was made the focu ...

, the December 23 holiday. Festivus was popularized in the 1997 ''Seinfeld'' episode "The Strike". The aluminum pole was not part of the original O'Keefe family celebration, which centered on putting a clock in a bag and nailing it to a wall.

Personal life

Schaffer married the former Jackie Marcus, also his professional partner, particularly on ''The League''; their life experiences have often been translated into the plot of the series. They have a daughter, Arwen (named for the character in ''

The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an epic high-fantasy novel by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, intended to be Earth at some time in the distant past, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's boo ...

''), born in 2012.

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Schaffer, Jeff American male screenwriters American film directors American television directors Television producers from Ohio American television writers German-language film directors Living people Writers from Cleveland American male television writers The Harvard Lampoon alumni Screenwriters from Ohio Film producers from Ohio Western Reserve Academy alumni Year of birth missing (living people)