Schiff began his writing career at
The Boston Phoenix, where he became the chief film critic and film editor (succeeding
David Denby), and hired and trained such critics as
Owen Gleiberman and
David Edelstein. In 1983, he was a finalist for the
Pulitzer Prize in Criticism. He served three terms as chairman of the
National Society of Film Critics, and spent two seasons as a Correspondent on
CBS-TV's prime-time newsmagazine
West 57th, whose other Correspondents included
Steve Kroft and
Meredith Vieira. In 1995, Schiff was asked to write a screenplay adaptation of
Vladimir Nabokov's novel
Lolita, by the prospective film's then-producer,
Richard Zanuck. It was Schiff's first screenplay, and the controversial film that was made from it, directed by
Adrian Lyne, was released in 1998. In her
New York Times review, critic Caryn James called "Stephen Schiff's discerning, faithful screenplay [...] sensitive to Nabokov's wit as well as his lyricism." Schiff became a full-time screenwriter, leaving
The New Yorker in 2003. His subsequent films include
The Deep End of the Ocean (1999), starring
Michelle Pfeiffer;
True Crime (1999), directed by and starring
Clint Eastwood;
Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010),
Oliver Stone's sequel to the 1987 film
Wall Street; and
American Assassin (2017). In 2013, Schiff became a writer and Consulting Producer of the
FX television series
The Americans, starring
Keri Russell and
Matthew Rhys. He continued with the show for the rest of its six-season run, rising to the position of writer/Executive Producer for its last two seasons. Schiff's episode "The Magic of David Copperfield V: The Statue of Liberty Disappears" (Season 4, Episode 8) was named the best episode of the entire series by
New York magazine. For his work on
The Americans, Schiff won a
Golden Globe, the
Peabody Award, two
Writers Guild of America Awards, the
Critics Choice Award the
Television Critics Association Award, the
American Film Institute Award (for "Contribution to America's Cultural Legacy"), and the
Producers Guild Award. He also received two Prime Time
Emmy Award nominations and two additional
Writers Guild of America Award nominations. During Schiff's tenure with the show,
The Americans was nominated for 72 major awards, winning 23 of them. From 2011 to 2016, he was also the writer and Executive Producer of the extreme sports documentary series
Ultimate Rush. Schiff served four terms on the governing Council of the
Writers Guild of America East. He also served as the Writers Guild's National Chairman and twice headed the East's negotiating committee. In 2002, he was given the Guild's Richard B. Jablow Award. Since 2005, he has served as chairman of the Board of the Society for the Study of Myth and Tradition, which publishes
Parabola magazine. He is a member of the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), the
Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, the
Writers Guild of America, the
Producers Guild of America, and
PEN America. He contributed the critical essay on Nabokov's
Lolita to
Harvard University Press's landmark scholarly compendium
A New Literary History of America, which was published in September, 2009. In December 2009,
Henry Holt and Company announced that it would publish Schiff's forthcoming biography of
Norman Mailer. In November 2018, Schiff was hired by
Lucasfilm to serve as showrunner for
Andor. He stepped down from the position in February 2020, and in April 2020
Tony Gilroy replaced him as showrunner. Schiff remained involved with the series, writing the seventh episode ("
Announcement") of the first season. Schiff was an Executive Producer and writer on the
Showtime TV series
Super Pumped. The show debuted in February 2022. Personal Life Stephen Schiff is married to self-help author and advisor
Laura Day. ==Filmography==