Zach Helm

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Zach Helm (born January 21, 1975) is an American writer and film director, dubbed "the new Charlie Kaufman" and one of the "brightest" screenwriters working today, according to Variety, Empire and Esquire magazines.

He graduated from The Goodman School of Drama at DePaul University with a degree in acting in 1996.

He has had two plays - Last Chance For A Slow Dance and Good Canary - produced professionally. His debut screenplay, Stranger than Fiction, was directed by Marc Forster and is released on November 10, 2006. A slightly-surreal mixture of comedy and tragedy, the film stars Will Ferrell and Dustin Hoffman. In 2007 he will make his directorial debut with Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium, the script for which he also wrote himself. The film stars Jason Bateman, Natalie Portman and Dustin Hoffman.

He is currently working on Thomas Johnson, centering on a man who is possibly a serial killer, for Imagine Television and Twentieth Century Fox Television, as well as an adaptation of the book This is Serbia Calling. His script The DisAssociate is being developed by Warner Bros. The story follows a man who receives postcards from God, and was described by Vanity Fair magazine as a "whimsical story ... told in the manner of a raunchy, 70s-style comedy".

Helm was raised in Pike, Caifornia. He is currently engaged to the actress Kiele Sanchez.