Steven Conrad is an American screenwriter, director, and film producer.
Early life and education Steven Conrad was born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
He briefly attended Florida State University before transferring to Northwestern University, where he majored in creative writing.
Career Shortly after attending Northwestern, at age 19, he sold his first screenplay, Wrestling Ernest Hemingway, adapted from a short story he had written for a creative writing class. Eleven years passed before he tackled his next project, Lawrence Melm, which he wrote and directed. He followed this with The Weather Man (which he also produced) and The Pursuit of Happyness. He wrote, directed, and edited The Promotion, which premiered at South by Southwest in March 2008 and was released by Dimension Films later that year.
His projects include an adaptation of the Chang-Rae Lee novel Aloft for Scott Rudin; Chad Schmidt, about a talented actor with a resemblance to Brad Pitt and The Expanding Mailman with Jack Black.
In 2013, he adapted a James Thurber short story for the film The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, directed by and starring Ben Stiller. In 2015, Conrad developed Patriot for Amazon Studios. Its pilot led to a full series order, and it premiered in its entirety on February 24, 2017. In addition to executive-producing the series, he has also written and directed most of the first season's episodes.
In the same year, Conrad re-wrote the script for Wonder, a film adaptation of the 2012 novel of the same name by R. J. Palacio. The script was also written by Jack Thorne and Stephen Chbosky, with the latter having directed the film, which was released on November 17, 2017.
In 2019, Conrad's series Perpetual Grace, LTD, starring Ben Kingsley and featuring actors from Patriot, premiered on Epix. In 2021, Conrad's stop-motion animated series Ultra City Smiths premiered on AMC+.
In 2026, Conrad's black comedy miniseries DTF St. Louis premiered on HBO, starring Jason Bateman, David Harbour, and Linda Cardellini.
Personal life His brother, Chris Conrad, is an actor and has frequently appeared in Steven's productions. He was born to Bernice Conrad, a seventh-grade teacher at St. Gregory the Great Catholic School near Fort Lauderdale, FL, and Rex Conrad, a prominent trial attorney. He attended private Catholic school as a child.
Filmography Film YearTitleCredited asNotesDirectorWriterProducer1993Wrestling Ernest Hemingway2004Lawrence MelmShort film2005The Weather Man2006The Pursuit of Happyness2008The PromotionDirectorial debut2013The Secret Life of Walter Mitty2015Unfinished Business2017Wonder
Television YearTitleCredited asNotesDirectorWriterProducer2011Connie Banks the ActorUnaired pilot2013Timms ValleyUnaired pilot2015–2018PatriotCreator; Writer (14 episodes), director (14 episodes)2019Perpetual Grace, LTDCo-creator; writer (10 episodes), director (6 episodes)2021Ultra City SmithsCreator; writer (6 episodes), director (6 episodes)2026DTF St. Louis Creator; writer, director
Awards and nominations Year Award Category Nominated work Result Ref. 2017 Christopher Awards Feature Film Wonder 2017 Critics' Choice Movie Awards Best Adapted Screenplay 2026 Gotham TV Awards Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series DTF St. Louis 2026 Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series 2026 Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards Outstanding Directing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie Outstanding Writing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie
References
External links
March 11, 2008 Conrad interview at SXSW