Stephen Chbosky

Stephen Chbosky (/ʃəˈbɒski/;[1] born January 25, 1970) is an American novelist, screenwriter, and film director best-known for writing The New York Times bestselling coming-of-age novel The Perks of Being a Wallflower (1999), as well as for writing and directing the film version of the same book, starring Logan Lerman, Emma Watson, and Ezra Miller. He also wrote the screenplay for the 2005 film Rent and Disney's 2017 live action adaptation of Beauty and the Beast, alongside Evan Spiliotopoulos, and was co-creator, executive producer, and writer of the CBS television series Jericho, which aired from 2006 to 2008. Most recently, he directed the 2017 drama Wonder, starring Julia Roberts, Owen Wilson, and Jacob Tremblay. His most recent novel, Imaginary Friend, was published in October 2019.[2]

Stephen Chbosky
Chbosky on the Jericho panel at Comic Con San Diego, 2006
Born	January 25, 1970 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Occupation	Novelist, screenwriter, film director
Relatives	John Erick Dowdle (brother-in law)

Early life

Chbosky was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and was raised in the Pittsburgh suburb of Upper St. Clair, Pennsylvania.[3] He is the son of Lea (née Meyer), a tax preparer, and Fred G. Chbosky, a steel company executive and consultant to CFOs.[3][4][5] Chbosky has a sister, Stacy, who is married to director John Erick Dowdle.[6][7] He was raised Catholic.[8][9] As a teenager, Chbosky "enjoyed a good blend of the classics, horror, and fantasy."[10] He was heavily influenced by J. D. Salinger's novel The Catcher in the Rye and the writing of F. Scott Fitzgerald and Tennessee Williams.[10] Chbosky graduated from Upper St. Clair High School in 1988, around which time he met Stewart Stern, screenwriter of the 1955 James Dean film Rebel Without a Cause. Stern became Chbosky's "good friend and mentor", and proved a major influence on Chbosky's career.[11]

Career

In 1992, Chbosky graduated from the University of Southern California's screenwriting program.[12] He wrote, directed, and acted in the 1995 independent film The Four Corners of Nowhere, which gained Chbosky his first agent. It also was accepted by the Sundance Film Festival, and became one of the first films shown on the Sundance Channel.[5] In the late 1990s, Chbosky wrote several unproduced screenplays, including ones titled Audrey Hepburn's Neck and Schoolhouse Rock.[13]

In 1994, Chbosky was working on a "very different type of book" than The Perks of Being a Wallflower when he wrote the line, "I guess that's just one of the perks of being a wallflower."[10] Chbosky recalled that he "wrote that line. And stopped. And realized that somewhere in that [sentence] was the kid I was really trying to find."[10] After several years of gestation, Chbosky began researching and writing The Perks of Being a Wallflower, an epistolary novel that follows the intellectual and emotional maturation of a teenager who uses the alias Charlie over the course of his first year of high school. The book is semi-autobiographical; Chbosky has said that he "relate[s] to Charlie[...] But my life in high school was in many ways different."[10]

The book, Chbosky's first novel, was published by MTV Books in 1999, and was an immediate popular success with teenage readers; by 2000, the novel was MTV Books' best-selling title,[13] and The New York Times noted in 2007 that it had sold more than 700,000 copies and "is passed from adolescent to adolescent like a hot potato".[14] As of May 2013, the number of copies in print reached over two million. Wallflower also stirred up controversy due to Chbosky's portrayal of teen sexuality and drug use.[15] The book has been removed from circulation in several schools and appeared on the American Library Association's 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009 lists of the 10 most frequently challenged books.[14][16] As of July 2013, The Perks of Being a Wallflower has spent over a year on the New York Times Bestseller list, and is published in 31 languages.

In 2000, Chbosky edited Pieces, an anthology of short stories. The same year, he worked with director Jon Sherman on a film adaptation of Michael Chabon's novel The Mysteries of Pittsburgh,[5] though the project fell apart by August 2000.[17] Chbosky wrote the screenplay for the 2005 film adaptation of the Broadway rock musical Rent, which received mixed reviews.[18] In late 2005, Chbosky said that he was writing a film adaptation of The Perks of Being a Wallflower.[5]

In the mid-2000s, Chbosky decided, on the advice of his agent, to begin looking for work in television in addition to film.[12] Finding he "enjoyed the people [he met who were working] in television",[12] Chbosky agreed to serve as co-creator, executive producer, and writer of the CBS serial television drama Jericho, which premiered in September 2006. The series revolves around the inhabitants of the fictional small town of Jericho, Kansas in the aftermath of several nuclear attacks. Chbosky has said the relationship between Jake Green, the main character, and his mother, reflected "me and my mother in a lot of ways".[12] The first season of Jericho received lackluster ratings, and CBS canceled the show in May 2007.[19][20] A grassroots campaign to revive the series convinced CBS to renew the series for a second season, which premiered on February 12, 2008, before being canceled once more in March 2008.[21][22]

Chbosky wrote the screenplay of and directed the film The Perks of Being a Wallflower, based on his novel. Production took place in mid-2011, and the film was released in fall 2012. The film starred Logan Lerman, Emma Watson and Ezra Miller. Chbosky was nominated in the Best Adapted Screenplay category for the 2013 Writers Guild Awards,[23] and the film won the 2013 Independent Spirit Awards for Best First Feature, as well as the 2013 People's Choice Award for Best Dramatic Movie.

Chbosky re-wrote Evan Spiliotopoulos's original script for the 2017 live action reboot of Disney's Beauty and the Beast, directed by Bill Condon and starring Emma Watson as Belle. Chbosky and Watson developed a close relationship during the production of The Perks of Being a Wallflower. The adaptation was faithful to the original 1991 animated film Beauty and the Beast, with all the original musical numbers included.[24] The film was released on March 17, 2017.

Chbosky directed the 2017 film Wonder, co-written by Chbosky, Jack Thorne, and Steve Conrad and based on the 2012 novel of the same name by R. J. Palacio. The film starred Julia Roberts, Owen Wilson, and Jacob Tremblay,[25] and was released on November 17, 2017.

On November 29, 2018, Universal Pictures announced that Chbosky was in talks to direct the film adaptation of Steven Levenson and Pasek & Paul's Tony Award-winning musical, Dear Evan Hansen.[26] On June 11, 2020, he was officially confirmed to direct the film.[27][28] It will star Ben Platt in the title role, which he originated on Broadway, along with Kaitlyn Dever, Amandla Stenberg, Nik Dodani, Colton Ryan, Amy Adams, Danny Pino and Julianne Moore.[29]

In October 2019, Chbosky's second novel, Imaginary Friend, debuted as a Top 10 New York Times Best Seller.[30][31]

Chbosky currently resides in Los Angeles, California.

Filmography

Film

Year	Film	Credited as				Notes
		Director	Writer	Producer	Other
1995	The Four Corners of Nowhere	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Role: Finneas, Associate producer
2002	Austin Powers in Goldmember	No	No	No	Yes	Thanks
2005	Rent	No	Yes	No	No
2007	The Poughkeepsie Tapes	No	No	Yes	No	Executive producer
2012	The Perks of Being a Wallflower	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Executive producer
2014	As Above, So Below	No	No	No	Yes	Thanks
2015	No Escape	No	No	No	Yes	Special thanks
2016	Leaving Vogue Moran	No	No	Yes	No	Executive producer
2017	Beauty and the Beast	No	Yes	No	No
	Wonder	Yes	Yes	No	No
2021	Dear Evan Hansen	Yes	No	No	No

Television

Year	Film	Credited as				Notes
		Director	Writer	Producer	Other
2000	Brutally Normal	No	Yes	No	No	2 episodes
2006–08	Jericho	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Co-Creator, Executive Producer

Novels

Year	Title	Publisher	Pages	Notes
1999	The Perks of Being a Wallflower	MTV Books	224	American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults (2000) American Library Association Best Book for Reluctant Readers (2000) Was made into a film version of the same name in 2012
2019	Imaginary Friend	Grand Central Publishing	720

References

1. "Stephen Chbosky Audio Name Pronunciation". TeachingBooks.net. Retrieved September 11, 2012.
2. Chbosky, Stephen (May 20, 2019). "Dear Friends, Twenty years ago I published my first novel, The Perks of Being a Wallflower. I have spent the last nine years working on my second. It's called Imaginary Friend. It comes out October 1st. http://hyperurl.co/ImaginaryFriend pic.twitter.com/4Y7zJkd8ce". @StephenChbosky. Retrieved July 15, 2019. External link in |title= (help)
3. Thompson, Elizabeth (2007). "Chbosky, Stephen". Archived from the original on June 12, 2010. Retrieved May 20, 2010 – via Google Books.
4. Who's Who in Finance and Industry. Marquis Who's Who. December 1, 1989. ISBN 978-0-8379-0326-2. Retrieved November 7, 2013.
5. Blank, Ed (November 22, 2005). "Movie musical brings dream to life for screenwriter". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Archived from the original on February 27, 2007. Retrieved January 4, 2008.
6. Vancheri, Barbara (June 1, 2011). "The perks of a Pittsburgher: Back home, Stephen Chbosky directs a film version of his novel". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved September 12, 2015.
7. Hanley, Ken W. "Talking Terror: Stacy Chbosky". Diabolique Magazine. Retrieved September 11, 2015.
9. "Screenwriter and Novelist Stephen Chbosky: Rebel with a Cause". Scriptmag.com. September 21, 2012. Retrieved November 7, 2013.
10. Beisch, Ann (November–December 2001). "Interview with Stephen Chbosky, author of The Perks of Being a Wallflower". LA Youth. Retrieved July 10, 2007.
11. Stax (December 1, 2005). "10 Questions: Stephen Chbosky". IGN Film Force. Retrieved January 4, 2008.
12. Owen, Rob (September 10, 2006). "Upper St. Clair graduate writes for CBS's 'Jericho'". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved January 4, 2007.
13. Bing, Jonathan (October 4, 2000). "'Perks' guy in pics; Nerve racking up deals". Variety. Retrieved January 4, 2008.
14. "THE ISLAND; Reluctant Readers? Try Resistant Parents". The New York Times. July 8, 2007. Retrieved January 4, 2008.
15. "An Interview with Stephen Chbosky by Marty Beckerman". Word Riot. December 9, 2004. Archived from the original on January 13, 2005. Retrieved November 7, 2013.
16. Archived October 19, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
17. "In the Works". Michael Chabon's Web Site: Rattling Around. August 14, 2000. Archived from the original on September 26, 2000. Retrieved February 4, 2007.
18. "Rent". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved November 7, 2013.
19. Fitzgerald, Toni (April 5, 2007). "Flop sweat: 'Jericho' dips to new low". Media Life Magazine. Archived from the original on December 5, 2008. Retrieved January 4, 2008.
20. Adalian, Josef (May 15, 2007). "CBS cancels 'Jericho,' two others". Variety. Retrieved January 4, 2008.
21. Nina Tassler (June 6, 2007). "A Message From CBS Entertainment". CBS. Archived from the original on March 27, 2008. Retrieved June 6, 2007.
22. "Season Premieres of Two Returning Scripted Programs, and the Debut of a New Comedy Join CBS's Primetime Schedule in January and February". TheFutonCritic.com. Retrieved November 7, 2013.
23. "WGA Announces Nominations Ranging from 'Lincoln' to 'Looper'". The Hollywood Reporter. January 4, 2013. Retrieved November 7, 2013.
24. "Beauty and the Beast (2017)". IMDb. Retrieved September 11, 2015.
25. Kit, Borys; Ford, Rebecca (May 5, 2016). "Julia Roberts to Play Jacob Tremblay's Mother in 'Wonder'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved July 16, 2016.
26. https://deadline.com/2018/11/dear-evan-hansen-film-tony-award-winning-musical-wonder-stephen-chbosky-marc-platt-1202222391/
27. https://www.broadway.com/buzz/199433/booksmart-unbelievable-star-kaitlyn-dever-eyes-role-in-dear-evan-hansen-movie/
28. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/kaitlyn-dever-talks-dear-evan-hansen-film-adaptation-at-universal-1298027
29. Nepales, Ruben V. (June 18, 2020). Inquirer Entertainment.
30. https://www.nytimes.com/books/best-sellers/2019/10/19/hardcover-fiction/
31. "'Perks of Being a Wallflower' author Stephen Chbosky ventures to dark place with 'Imaginary Friend'". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved July 15, 2019.

External links

• Stephen Chbosky at IMDb