Stephen Geller
Stephen Geller (b. Los Angeles, California[1]) is an American screenwriter and novelist. He wrote the screenplay for the film adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut's novel Slaughterhouse-Five, and has worked in the film industry in Hollywood and Europe. Geller recently directed his own independent feature titled Mother's Little Helpers.
Career
Educated at Dartmouth College[1] and Yale University, Geller moved to Rome, Italy from 1969 to 79 to work for the Italian producer Dino De Laurentiis, where he wrote the screenplay for The Valachi Papers and other films. Rome became his home for the next 16 years. He worked in the Italian, French, British and independent film industries. He also commuted to Los Angeles and wrote for every major studio during this period. In 1986, he returned to Hollywood, working there for a time, but leaving to found screenwriting programs at Arizona State University and at Boston University.
His screenwriting credits, in addition to Slaughterhouse-Five, include Ashanti, The Valachi Papers, and Warburg: A Man of Influence, and "Mother's Little Helpers."
In 1997, Geller directed, co-wrote and acted in the play Opportunities in Zero Gravity with Kae Geller, his writing partner and wife. This two-actor, seven-character play thematically wove monologues around popular cultural mythology, capitalism, and the pursuit of the American Dream.
Aside from screenwriting, he has published 11 novels and a book on screenwriting, written several plays, and directed both theater and film. He currently teaches Shakespeare, satire, and the personal essay at Savannah College of Art and Design. His most recent novel is Jews in Dark Matter.' His most reent non-fiction book is 'Sabbath-on-Swathe,' an 'author-ized' autobiography
Screenplays
- The Valachi Papers (co-writer) (1972)
- Slaughterhouse-Five (1972)
- Ashanti (1979)
- Warburg: A Man of Influence (co-writer) (1992)
- Mother's Little Helpers (also directed) (2005)
Novels
- She Let Him Continue (1966), made into the film Pretty Poison (1968)
- Pit Bull (1967)
- Joop's Dance (1969)
- Gad (1976)
- Feist (2012)
- Jews on the Moon (2013)
- Jews Beyond Jupiter (2013)
- Jews in Black Holes (2013)
- Jews and the Theories of String (2013)
- Jews at the Table, Volumes 1 & 2 (the previous four novels, set in two editions) (2013)
- A Warning of Golems (2013)
- Martinis at Dawn (2014)
- Jews in the Bosom of the Big Bang (2014)
- Jews in dark matter: with Jesus, the Christ, and Other Big Surprises (2017)
Non-fiction:
Sabbath-on-Swathe (2018)
Nonfiction
- Screenwriting: A Method (1985)
Two Excerpts from a Novel-in-Progress (2015)
Sabbath-on-Swathe: an author-ized autobiography (2018)
Awards
- Special Jury Prize, Cannes Film Festival, Slaughterhouse-Five;
- First Hugo Science-Fiction Film Award, Slaughterhouse-Five.
- European Silver Award for best miniseries, Warburg: A Man of Influence
- Zoetrope International Internet Film Festival, Cuppa Cabby, Piece O' Pie
- Connecticut Governor General's Award, "Water Water Everywhere"
Personal
Stephen Geller's blog Upwriteonthedownbeat.com combines personal reflections, critiques of film, music, and art, as well as excerpts from his fiction and poetry. Stephen Geller's wife, Kae, was an elite level ice dancer, and is a writer, educator, and performer. Their daughter, Florrie, is a professional ballet dancer.
References
- "Guide to the Papers of Stephen Geller, 1940 - 1993". Dartmouth College Library. Archived from the original on November 18, 2007.
External links
Upwriteonthedownbeat.com Blog of nonfiction & episodic fiction