David Benioff

1.1. Childhood and Education

Born David Friedman on September 25, 1970, in New York City, Benioff is the youngest of three children in a Jewish family. His family heritage includes ancestral roots in Austria, Romania, Germany, Poland, and Russia. His parents are Barbara (née Benioff) and Stephen Friedman, who formerly served as the head of Goldman Sachs. He grew up in Manhattan, initially residing in Peter Cooper Village before moving to 86th Street for most of his childhood. At the age of 16, his family relocated near the United Nations headquarters.

Benioff attended Collegiate School and later Dartmouth College, graduating in 1992 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English literature. During his time at Dartmouth, he was a member of the Phi Delta Alpha fraternity and the Sphinx Senior Society. In 1995, he pursued an academic interest in Irish literature at Trinity College Dublin (TCD) for a one-year program. It was in Dublin that he met D. B. Weiss, who would later become his long-term professional collaborator. Benioff wrote a thesis on Samuel Beckett at Trinity College but ultimately decided against an academic career. He continued his education at the University of California, Irvine's creative writing program, inspired by Michael Chabon's novel The Mysteries of Pittsburgh. He earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in creative writing from UC Irvine in 1999.

1.2. Early Career and Influences

Before achieving prominence as a writer, Benioff held a variety of jobs. For a period, he worked as a club bouncer in San Francisco. He also spent two years as a high school English teacher at Poly Prep in Brooklyn, where he also served as the school's wrestling coach. Following his time in academia, he worked as a radio DJ in Moose, Wyoming, for a year, primarily viewing it as a side job that allowed him to spend time in the countryside at a writer's retreat.

In 2001, People magazine included Benioff on its list of "America's Top 50 Most Eligible Bachelors." When his first novel was published in 2001, he began using the pen name David Benioff, which is his mother's maiden name. He adopted this name to avoid confusion with other writers named David Friedman. For legal and copyright purposes, his filings from the 2010s onward list him as "David Benioff Friedman."

2.1. Literary Career

Benioff dedicated two years to writing his first published novel, The 25th Hour, which was originally titled Fireman Down. He completed the book as his thesis for his master's degree at UC Irvine. The novel was published in 2001 by Plume and consists of 224 pages. The book gained attention after actor Tobey Maguire read a preliminary copy and expressed interest in adapting it into a film.

In 2004, Benioff released When the Nines Roll Over (And Other Stories), a collection of short stories. This hardcover collection, published by Viking Books, spans 223 pages. His second novel, City of Thieves, was published in 2008 by Viking Books. This hardcover work is 281 pages long.

2.2. Film Career

Benioff has made significant contributions to film as a screenwriter and, occasionally, as a director. In 2002, his novel The 25th Hour was adapted into a film titled 25th Hour, starring Edward Norton and directed by Spike Lee.

He drafted the screenplay for the mythological epic Troy, released in 2004, for which Warner Bros. pictures paid him 2.50 M USD. In 2005, he wrote the script for the psychological thriller Stay, which was directed by Marc Forster and featured Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts. His collaboration with Marc Forster continued with the screenplay for The Kite Runner (2007), an adaptation of the novel of the same name.

In 2004, Benioff was hired to write the screenplay for the X-Men spin-off X-Men Origins: Wolverine, released in 2009. His script drew inspiration from Barry Windsor-Smith's "Weapon X" story, Chris Claremont and Frank Miller's 1982 limited series on the character, and the 2001 limited series Origin. Actor Hugh Jackman also contributed to the script, aiming for a more character-driven narrative than previous X-Men films. Benioff intended for a "darker and a bit more brutal" story, writing it with an R rating in mind, though the final tone was determined by the producers and director. The script was later revised and rewritten by Skip Woods.

Other film projects include Brothers (2009), Gemini Man (2019), and Metal Lords (2022). Benioff was also hired by Universal Pictures in October 2007 to write an adapted screenplay of the Charles R. Cross biography of Kurt Cobain, but this screenplay was ultimately not used. In April 2014, Benioff and Weiss announced their intention to write, produce, and direct Dirty White Boys, based on a novel by Stephen Hunter. Although 21st Century Fox greenlit pre-production, the project has since stalled.

2.3. Television Career

Benioff's most extensive work in television is the critically acclaimed series Game of Thrones. In 2006, he became interested in adapting George R. R. Martin's novel series A Song of Ice and Fire for television and began collaborating with D. B. Weiss on a proposed series. The pilot episode, "Winter Is Coming", was developed by HBO in 2007, and the series received a greenlight in 2010. Benioff and Weiss served as the show's executive producers, showrunners, and writers throughout its eight-season run from 2011 to 2019. They wrote 45 episodes of the series. Benioff also directed two episodes: "Walk of Punishment" in season 3 and "The Iron Throne", the series finale, in season 8.

Beyond Game of Thrones, Benioff wrote the episode "Flowers for Charlie" for the series It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, where he also made a cameo appearance as "Bored Lifeguard #1" in the episode "The Gang Goes to a Water Park." In 2020, he co-directed the stand-up comedy special Leslie Jones: Time Machine for Netflix. He also worked on The Chair (2021). In September 2020, it was announced that Benioff, Weiss, and Alexander Woo would write and executive produce a Netflix series based on The Three-Body Problem trilogy, which premiered in 2024, with Benioff co-creating and writing four episodes.

In July 2017, Benioff and Weiss announced they would produce another HBO series, Confederate, after the final season of Game of Thrones. They stated that they had discussed Confederate for years, initially as a feature film concept, but their experience on Thrones convinced them that HBO offered the best storytelling platform. However, the announcement of Confederate was met with significant public animosity, and as of August 2019, the project is no longer moving forward.

2.4. Major Collaborations

David Benioff's career is significantly defined by his enduring professional partnership with D. B. Weiss. Their collaboration began when they met at Trinity College Dublin in 1995. Before their breakthrough with Game of Thrones, they had worked together on a script for a horror film titled The Headmaster, which was never produced.

Their most notable joint venture is Game of Thrones, where they served as co-creators, executive producers, showrunners, and principal writers. They were responsible for writing a substantial number of episodes and even co-directed three episodes, including the series finale "The Iron Throne". For the episodes they co-directed, they famously flipped a coin to decide who would receive the directing credit on the show, with Benioff being credited for "Walk of Punishment" and Weiss for "Two Swords".

Following the immense success of Game of Thrones, their collaborative efforts continued with plans for new projects. In April 2014, they announced their first feature film project, Dirty White Boys, which they intended to write, produce, and direct, though this project has since stalled. They also announced the HBO series Confederate in July 2017, which was later cancelled due to public backlash.

In February 2018, Disney announced that Benioff and Weiss would write and produce a new series of Star Wars films after Game of Thrones concluded. However, in October 2019, they exited this contract due to their commitments to a new exclusive multi-year film and television deal with Netflix. Their first project under the Netflix deal was co-directing the stand-up comedy special Leslie Jones: Time Machine (2020). In September 2020, it was announced that Benioff, Weiss, and Alexander Woo would collaborate as writers and executive producers on a Netflix series adaptation of The Three-Body Problem trilogy.

2.5. Future Projects and Deals

In early August 2019, Benioff and Weiss secured an exclusive multi-year film and television deal with Netflix, valued at 200.00 M USD. This significant agreement led to their departure from a previously announced contract to produce Star Wars films for Disney and Lucasfilm. Their first project under the Netflix deal was co-directing the stand-up comedy special Leslie Jones: Time Machine in 2020. In September 2020, Netflix officially announced that Benioff, Weiss, and Alexander Woo would collaborate to write and executive produce a series based on The Three-Body Problem trilogy, which premiered in 2024.

3.1. Novels

• The 25th Hour (2001)
• When the Nines Roll Over (and Other Stories) (2004)
• City of Thieves (2008)

3.2. Films

3.3. Television Series

4.1. Major Awards and Nominations

Benioff has been widely recognized for his work in television, especially for Game of Thrones.

4.2. Critical Reception and Controversies

While Game of Thrones achieved widespread critical acclaim and viewership, the final season, particularly the eighth season, generated significant controversy and backlash from fans. A petition was launched on Change.org calling Benioff and Weiss "woefully incompetent writers" and demanding a remake of the eighth season in a manner that "makes sense." This petition ultimately garnered over 1.5 million signatures. Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times noted that the backlash to the eighth season was so intense that he doubted he had "ever seen the level of fan (and to a lesser degree, critical) vitriol leveled at" Game of Thrones.

Additionally, the announcement of the HBO series Confederate by Benioff and Weiss in July 2017 met with public animosity due to its premise, which imagined an alternate history where the Southern states had successfully seceded from the Union. This negative reception contributed to the project not moving forward as of August 2019.