Introduction
Jeff Schaffer (born January 1, 1970) is an American film and television director, writer, and producer. During his work with the Seinfeld series Schaffer created the Festivus pole.
Early life and education
Schaffer was born in Cleveland, Ohio. He and his brother Greg (also a film and TV writer and producer) were raised in the Warren–Howland, Ohio area, about 50 mi (80 km) east of Cleveland.
After graduating from Western Reserve Academy in Hudson, Ohio, Schaffer attended Harvard College, where he was on the staff of the humor publication The Harvard Lampoon.
Career
Television
After college, Schaffer and his Harvard Lampoon writing pals Alec Berg and David Mandel wrote several episodes of the sitcom Seinfeld. He also served as executive producer during its ninth season. He has also held various other positions on the show such as program consultant, supervising producer and story editor.
Schaffer directed several episodes of Curb Your Enthusiasm and also served as executive producer for several episodes. Notably, Schaffer directed "Seinfeld", the finale episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm's seventh season, which featured a reunion of the original cast of the Seinfeld series (for which the star and creator of Curb Your Enthusiasm, Larry David, was co-creator, head writer and executive producer).
The League is a "semi-improvised series." The sitcom which was created by Schaffer and his wife Jackie Schaffer. It is written and directed by Jeff Schaffer.
Schaffer worked with Dave Burd to create Dave, a sitcom that is loosely based on Burd's life as a rapper. The show premiered on FXX on March 4.
Film
Schaffer wrote and directed EuroTrip, a 2004 teen comedy, and participated in the screenplay for the 2003 adaptation of the Dr. Seuss book The Cat in the Hat. Other scripts he has helped write include two comedy features starring Sacha Baron Cohen, Brüno (2009) and The Dictator (2012). On the latter film, Alec Berg and David Mandel — former Seinfeld writers as well as friends and collaborators with Schaffer since college — also collaborated, and veteran Seinfeld writer and Curb Your Enthusiasm director Larry Charles directed. All four would later write the TV movie Clear History, starring Larry David.
Festivus pole
Dan O'Keefe, who worked with Schaffer on Seinfeld, credits Schaffer with introducing the concept of the Festivus pole as the only decoration for Festivus, the December 23rd holiday. Festivus was popularized in the 1997 Seinfeld episode "The Strike". The aluminum pole was not part of the original O'Keefe family celebration, which centered on putting a clock in a bag and nailing it to a wall.
Personal life
Schaffer married the former Jackie Marcus, also his professional partner, particularly on The League; their life experiences have often been translated into the plot of the series. They have a daughter, Arwen (named for the character in The Lord of the Rings), born in 2012.