Craig Mazin

American screenwriter and film director

Craig Mazin

Mazin in January 2023

Born| 1971 (age 52-53)

New York City, New York, United States

Occupations|

* Writer
* director
* producer

Years active| 1997–present
Spouse| Melissa
Children| 2

Craig Mazin (born 1971) is an American writer, director, and producer. He is best known for creating, writing, and producing the HBO historical disaster drama miniseries Chernobyl (2019) and co-creating, co-writing, and executive producing the HBO post-apocalyptic drama series The Last of Us (2023–present), the latter alongside Neil Druckmann. He has won two Primetime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Writing for a Limited Series, Movie, or Dramatic Special and Outstanding Limited Series.

Prior to gaining attention and acclaim for his dramatic work, Mazin was primarily known for his work on comedy films such as Scary Movie 3 (2003), Scary Movie 4 (2006), Superhero Movie (2008), The Hangover Part II (2011), The Hangover Part III, and Identity Thief (both 2013).

## Early life

[edit]

Mazin was born to Ashkenazi Jewish parents[1][2] in New York City's Brooklyn borough in 1971,[3] and grew up in the city's Staten Island borough. He moved as a teenager to Marlboro Township, New Jersey, where he attended Freehold High School in nearby Freehold Borough. The school later inducted him into its Hall of Fame in 2010.[4] He graduated magna cum laude with a degree in psychology from Princeton University in 1992. His roommate during his freshman year was future Republican politician Ted Cruz, whom he now often describes as a "huge asshole".[5][6][7]

## Career

[edit]

Mazin began his entertainment career as a marketing executive with Walt Disney Pictures in the mid-1990s, where he was responsible for writing and producing campaigns for studio films.[4] He made his screenwriting debut with 1997's sci-fi comedy RocketMan, co-written with his then-writing partner Greg Erb.[8] He has since written movies such as Senseless, Scary Movie 3, Scary Movie 4, and Identity Thief. He has directed two films: 2000's low-budget superhero film The Specials, which he also produced, and the 2008 superhero spoof Superhero Movie, which he also wrote (he also made a cameo appearance as a janitor).

Since 2006, Mazin has collaborated with director Todd Phillips on several occasions. He co-wrote both Hangover sequels, The Hangover Part II and The Hangover Part III, and executive produced School for Scoundrels. In 2004, he was elected to the board of directors of the Writers Guild of America, West. He did not seek re-election and his term expired in September 2006. Along with fellow former WGA board member Ted Elliott, Mazin ran a website called The Artful Writer, which focused on issues relevant to working screenwriters. It closed in 2011 after seven years. In 2011, Mazin and fellow screenwriter John August began Scriptnotes, a weekly podcast on the craft of screenwriting and the U.S. film industry.[9]

In 2017, HBO and Sky Television announced Chernobyl, a five-part drama miniseries created by Mazin about the infamous Chernobyl disaster. The series aired in 2019 and was filmed in Lithuania and Ukraine.[10] Mazin said that the "lesson of Chernobyl isn't that modern nuclear power is dangerous [...] the lesson is that lying, arrogance, and suppression of criticism are dangerous".[11] In an interview with Decider, he said, "If I came to HBO and said 'I want to do another season of Chernobyl, except it's gonna be about another tragedy,' whether it's Bhopal or Fukushima or something like that, I would imagine they at least would give me polite interest."[12]

In 2019, it was announced that Disney had hired Mazin to co-write the screenplay of a sixth Pirates of the Caribbean movie with original Pirates screenwriter Ted Elliott.[13] He was named as the scriptwriter for the Lionsgate film adaptation of the Borderlands video game series in February 2020,[14] though his name was removed from the project by 2023.[15] He was announced as co-writer and co-executive producer for a television series adaptation of the video game The Last of Us for HBO in March 2020, alongside the game's co-director and writer Neil Druckmann.[16] The Last of Us adaptation was greenlit by HBO in November 2020, and was released in January 2023.[17] More recently, Mazin signed an overall deal with HBO.[18]

## Personal life

[edit]

Mazin and his wife Melissa have two children.[19] He endorsed Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election.[20]

## Filmography

[edit]

### Film

[edit]

Year  | Title  | Director  | Writer  | Producer  | Notes

|
|
|
|
|

1997  | RocketMan | No  | Yes  | No  |
1998  | Senseless | No  | Yes  | No  |
2000  | The Specials | Yes  | No  | Co-Producer  |
2003  | Scary Movie 3 | No  | Yes  | No  |
2006  | School for Scoundrels | No  | No  | Executive  |
Scary Movie 4 | No  | Yes  | Yes  |
2008  | Superhero Movie | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  |
2011  | The Hangover Part II | No  | Yes  | No  |
2013  | Identity Thief | No  | Yes  | No
The Hangover Part III | No  | Yes  | No  |
2016  | The Huntsman: Winter's War | No  | Yes  | No
2019  | Charlie's Angels | No  | Uncredited[21] | No  |
2024  | Dune: Part Two | No  | Uncredited  | No  | Additional literary material
Wicked | No  | Uncredited  | No
2026  | Three Bags Full: A Sheep Detective Movie | No  | Yes  | No

Special thanks

* The Words (2012)
* Free Birds (2013)
* Don't Think Twice (2016)

Actor

Year  | Title  | Role  | Notes

|
|
|

2006  | Scary Movie 4 | Saw Villain | Voice role
2008  | Superhero Movie | Janitor  | Cameo

### Television

[edit]

Year  | Title  | Director  | Writer  | Creator  | Executive
producer  | Notes

|
|
|
|
|
|

2019  | Chernobyl | No  | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  | Miniseries
2021  | Mythic Quest | No  | Yes  | No  | No  | Episode "Backstory!";
Also credited as consulting producer
2023–present  | The Last of Us | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  | Directed episode "When You're Lost in the Darkness"

Actor

Year  | Title  | Role  | Notes

|
|
|

2020–2021  | Mythic Quest | Sol Green/Lou  | 6 episodes

## Accolades

[edit]

Year  | Award  | Category  | Title  | Result

|
|
|
|

2019  | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Limited Series | Chernobyl | Won
Outstanding Writing for a Limited Series | Won
2023  | Outstanding Drama Series | The Last of Us | Nominated
Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series | Nominated

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "How 'Chernobyl' Creator Craig Mazin Morphed from Comedy Screenwriter to Emmy-Contending HBO Showrunner". 21 August 2019. Archived from the original on 26 November 2020. Retrieved 11 September 2019.
2. ^ "Ted Cruz's Jewish College Roomie Remembers when — with Acid Tongue". 15 January 2016. Archived from the original on 20 May 2021. Retrieved 11 September 2019.
3. ^ McNally, Karen (12 April 2022). American Television during a Television Presidency. Wayne State University Press. ISBN 9780814349373. Archived from the original on 17 July 2023. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
4. ^ a b Celano, Clare Marie. "Freehold Hall of Fame inductees to be feted", News Transcript, March 3, 2010. Accessed February 5, 2011. "Screenwriter and author Craig Mazin, a native of Staten Island, N.Y., was 13 when he moved to Marlboro."
5. ^ Patricia Murphy. "Ted Cruz at Princeton: Creepy, Sometimes Well Liked, and Exactly the Same" Archived 2017-05-17 at the Wayback Machine
6. ^ "Fuckin' Craig Mazin: An Appreciation of Ted Cruz's College Roommate". 4 December 2015. Archived from the original on 4 December 2015. Retrieved 28 January 2016.
7. ^ Nolan, Emma (June 15, 2020). "Ted Cruz's College Roommate Says Texas Senator Has Been 'Pathetic Since 1988'". Newsweek. Archived from the original on September 21, 2021. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
8. ^ "Interview (Part 1): Craig Mazin – Go Into The Story". Go Into The Story. 2013-07-29. Archived from the original on 2023-07-17. Retrieved 2017-11-24.
9. ^ "Scriptnotes on iTunes". iTunes. Archived from the original on 2016-03-18. Retrieved 2016-03-31.
10. ^ Littleton, Cynthia (2017-07-26). "HBO Sets 'Chernobyl' Miniseries to Star Jared Harris". Variety. Archived from the original on 2019-05-12. Retrieved 2017-09-06.
11. ^ Towhey, Jessica (June 23, 2019). "Will HBO's 'Chernobyl' Miniseries Impact Perceptions of Nuclear Power?". Inside Sources. Archived from the original on July 5, 2019. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
12. ^ "People are asking the writer of Chernobyl to do a similar show and he has some thoughts". Joe. June 6, 2019. Archived from the original on June 7, 2019. Retrieved June 7, 2019.
13. ^ Kit, Borys (October 25, 2019). "'Chernobyl' Creator Craig Mazin Tackling 'Pirates of the Caribbean' Reboot (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on March 17, 2022. Retrieved June 12, 2023.
14. ^ McNary, Dave (February 20, 2020). "Eli Roth to Direct 'Borderlands' Movie for Lionsgate". Variety. Archived from the original on September 30, 2020. Retrieved February 20, 2020.
15. ^ Hailu, Selome (July 12, 2023). "'Borderlands' Movie; Craig Mazin Says He's 'Not a Credited Writer' and Reports of Pseudonym Credit Are 'False'". Variety. Retrieved July 26, 2023.
16. ^ Otterson, Joe (March 5, 2020). "'The Last of Us' Series in Development at HBO From 'Chernobyl' Creator". Variety. Archived from the original on March 6, 2020. Retrieved March 5, 2020.
17. ^ White, Peter (2020-11-20). "'The Last Of Us': HBO Hands Series Order To Video Game Adaptation From Craig Mazin & Neil Druckmann". Deadline. Archived from the original on 2020-11-20. Retrieved 2020-12-12.
18. ^ "'Last of Us' EP Craig Mazin Extends HBO Overall Deal". The Hollywood Reporter. 2021-01-25. Archived from the original on 2021-01-25. Retrieved 2021-01-26.
19. ^ Piasecki, Joe (June 8, 2011). "Writer's art doesn't reflect his life". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on September 21, 2021. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
20. ^ "The Creator of Chernobyl on Viewers Taking Away the Wrong Lessons". Slate. June 3, 2019. Archived from the original on August 2, 2019. Retrieved August 2, 2019.
21. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (November 16, 2019). "'How 'Charlie's Angels' Fell From Grace At The Box Office With An $8M+ Opening". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on November 19, 2019. Retrieved November 20, 2019.

## External links

[edit]

* Craig Mazin on Twitter
* Craig Mazin at IMDb

* v
* t
* e

Works by Craig Mazin

Films directed|

* The Specials (2000)
* Superhero Movie (2008)

Films written only|

* RocketMan (1997)
* Senseless (1998)
* Scary Movie 3 (2003)
* Scary Movie 4 (2006)
* The Hangover Part II (2011)
* Identity Thief (2013)
* The Hangover Part III (2013)
* The Huntsman: Winter's War (2016)
* Three Bags Full: A Sheep Detective Movie (2026)

TV series created|

* Chernobyl (2019)
* The Last of Us (2023–present)

Awards for Craig Mazin

* v
* t
* e

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie

1970s|

* Saul Levitt / Marvin Schwarz and Tracy Keenan Wynn (1971)
* William Blinn / Allan Sloane (1972)
* Eleanor Perry / Abby Mann (1973)
* Tracy Keenan Wynn / Fay Kanin (1974)
* David W. Rintels / James Costigan (1975)
* David W. Rintels / James Costigan (1976)
* Stewart Stern / Lane Slate (1977)
* Caryl Ledner / George Rubino (1978)
* Michael Mann and Patrick Nolan (1979)

1980s|

* David Chase (1980)
* Arthur Miller (1981)
* Barry Morrow (1982)
* Marshall Herskovitz and Edward Zwick (1983)
* William Hanley (1984)
* Vickie Patik (1985)
* Ron Cowen, Daniel Lipman, and Sherman Yellen / David Butler (1986)
* Kenneth Blackwell, Tennyson Flowers and Richard Friedenberg (1987)
* William Hanley (1988)
* Ron Hutchison, Abby Mann and Robin Vote (1989)

1990s|

* Terrence McNally (1990)
* Andrew Davies (1991)
* Joshua Brand and John Falsey (1992)
* Jane Anderson (1993)
* Bob Randall (1994)
* Alison Cross (1995)
* Simon Moore (1996)
* Horton Foote (1997)
* Kario Salem (1998)
* Ann Peacock (1999)

2000s|

* David Mills and David Simon (2000)
* Loring Mandel (2001)
* Larry Ramin and Hugh Whitemore (2002)
* William H. Macy and Steven Schachter (2003)
* Tony Kushner (2004)
* Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely (2005)
* Richard Curtis (2006)
* Frank Deasy (2007)
* Kirk Ellis (2008)
* Andrew Davies (2009)

2010s|

* Adam Mazer (2010)
* Julian Fellowes (2011)
* Danny Strong (2012)
* Abi Morgan (2013)
* Steven Moffat (2014)
* Jane Anderson (2015)
* D.V. DeVincentis (2016)
* Charlie Brooker (2017)
* William Bridges and Charlie Brooker (2018)
* Craig Mazin (2019)

2020s|

* Damon Lindelof and Cord Jefferson (2020)
* Michaela Coel (2021)
* Mike White (2022)
* Lee Sung Jin (2023)
* Richard Gadd (2024)

* v
* t
* e

Writers Guild of America Award for Television: Long Form – Original

* Michael Crichton (1996)
* Richard Alfieri and Susan Nanus (1997)
* Robert Inman (1998)
* Nina Shengold (1999)
* Jerry Ludwig (2000)
* Phil Alden Robinson and Stanley Weiser / Tina Andrews (2001)
* Loring Mandel (2002)
* Hugh Whitemore and Larry Ramin (2003)
* Larry Gelbart (2004)
* Peter Silverman and Robert Caswell (2005)
* Margaret Nagle (2006)
* Nevin Schreiner (2007)
* Bryce Zabel and Jackie Zabel (2008)
* Danny Strong (2009)
* Michael Cristofer (2010)
* Peter Morgan (2011)
* David Seltzer (2012)
* Bill Kerby, Ted Mann and Ronald Parker (2013)
* No Award (2014)
* Melissa Carter (2015)
* Seth Fisher, Walon Green, Chip Johannessen and Eric Overmyer (2016)
* Susannah Grant (2017)
* Barbara Stepansky (2018)
* Marc Bernardin, Scott Brown, Lila Byock, Mark Lafferty, Sam Shaw, Dustin Thomason, Gina Welch and Vinnie Wilhelm (2019)
* Craig Mazin (2020)
* Tanya Barfield, Joshua Griffith, Sharon Hoffman, Boo Killebrew, Micah Schraft, April Shih and Dahvi Waller (2021)
* Brad Ingelsby (2022)

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI
* VIAF
* WorldCat

National|

* Germany
* United States
* France
* BnF data
* Czech Republic
* Spain
* Netherlands
* Poland

Academics|

* CiNii

Artists|

* Emmy Awards

Other|

* IdRef

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