Matthew Hoffman Weiner (;
born June 29, 1965)
is an American
television writer
A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...
,
producer, and
director best known as the creator and
showrunner of the television series ''
Mad Men
''Mad Men'' is an American historical drama, period drama television series created by Matthew Weiner and produced by Lionsgate Television. It ran on cable network AMC (TV channel), AMC from July 19, 2007, to May 17, 2015, with seven seasons ...
'', and as a writer and executive producer on ''
The Sopranos
''The Sopranos'' is an American Crime film#Crime drama, crime drama television series created by David Chase. The series follows Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey American Mafia, Mafia boss who suffers from panic attacks. He reluct ...
''.
Weiner began his television career as a writer on ''
Becker'' and worked on several other
sitcoms
A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent setting, such as a home ...
before writing the
pilot episode of ''Mad Men'' as a
spec script
A spec script, also known as a speculative screenplay, is a non-commissioned and unsolicited screenplay. It is usually written by a screenwriter who hopes to have the script optioned and eventually purchased by a producer, production company, or ...
and joining the writing staff of ''The Sopranos'' in 2004. After achieving success on both ''The Sopranos'' and ''Mad Men'', he wrote, directed, and produced the
comedy-drama
Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau dramedy) is a hybrid genre of works that combine elements of comedy and Drama (film and television), drama. In film, as well as scripted television series, serious dramatic subjects (such as death, il ...
film ''
Are You Here'' in 2013, published his first novel ''Heather, the Totality'' in 2017, and created the
anthology
In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and g ...
drama
Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...
series ''
The Romanoffs'' in 2018.
Weiner has won nine
Primetime Emmy Awards
The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Owned and operated by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the P ...
, two for ''The Sopranos'' and seven for ''Mad Men'', as well as three
Golden Globe Awards
The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual Awards ceremony, award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally ...
for ''Mad Men''. ''Mad Men'' won the
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series for four consecutive years (
2008
2008 was designated as:
*International Year of Languages
*International Year of Planet Earth
*International Year of the Potato
*International Year of Sanitation
The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...
,
2009
2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...
,
2010
The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...
,
2011
The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...
); ''The Sopranos'' (with Weiner as an executive producer) won the same award twice, in
2004
2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO).
Events January
* January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...
and
2007
2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year.
Events
January
* January 1
**Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...
. In 2011, Weiner was included in ''
Time
Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
'' annual ''
Time 100
''Time'' 100 is a list of the top 100 most influential people, assembled by the American news magazine ''Time''. First published in 1999 as the result of a debate among American academics, politicians, and journalists, the list is now a highly ...
'' as one of the "Most Influential People in the World". In November 2011, ''
The Atlantic
''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher based in Washington, D.C. It features articles on politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science.
It was founded in 185 ...
'' named him one of 21 "Brave Thinkers".
Early life and education
Weiner was born in 1965 in
Baltimore
Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...
to a
Jewish
Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
family. He attended
The Park School of Baltimore and grew up in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
where he attended
Harvard School for Boys. His father was a medical researcher and chair of the neurology department at
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...
. His mother graduated from law school but never practiced.
He enrolled in the College of Letters at
Wesleyan University
Wesleyan University ( ) is a Private university, private liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1831 as a Men's colleges in the United States, men's college under the Methodi ...
, studying
literature
Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...
,
philosophy
Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...
, and
history
History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...
and earned an
MFA from the
University of Southern California School of Cinema and Television.
[
][
]
Career
1997–2007: Early work and ''The Sopranos''
Weiner described the start of his career as a "dark time. Show business looked so impenetrable that I eventually stopped writing." During this time, his wife financially supported them with her work as an architect. He began his screenwriting career writing for the short-lived
Fox sitcom
A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...
''
Party Girl'' (1996).
He was a writer and producer on ''
The Naked Truth''
and ''
Andy Richter Controls the Universe''.
Weiner wrote the
pilot
An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...
of ''
Mad Men
''Mad Men'' is an American historical drama, period drama television series created by Matthew Weiner and produced by Lionsgate Television. It ran on cable network AMC (TV channel), AMC from July 19, 2007, to May 17, 2015, with seven seasons ...
'' in 1999 as a
spec script
A spec script, also known as a speculative screenplay, is a non-commissioned and unsolicited screenplay. It is usually written by a screenwriter who hopes to have the script optioned and eventually purchased by a producer, production company, or ...
while working as a writer on ''
Becker''.
''
The Sopranos
''The Sopranos'' is an American Crime film#Crime drama, crime drama television series created by David Chase. The series follows Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey American Mafia, Mafia boss who suffers from panic attacks. He reluct ...
'' creator and executive producer
David Chase offered Weiner a job as a writer for the series after being impressed by the script.
[
]
Weiner served as a supervising producer for the fifth season of ''The Sopranos'' (2004), a co-executive producer for the first part of the sixth season (2006), and an executive producer for the second part of the sixth season (2007). He has sole or joint credit for 12 episodes overall, including the
Primetime Emmy Award
The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Owned and operated by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the P ...
-nominated episodes "
Unidentified Black Males" (co-written with
Terence Winter) and "
Kennedy and Heidi" (co-written with David Chase). He received two Primetime Emmy Awards as a producer of ''The Sopranos'' — one for the show's fifth season in 2004 and one for the second part of the show's sixth season in 2007.
In addition to writing and producing, he acted in two episodes, "
Two Tonys" and "
Stage 5" as fictional mafia expert Manny Safier, author of ''The Wise Guide to Wise Guys'', on TV news broadcasts within the show. Weiner also spent the hiatus between the two seasons teaching at his alma mater, the University of Southern California School of Cinema-Television (now School of Cinematic Arts), where he taught an undergraduate screenwriting class on Feature Rewriting during the Fall 2004 semester.
2007–2015: ''Mad Men'' and acclaim
During his time on ''The Sopranos'' Weiner began looking for a network to produce ''
Mad Men
''Mad Men'' is an American historical drama, period drama television series created by Matthew Weiner and produced by Lionsgate Television. It ran on cable network AMC (TV channel), AMC from July 19, 2007, to May 17, 2015, with seven seasons ...
''. HBO,
Showtime and FX passed on the project. HBO offered to produce the series if Chase would be on board as a writer or producer, but Chase instead chose to focus on developing feature films.
Weiner eventually pitched the series to
AMC, which had never produced an original dramatic television series. They picked up the show, ordering a full 13-episode season.
''Mad Men'' premiered on July 19, 2007, six weeks after ''The Sopranos'' concluded. Weiner served as
showrunner, an executive producer, and head writer of ''Mad Men'' throughout its seven seasons. As the showrunner he had a major role in the writing and directing of each episode, also approving actors, costumes, hairstyles, and props.
He is credited with writing or co-writing seven episodes of the first season, eleven episodes of the second, twelve episodes of the third, ten of the fourth, nine of the fifth, ten of the sixth, and twelve of the seventh. He has also directed all seven
season finale
A season finale (British English: series finale; Australian English: season final) is the final episode of a season of a television program. This is often the final episode to be produced for a few months or longer, and, as such, will attempt to ...
s, along with the season seven midseason finale and the penultimate episode of the series.
''Mad Men'' has received considerable critical acclaim and has won four
Golden Globe Award
The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally held every Janua ...
s and fifteen
Primetime Emmy Award
The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Owned and operated by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the P ...
s. It is the first basic cable series to win the
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series, winning the award in 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011. Weiner won the
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series for the pilot episode, "
Smoke Gets in Your Eyes", in 2008, as well as being nominated for "The Wheel" (with
Robin Veith). He also won Primetime Emmys for the same category in 2009, for "Meditations in an Emergency" (shared with
Kater Gordon), and in 2010, for "
Shut the Door. Have a Seat." (shared with
Erin Levy). In 2009, he was also nominated for "A Night to Remember" (with Veith), "Six Month Leave" (with
Andre Jacquemetton
Andre Jacquemetton is an American television writer and producer. He served as a producer for the first and second season of '' Mad Men''. He and his wife, Maria, co-wrote episodes of the first and second seasons. Alongside his colleagues on the ...
&
Maria Jacquemetton
Maria Jacquemetton ( Mastras) is an American television writer and producer. She graduated from Lehigh University in 1983. She served as a producer for the first season of '' Mad Men'' and co-wrote, with her husband, Andre, three episodes of th ...
), and "The Jet Set"; he was also nominated in 2010 for "
Guy Walks into an Advertising Agency" (with Veith). In 2011, he was nominated for "
The Suitcase". In 2012, he was nominated for "
Far Away Places" and "
The Other Woman", both with
Semi Chellas. Most recently, in 2015, he was nominated for "Lost Horizon" with Chellas and "Person to Person".
Weiner and his writing staff also won a
Writers Guild of America Award
The Writers Guild of America Awards is an award for film, television, and radio writing including both fiction and non-fiction categories given by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America West since 1949.
Eligibility
Th ...
for Best New Series and were nominated for the award Best Dramatic Series at the
February 2008 ceremony for their work on the first season.
They were nominated for the WGA award for Best Dramatic Series a second time at the
February 2009 ceremony for their work on the second season.
Weiner and the writing staff won the WGA Award for Best Drama Series (after being nominated for the third consecutive year) at the
February 2010 ceremony for their work on the third season. Weiner was also twice nominated for the WGA award for episodic drama at the February 2010 ceremony for his work on "The Grown-Ups" (with co-writer
Brett Johnson) and "
Guy Walks into an Advertising Agency" (with
Robin Veith). Weiner's first feature film, ''
Are You Here'', filmed in
North Carolina
North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...
, premiered at the
2013 Toronto International Film Festival
The 38th annual Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) took place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada between September 5 and 15, 2013. ''The Fifth Estate (film), The Fifth Estate'' was selected as the opening film and ''Life of Crime (film), Life o ...
and was released in 2014.
2016–present
Weiner's first novel, ''Heather, the Totality'', was published in the fall of 2017. In 2018, Weiner created ''
The Romanoffs'', an
Amazon Video
Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...
anthology series.
In May 2025, the world premier of Weiner's play, ''John Wilkes Booth: One Night Only'', took place at
Baltimore Center Stage. Both Weiner and
Booth were originally from the
Baltimore
Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...
,
Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...
area. The premiere was about a mile from
Greenmount Cemetery where Booth was buried.
Prospective projects
In 2020, it was announced that Weiner was developing a half-hour
dramedy
Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau dramedy) is a hybrid genre of works that combine elements of comedy and Drama (film and television), drama. In film, as well as scripted television series, serious dramatic subjects (such as death, il ...
at
FX which he would write, direct and executive produce as his next TV project. While no plot details were disclosed, sources said at the time that the show would also contain elements of
mystery. However, by 2022, the project was no longer moving forward at FX.
In 2025, Weiner was reportedly hired by
New Regency to adapt the 1989
Nicole Kidman
Nicole Mary Kidman (born 20 June 1967) is an Australian and American actress and producer. Known for Nicole Kidman on screen and stage, her work in film and television productions across many genres, she has consistently ranked among the world ...
film ''
Dead Calm'' into a TV series.
Personal life
Weiner married architect Linda Brettler in 1991. He filed for divorce in July 2019. One of their four sons,
Marten Holden Weiner, played the recurring role of
Glen Bishop on ''
Mad Men
''Mad Men'' is an American historical drama, period drama television series created by Matthew Weiner and produced by Lionsgate Television. It ran on cable network AMC (TV channel), AMC from July 19, 2007, to May 17, 2015, with seven seasons ...
''.
In August 2015, he signed, along with 98 other members of the Los Angeles Jewish community, an open letter supporting the
proposed nuclear agreement between Iran and six world powers led by the United States "as being in the best interest of the United States and Israel."
On November 9, 2017, former ''Mad Men'' writer
Kater Gordon accused Weiner of making a comment at the office one night to the effect that she owed it to him "to see her naked." Weiner denies any memory of making the alleged comment. Furthermore, Weiner told ''
Vanity Fair'', "I can't see a scenario where I would say that. What I can see is, it was 10 years ago and I don't remember saying it. When someone says you said something, like the experience we just had right now – I don't remember saying that."
Works
Television
Film
Published works
Awards and nominations
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Weiner, Matthew
1965 births
Living people
20th-century American Jews
21st-century American Jews
American male screenwriters
American male television writers
American showrunners
American soap opera writers
American television directors
Film directors from Los Angeles
Film directors from Maryland
Film producers from California
Harvard-Westlake School alumni
International Emmy Founders Award winners
Jewish American screenwriters
Jewish American television writers
Television writers from California
Primetime Emmy Award winners
Screenwriters from Maryland
Television producers from California
USC School of Cinematic Arts alumni
Wesleyan University alumni
Writers from Baltimore
Writers from Los Angeles
Writers Guild of America Award winners