Steve Koren is an American writer/producer and screenwriter. Most notably, he has written for ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock (streaming service), Peacock. ...

'', '' Seinfeld'', and ''

Veep ''Veep'' is an American political satire comedy television series that aired on HBO from April 22, 2012, to May 12, 2019. The series was created by Armando Iannucci as an adaptation of his sitcom ''The Thick of It''. The protagonist of ''Veep' ...

''. He also wrote or co-wrote the movies '' Bruce Almighty'', '' Click'', '' A Night at the Roxbury'', and ''

Superstar A superstar is someone who has great popular appeal and is widely known, prominent, or successful in their field. Celebrities referred to as "superstars" may include individuals who work as actors, musicians, athletes, and other media-based profe ...

''. In addition, he has contributed to '' Curb Your Enthusiasm'' (specifically, the "Palestinian Chicken" episode). Koren is a native of

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

, New York, and attended

Benjamin N. Cardozo High School Benjamin N. Cardozo High School is a state school, public secondary education in the United States, high school in the Bayside, Queens, Bayside neighborhood of Queens, New York City. The school was named for Benjamin N. Cardozo, who served as List ...

Bayside, Queens Bayside is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens. It is bounded by Whitestone to the northwest, the Long Island Sound and Little Neck Bay to the northeast, Douglaston to the east, Oakland Gardens to the south, and Fresh Meado ...

Career

After college, he began his career as an

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

page. Among his duties as a page was working for ''Saturday Night Live''. As a

Rockefeller Center Rockefeller Center is a large complex consisting of 19 commercial buildings covering between 48th Street and 51st Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The 14 original Art Deco buildings, commissioned by the Rockefeller family, span th ...

tour guide, Koren would hand jokes to David Letterman and

Dennis Miller Dennis Michael Miller (born November 3, 1953) is an American talk show host, political commentator, sports commentator, actor, and comedian. He was a cast member of ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1985 to 1991, and he subsequently hosted a stri ...

as they passed in the hall, which landed him a writing gig on ''SNL''. He also occasionally acted for the series. While at SNL, he wrote/co-wrote Weekend Update, Mary Katherine Gallagher, The Roxbury Guys, Adam Sandler’s The Denise Show, The Joe Pesci Show, Jim Carrey’s Hot Tub Lifeguard, among many other sketches. In addition, he helped write and performed on Adam Sandler’s Platinum debut album ''They’re All Gonna Laugh at You''. Later, he became a writer for ''Seinfeld'', and wrote the episodes "

The Abstinence "The Abstinence" is the 143rd episode of the American sitcom ''Seinfeld''. This was the ninth episode for the eighth season, originally broadcast on the NBC network on November 21, 1996. This episode focuses on George and Elaine's experiments wi ...

", "

The English Patient ''The English Patient'' is a 1992 novel by Michael Ondaatje. The book follows four dissimilar people brought together at an Italian villa during the Italian Campaign of the Second World War. The four main characters are: an unrecognisably burn ...

", "

The Serenity Now "The Serenity Now" is the 159th episode of the NBC sitcom '' Seinfeld''. This was the third episode of the ninth and final season. It aired in the U.S. on October 9, 1997.The Dealership". He was also one of the contributors to the teleplay for "

The Frogger "The Frogger" is the 174th episode of the NBC sitcom ''Seinfeld''. It is the 18th episode for the ninth and final season. It first aired on April 23, 1998. In this episode, Elaine eats a vintage cake from King Edward VIII's wedding, Jerry mainta ...

" and "

The Puerto Rican Day "The Puerto Rican Day" is the 176th episode of the NBC sitcom '' Seinfeld''. It aired on May 7, 1998, and was the 20th episode of the ninth and final season. It was the show's second-highest-rated episode of all time, with 38.8 million viewers, o ...

". In the episode "

The Van Buren Boys "The Van Buren Boys" is the 148th episode of the sitcom '' Seinfeld''. This was the 14th episode for the 8th season, originally airing on February 6, 1997. In this episode, everyone is convinced Jerry's new girlfriend is a loser, Elaine ghostwri ...

", a character named Steve Koren is

George Costanza George Louis Costanza is a fictional character in the American television sitcom ''Seinfeld'' (1989–1998), played by Jason Alexander. He is a short, stocky, balding man who struggles with numerous insecurities, often dooming his romantic rela ...

's choice for the first Susan Biddle Ross Scholarship to be granted by the

Susan Ross This is a list of characters who appeared on ''Seinfeld''. This list features only characters who appeared in multiple episodes; those that appeared in only one are not included here. Primary characters Jerry Seinfeld George Costanza Elaine ...

Foundation. Koren has executive-produced several films such as Adam Sandler's '' Grown Ups'' (2010), ''

Just Go with It ''Just Go with It'' is a 2011 American romantic comedy film directed by Dennis Dugan, written by Allan Loeb and Timothy Dowling, and produced by Adam Sandler, Jack Giarraputo, and Heather Parry. It is a remake of the 1969 film '' Cactus Flower ...

'' (2011), '' Blended'' (2014), and ''

Pixels In digital imaging, a pixel (abbreviated px), pel, or picture element is the smallest addressable element in a raster image, or the smallest point in an all points addressable display device. In most digital display devices, pixels are the sm ...

'' (2015). Koren also wrote the movie ''

'', starring Molly Shannon and Will Ferrell.

Filmography

Writing credits

*''

'' (TV) (1991–1998) *'' Seinfeld'' (TV) (1996–1998) *'' A Night at the Roxbury'' (1998) (co-written with

Will Ferrell John William Ferrell (; born July 16, 1967) is an American actor, comedian, and producer. He first established himself in the mid-1990s as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy show '' Saturday Night Live'', where he performed from 1995 to 2 ...

and Chris Kattan) *''

'' (1999) (written as Steven Wayne Koren) *''

Everything But the Girl Everything but the Girl (occasionally referred to as EBTG) are an English musical duo formed in Kingston upon Hull in 1982, consisting of lead singer and occasional guitarist Tracey Thorn and guitarist, keyboardist, producer and singer Ben Wat ...

'' (TV movie) (2001) *'' Bruce Almighty'' (2003) (co-written with Mark O'Keefe and Steve Oedekerk) *'' Click'' (2006) (co-written with Mark O'Keefe) *''Fishy'' (

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

) (2006) *''

Jack and Jill "Jack and Jill" (sometimes "Jack and Gill", particularly in earlier versions) is a traditional English nursery rhyme. The Roud Folk Song Index classifies the commonest tune and its variations as number 10266, although it has been set to severa ...

'' (2011) (co-written with Adam Sandler and

Robert Smigel Robert Smigel (born February 7, 1960) is an American actor, comedian, writer, director, producer, and puppeteer, known for his ''Saturday Night Live'' " TV Funhouse" cartoon shorts and as the puppeteer and voice behind Triumph the Insult Comic D ...

) *'' A Thousand Words'' (2012) *''

'' (2016)

Acting credits

*'' Seinfeld'': :" The Millennium" (May 1, 1997) - as the character Steve Koren
" The Dealership" (January 8, 1998) - as the Cab Driver
" The Finale" (May 14, 1998) - as a Juror *''Fishy'' (short film) (2006) - as Dad

Awards and nominations

* Emmy Award nominee (1992, 1993) for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Writing in a Variety or Music Program; the nomination was shared with other writers for ''Saturday Night Live'' * Emmy Award nominee (1998) for Outstanding Comedy Series; the nomination was shared with other writers for ''Seinfeld''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Koren, Steve 20th-century American screenwriters 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American screenwriters 21st-century American male writers American male screenwriters American male television writers American television writers Benjamin N. Cardozo High School alumni Binghamton University alumni Living people People from Bayside, Queens Screenwriters from New York (state) Writers from Queens, New York Year of birth missing (living people)