Steven Kunes
Steven Kunes was born on September 7, 1956 in Bucks County, Pennsylvania and attended New York University where he received B.A. degrees in Creative Writing and Comparative Literature in 1978.
After much success writing short stories and non-fiction articles for national publications, TV legend Norman Lear hired Kunes to write and develop half-hour comedies for his company, Embassy Television. This led to assignments in the areas on one-hour TV, movies-of-the-week, a five-year stint writing monologues for Johnny Carson, and eventually to motion pictures, where Kunes became one of Hollywood's most successful (albeit unknown) script doctors, working on eleven of the most popular films in the last three decades.
Presently, Kunes is the creator and executive producer of "Over My Dead Body," an original series for Amazon Prime. In 2018, his novel "Uncle Jerry to Win," his collection of plays "Four on the Floor," and his collection of screenplays "Pick Six: Six Screenplays" were all published by Back Bay Books/Little Brown and Company. Kunes divides his time between Los Angeles and Bucks County, Pennsylvania.
Works
Four on the Floor
Collection of four plays: "Hopeless Romantic," "Clock Without Hands," "Captain of a Lost Ship" and "Then Again." Published by Back Bay Books/Little Brown and Company.
Pick Six: Six Screenplays
Uncle Jerry to Win (novel)
The Theory Of Everything (rewrite)
Atlas Shrugged: Part I (rewrite)
Lost & Found (essay)
Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince (rewrite)
Where Is Joe Merchant? (film adaptation)
The Not-So-Ugly Duckling (essay)
Catch Me If You Can (rewrite)
Legally Blonde (rewrite)
Clock Without Hands (film adaptation)
Cast Away (rewrite)
Wag The Dog (rewrite)
The Pelican Brief (rewrite)
Groundhog Day (rewrite)
Dinner At The Homesick Restaurant (film adaptation)
Ghost (rewrite)
Rain Man (rewrite)
Benedictis (novel)
Singer! (stage musical)
Awards and Recognition
- City of Santa Barbara Annual Awards (2010/”Letter of Recognition from the Mayor”), Social Venture Partners of Silicon Valley’s iMagine Award (2007/”Great Books e-Curriculum”), Greater Los Angeles Press Award (2006/”The Not-So-Ugly Duckling”), Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Humanitarian Award (2005/”Antelope Valley Fallen Heroes”), National Stuttering Foundation’s Laura Pels Award (2005/”Story Reading Coordinator”), Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles’ Vivian Sheehan Award (2004/”Everybody’s In The Book: Kids Writing Program”), Valley International Film Festival’s Vision Award For Writing (2004/”Rain Man”), International Distance Learning Center’s Helping Hand Award (2003/”MyGlobalClassroom”), WGA’s William E. Kelley Award: Hollywood’s Top Ten Unproduced Screenplays (2003/”Acquitted”), Emmy Award (1992/”The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson”), PTA’s Endurance Award (1988/”The Wonder Years”), NYU’s William Faulkner Award For Short Fiction (1978/"The Mixologist In Residence")
Press and Media Mentions
Location
Santa Barbara, CA
Author Contact
Category
Fiction & Literature, Humor, Essays
publicist Contact
Carol Marshall
(818) 927-3442