Stuart Blumberg
About
Biography
Biography
Screenwriter Stuart Blumberg was no stranger to finding lighthearted and quiet personal moments in relationships that cross both religious and gender boundaries. He first gained recognition for writing the hit comedy "Keeping the Faith" (2000), a love triangle involving an overly analytical rabbi, a naïve yet loveable Roman Catholic priest, and a beautiful, free-spirited executive. Blumberg next wrote the teen comedy "The Girl Next Door" (2004), about an unlikely romance between a straight-laced high school senior and his adult-film star neighbor. With only a few writing credits under his belt, Blumberg suddenly became the talk of Hollywood with the film "The Kids Are All Right" (2010), a smart and novel comedy that explored the themes of family, love, and acceptance, and a film that placed Blumberg's writing talents at the forefront of contemporary cinema.
Stuart Ethan Blumberg was born and raised on July 19, 1969 in Cleveland, OH. He attended Yale University in New Haven, CT, and graduated in 1991 with a bachelor's degree in history. After working as a New York City-based investment banker for a few years, he started writing and directing off-Broadway plays. Blumberg spent a season as a writer for the sketch comedy series "MAD TV" (Fox, 1995-2009) in 1996, while also working on a draft of a story about a priest and a rabbi who are best friends. After he completed the draft in 1997, Blumberg showed it to actor Edward Norton, who was also his former roommate at Yale. So impressed was Norton that he ended up collaborating with former roomie and turning the script into the 2000 hit comedy, "Keeping the Faith." The movie told the story of two longtime friends - one a Roman Catholic priest (Norton), the other a rabbi (Ben Stiller) - who vie for the attention of a successful Manhattan executive (Jenna Elfman). Blumberg even had a small role in the movie as the coworker and fawning admirer of Elfman's character.
In 2004, Blumberg penned another romantic comedy, "The Girl Next Door," about a straight-A high school senior (Matthew Kidman) who falls for his porn star neighbor (Elisha Cuthbert). While the movie was a teen sex romp by all measures, Blumberg managed to slightly elevate its entertainment value with a well-written script that actually had a running plotline versus a collection of gags pieced together. His follow-up work had more serious undertones; he coproduced the critically acclaimed documentary "By the People: The Election of Barack Obama" (2009), alongside Ed Norton. In 2010, Blumberg suddenly took the indie world by storm with the feature "The Kids Are All Right," about a lesbian couple (Julianne Moore and Annette Bening), whose lives are turned upside-down after their children meet their sperm-donor father (Mark Ruffalo). The idea for the story reportedly came from the personal experiences of director Lisa Cholodenko, who had a child with a sperm donor, as well as Blumberg himself, who had been a sperm donor while in college. The cowriters spent months working on the script together, and the result was a deeply personal, funny, and refreshing take on the experiences of a post-modern family. Critics and viewers alike gave the well acted comedy heaps of praise, acting nods for its two leading ladies, and for Blumberg and Cholodenko, Golden Globe and Oscar nods for Best Original Screenplay.
Filmography
Cast (Feature Film)
Writer (Feature Film)
Producer (Feature Film)
Misc. Crew (Feature Film)
Producer (Special)
Life Events
1996
Spent a season as a writer for the comedy series "MADtv" (FOX)
2000
First produced movie, "Keeping the Faith"
2004
Co-wrote the screenplay for "The Girl Next Door"
2010
Co-wrote "The Kids Are All Right" with Lisa Cholodenko who also directed
2011
Nominated for the 2011 Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay - Motion Picture ("The Kids Are All Right")
