Matthew Weiner Biography

Matthew Weiner (born June 29, 1965) is an American writer, director and producer. He is the creator of the AMC television drama series Mad Men. He is also noted for his work on the HBO drama series The Sopranos, on which he served as a writer and producer during the show's fifth and sixth seasons (2004; 2006"2007). Weiner has received nine Primetime Emmy Awards for his work on Mad Men and The Sopranos as well as three Golden Globe Awards for Mad Men. Mad Men has won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series four consecutive years (2008, 2009, 2010, 2011); The Sopranos (with Weiner as an executive producer) won the same award twice (2004, 2007). Weiner was named one of the 2011 Time 100 Most Influential People In The World. In November 2011, The Atlantic named him one of 21 "Brave Thinkers."

Early life and education

Weiner was born in 1965 in Baltimore, to a Jewish family. He attended The Park School of Baltimore and grew up in Los Angeles where he attended Harvard School for Boys. His father was a medical researcher and chair of the neurology department at USC. His mother graduated from law school but never practiced. He enrolled in the College of Letters at Wesleyan University, studying literature, philosophy, and history and earned an MFA from the University of Southern California School of Cinema and Television.

Career

Weiner began his screenwriting career writing for the short-lived Fox sitcom Party Girl (1996). He was a writer and producer on The Naked Truth and Andy Richter Controls the Universe. Weiner wrote the pilot of Mad Men in 1999 as a spec script while working as a writer on Becker. The Sopranos 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-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.

After The Sopranos concluded in 2007, Weiner began looking for a network to produce Mad Men. Both HBO and Showtime 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. Weiner has served as showrunner, an executive producer, and head writer of Mad Men throughout its six seasons, each consisting of 13 episodes. As the showrunner he has 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, and nine of the fifth. He has also directed all six season finales.

Mad Men has received considerable critical acclaim and has won four Golden Globe Awards and fifteen Primetime Emmy Awards. 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 & Maria Jacquemetton), 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". Most recently, in 2012, he was nominated for "Far Away Places" and "The Other Woman", both with Semi Chellas.

Weiner and his writing staff also won a Writers Guild of America Award 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, You Are Here has filmed in North Carolina and will premier at 2013 Toronto International Film Festival.

Writing process

A March 2012 New York Times article by Dave Itzkoff described Weiner's writing process for Mad Men. Weiner said "[t]here's about a three-week rumination period [8 to 12 weeks before shooting begins], which involves a lot of napping, a lot of holding books. Whether I'm reading them or not, I cannot say." Itzkoff writes that Weiner ruminates on his own life during this period and "[talks] with series consultants like Bob Levinson, a veteran ad man of the '60s, and [contemplates] the real-life history that might have an impact" on the series' characters. "Then he gathers his writers, who are each assigned to bring in 10 story ideas; Mr. Weiner acknowledged that he shoots down many of these pitches. From what survives, an outline is generated, a script is assigned, and when it comes in from his writers, Mr. Weiner rewrites it." "If I change less than 80 percent of it, I will leave their name on it by themselves," Weiner said, adding "I would never want my name on something that I did not write most of. Part of television is you get rewritten."

Personal life

Weiner is married to architect Linda Brettler. Marten, one of his four sons, plays the recurring role of Glen Bishop on Mad Men. Weiner currently resides in Los Angeles. He was a one-day champion on the quiz show Jeopardy!

Works

Television

Becker

Title	Year	Credit	Notes
"Stumble in the Bronx"	1999	Writer
"Blind Curve"	1999	Writer
"For Whom the Toll Calls"	2000	Writer
"The Wrong Man"	2000	Writer
"Pretty Poison"	2001	Writer
"The Ugly Truth"	2001	Writer
"Psycho Therapy"	2001	Writer
"The Ghost of Christmas Presents"	2001	Writer

In-Laws

Title	Year	Credit	Notes
"Love Is the Key"	2002

Andy Richter Controls the Universe

Title	Year	Credit	Notes
"The Maid Man"	2003	Writer

The Sopranos

Title	Year	Credit	Notes
"Rat Pack"	2004	Writer
"Sentimental Education"	2004	Writer
"Unidentified Black Males"	2004	Writer, with Terence Winter	Nominated, Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series
"The Test Dream"	2004	Writer, with David Chase
"Mayham"	2006	Writer
"Luxury Lounge"	2006	Writer
"Moe n' Joe"	2006	Writer
"Kaisha"	2006	Writer, with David Chase and Terence Winter
"Soprano Home Movies"	2007	Writer, with David Chase and Diane Frolov & Andrew Schneider
"Chasing It"	2007	Writer
"Kennedy and Heidi"	2007	Writer, with David Chase	Nominated, Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series
"The Blue Comet"	2007	Writer, with David Chase

Mad Men

Title	Year	Credit	Notes
"Smoke Gets in Your Eyes"	2007	Writer
"Ladies Room"	2007	Writer
"5G"	2007	Writer
"Shoot"	2007	Writer, with Chris Provenzano
"Long Weekend"	2007	Writer, with Bridget Bedard and Andre Jacquemetton & Maria Jacquemetton
"Indian Summer"	2007	Writer, with Tom Palmer
"The Wheel"	2007
"For Those Who Think Young"	2008	Writer	Season 2 premiere
"Flight 1"	2008	Writer, with Lisa Albert
"The Benefactor"	2008	Writer, with Rick Cleveland
"Maidenform"	2008	Writer
"A Night to Remember"	2008	Writer, with Robin Veith	Nominated, Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series
"Six Month Leave"	2008	Writer, with Andre Jacquemetton & Maria Jacquemetton	Nominated, Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series
"The Inheritance"	2008	Writer, with Lisa Albert & Marti Noxon
"The Jet Set"	2008	Writer	Nominated, Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series
"The Mountain King"	2008	Writer, with Robin Veith
"Meditations in an Emergency"	2008
"Out of Town"	2009	Writer	Season 3 premiere
"Love Among the Ruins"	2009	Writer, with Cathryn Humphris
"My Old Kentucky Home"	2009	Writer, with Dahvi Waller
"The Arrangements"	2009	Writer, with Andrew Colville
"Guy Walks into an Advertising Agency"	2009	Writer, with Robin Veith	Nominated, Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series
"Seven Twenty Three"	2009	Writer, with Andre Jacquemetton & Maria Jacquemetton
"Souvenir"	2009	Writer, with Lisa Albert
"Wee Small Hours"	2009	Writer, with Dahvi Waller
"The Color Blue"	2009	Writer, with Kater Gordon
"The Gypsy and the Hobo"	2009	Writer, with Marti Noxon & Cathryn Humphris
"The Grown-Ups"	2009	Writer, with Brett Johnson
"Shut the Door. Have a Seat"	2009
"Public Relations"	2010	Writer	Season 4 premiere
"Christmas Come But Once a Year"	2010	Writer, with Tracy McMillan
"The Good News"	2010	Writer, with Jonathan Abrahams
"The Rejected"	2010	Writer, with Keith Huff
"Waldorf Stories"	2010	Writer, with Brett Johnson
"The Suitcase"	2010	Writer	Nominated, Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series
"The Summer Man"	2010	Writer, with Lisa Albert & Janet Leahy
"The Beautiful Girls"	2010	Writer, with Dahvi Waller
"Hands and Knees"	2010	Writer, with Jonathan Abrahams
"Tomorrowland"	2010		Season 4 finale
"A Little Kiss"	2012	Writer	Season 5 premiere, two-part episode
"Tea Leaves"	2012	Writer, with Erin Levy
"Mystery Date"	2012	Writer, with Victor Levin
"Signal 30"	2012	Writer, with Frank Pierson
"Far Away Places"	2012	Writer, with Semi Chellas	Nominated, Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series
"Lady Lazarus"	2012	Writer
"Christmas Waltz"	2012	Writer, with Victor Levin
"The Other Woman"	2012	Writer, with Semi Chellas	Nominated, Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series
"The Phantom"	2012		Season 5 finale
"The Doorway"	2013	Writer	Season 6 premiere, two-part episode
"Collaborators"	2013	Writer, with Jonathan Igla
"The Flood"	2013	Writer, with Tom Smuts
"For Immediate Release"	2013	Writer
"Man With a Plan"	2013	Writer, with Semi Chellas
"The Crash"	2013	Writer, with Jason Grote
"The Better Half"	2013	Writer, with Erin Levy
"A Tale of Two Cities"	2013	Writer, with Janet Leahy
"Favors"	2013	Writer, with Semi Chellas
"In Care Of"	2013		Season 6 finale

Film

Title	Year	Credit	Notes
You Are Here	2013		Post-production