[[quoteright:280:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/charlie_kaufman.png]]

->''"Say who you are, really say it in your life and in your work. If you’re honest about who you are, you’ll help that person be less lonely in their world because that person will recognize him or herself in you and that will give them hope. Give that to the world, rather than selling something to the world. Don’t allow yourself to be tricked into thinking that the way things are is the way the world must work and that in the end selling is what everyone must do. Do you. It isn’t easy but it’s essential. It’s not easy because there’s a lot in the way. In many cases a major obstacle is your deeply seated belief that you are not interesting. And since convincing yourself that you are interesting is probably not going to happen, take it off the table. Think, ‘Perhaps I’m not interesting but I am the only thing I have to offer, and I want to offer something. And by offering myself in a true way I am doing a great service to the world, because it is rare and it will help.’"''

Charles Stuart Kaufman (born November 19, 1958) is an American writer, director and author known for creating stories with [[PostModernism metatextual]] references and dense, [[MindScrew headache-inducing]] absurdism[=/=]{{surrealism}}.

He is considered to be among the most brilliant contemporary screenwriters, and among his accolades, he has won an MediaNotes/AcademyAward, three BAFTA Awards, two Independent Spirit Awards, and a Writers Guild of America Award.

Outside of his original screenplays, he has worked as an [[UncreditedRole uncredited]] script doctor for screenplays such as ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda2''. [[HeAlsoDid Yes, really.]]

!!Works include:
!!!* = writing\\
** = writing + directing
* ''Film/BeingJohnMalkovich''*: The feature debut of director Creator/SpikeJonze.
* ''Film/HumanNature''*: The feature debut of director Creator/MichelGondry.
* ''Film/{{Adaptation}}''*: A meta-adaptation of Susan Orlean's book ''The Orchid Thief'', framed as the story of Kaufman's struggle to script an unfilmable novel adaptation and deal with his evil-hack-writer-twin. Became the first film in history to receive an Oscar nomination for a fictional character (said evil-hack-writer-twin), as the character was credited as a co-writer of the film's screenplay (which got a nod for [[MediaNotes/AcademyAwardForBestAdaptedScreenplay Best Adapted]]).
* ''Film/ConfessionsOfADangerousMind''*: The directorial debut of Creator/GeorgeClooney, although Clooney deviated considerably from the script without Kaufman's permission.
* ''Film/EternalSunshineOfTheSpotlessMind''*: A science fiction film about a couple who undergo a procedure to [[LaserGuidedAmnesia erase each other from their memories]] after they break up. Kaufman won the MediaNotes/AcademyAwardForBestOriginalScreenplay for this film.
* ''Film/SynecdocheNewYork''**: Kaufman's directorial debut, centered around a stage director who creates a [[RecursiveReality life-sized model]] of [[BigApplesauce New York City]] in his pursuit of verisimilitude on the stage. Considered by Creator/RogerEbert to be the best movie of the 2000s.
* ''How & Why''**: An [[WhatCouldHaveBeen unsuccessful]] TV pilot Kaufman pitched to FX about a host of a cancelled children's science show (played by Creator/MichaelCera) who tries to start over with a new show in a little TV market -- also a portal to the supernatural world.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Anomalisa}}''**: Kaufman's first animated feature, about a lonely man struggling to connect with the first truly unique woman he's ever met. Co-directed by Kaufman and Duke Johnson.
* ''Antkind''*: Kaufman's 2020 debut novel, about a film critic named B. Rosenberger Rosenberg trying to remember a 3-month-long film, which leads him on a surreal journey throughout his brain, other's brains, and beyond.
* ''Film/ImThinkingOfEndingThings''**: Kaufman wrote and directed this adaptation of the Iain Reid [[Literature/ImThinkingOfEndingThings novel of the same name]]. It was released on Creator/{{Netflix}}.
* ''Film/ChaosWalking2021''*: Adaptation of ''Literature/TheKnifeOfNeverLettingGo'' by Creator/PatrickNess. Kaufman was brought on to write the first draft in 2012 and left shortly after; the draft eventually passed through six other people and was revised so much that he was uncredited on the final product.
* ''WesternAnimation/OrionAndTheDark''*: Kaufman’s second animation feature, this time produced through Creator/DreamWorksAnimation, telling the story of a boy afraid of everything, who is approached by the AnthropomorphicPersonification of darkness itself to learn courage. Adapted from a book by Emma Yarlett.

!!Tropes in Charlie Kaufman's works include:

* AuthorAppeal:
** Romances where a melancholy man will fall for an extraordinary woman, but things aren’t what they initially seem.
** Mentally broken, awkward men who can't get on with the rest of the world. A retreat into the mind is typically the only way they can deal with their situations.
** Copious amounts of surrealism and headache-inducing moments.
** Fictionalized facts and playing with the rules of reality.
** [[MeaningfulName Meaningful names]], usually referencing mental illnesses and diseases.
** Monkeys.
* BlackComedy: When his comedy isn’t [[SurrealHumor weird as hell]], it’s probably going to be this.
* CentralTheme: Mortality, death, what it means to be human, and the meaning of life as well as how people use fantasy and escapism to cope with traumatic experiences or negative emotions.
* GreyAndGrayMorality: No one is ever all good or all bad in his work.
* GenreBusting
* HumansAreFlawed: Kaufman says he does like people in real life, but his characters are usually emotionally damaged, self-loathing, and insecure.
* LoserProtagonist: Very few Kaufman protagonists aren’t. Hell, he even made [[{{Film/Adaptation}} himself]] one!
* ManicPixieDreamGirl: ''Being John Malkovich'' and especially ''Sunshine'' deconstruct this to the extreme. They go over what happens when the novelty of such a person wears off.
* MeaningfulName: Particularly in ''Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind'', ''Synecdoche, New York'' and ''Anomolisa.''
* MetaFiction: ''Adaptation'' most bluntly, but also seen in ''Synecdoche, New York''.
* MindScrew: Almost goes without saying.
* {{Portmanteau}}:
** ''Synecdoche, New York'' is a combination of "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schenectady,_New_York Schenectady, New York]]" and "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synecdoche synecdoche]]".
** ''Anomolisa'' is a combination of "Anomaly" and "Lisa".
* PostModernism: [[MetaFiction Metafictional elements?]] Check. {{Deconstruction}}? Of course! [[MindScrew Weirdness up the wazoo?]] You bet!
* RedOniBlueOni: His romantic leads are this, males almost always being being blue and women usually being red.
* RewatchBonus: His films have a ''lot'' of elements that take on new meaning on a second or third watch.
* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVsCynicism: His movies are usually cynical in tone, but have a shine of optimism at its core.
* SurrealHumor: His trademark style of humor.
* SurrealHorror: Used every so often.
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