21st-century American screenwriters

William Edward Crystal is an American comedian, actor, and filmmaker. He is known as a stand-up comedian and for his film and stage roles. Crystal has received numerous accolades, including six Primetime Emmy Awards and a Tony Award as well as nominations for three Grammy Awards and three Golden Globe Awards. He was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1991, the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 2007, the Critics' Choice Lifetime Achievement Award in 2022, and the Kennedy Center Honors in 2023.

American filmmaker (born 1969)

American writer and novelist

American filmmaker (born 1959)

Stephen Tyrone Colbert is an American comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and television host. He is best known for hosting the Comedy Central news satire show The Colbert Report from 2005 to 2014, and the CBS talk show The Late Show with Stephen Colbert since September 2015.

American filmmaker (born 1969)

American film director and screenwriter (born 1943)

American film director, producer, photographer and musician (born 1952)

Canadian-American actor (born 1952)

American actress and comedian (born 1973)

American fiction writer (1926–2013)

American actor and comedian (1952–2023)

James Christian Kimmel is an American television host and comedian. He is best known as the host and executive producer of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, which has aired on ABC since 2003. Kimmel has hosted the Primetime Emmy Awards three times, in 2012, 2016 and 2020, and the Academy Awards four times, in 2017, 2018, 2023, and 2024.

American filmmaker, composer and actor (born 1948)

Paul Thomas Anderson, also known by his initials PTA, is an American filmmaker. Often described as one of the preeminent filmmakers of his generation, he is the recipient of three Academy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, four BAFTAs, three Critics Choice Awards, and nominations for a Grammy. He is the only person to have won the Academy Award for Best Director and directorial prizes at Europe's three major film festivals: Cannes Film Festival, Venice Film Festival, and the Berlin International Film Festival. In addition to those accolades, he won the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival.

American film directors, screenwriters, and producers

Zachary Israel Braff is an American actor and filmmaker. He is best known for his role as John Michael "J.D." Dorian on the NBC/ABC television series Scrubs, for which he was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series in 2005 as well as for three Golden Globe Awards from 2005 to 2007. He starred in The Broken Hearts Club: A Romantic Comedy (2000), The Last Kiss (2006), The Ex (2006), and In Dubious Battle (2016). He has done voice-work for Chicken Little (2005) and Oz the Great and Powerful (2013).

American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter

American comedian and actor

American actor, animator and filmmaker (born 1969)

American comedian, actor, and filmmaker (born 1967)

American film director (1939–2022)

American filmmaker (born 1961)

American actress, writer, and producer (born 1976)

Jennette McCurdy is an American writer and former actress. Her breakthrough role as Sam Puckett in the Nickelodeon sitcom iCarly (2007–2012) won her four Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards. She reprised the character in the iCarly spin-off series Sam & Cat (2013–2014) before leaving Nickelodeon. She also appeared in the television series Malcolm in the Middle (2003–2005), Zoey 101 (2005), Lincoln Heights (2007), True Jackson, VP (2009–2010), and Victorious (2012). She produced, wrote, and starred in her own webseries, What's Next for Sarah? (2014), and led the science-fiction series Between (2015–2016).

American filmmaker

Lena Dunham is an American writer, director, actress, and producer. She is the creator, writer, and star of the HBO television series Girls (2012–2017), for which she received several Emmy Award nominations and two Golden Globe Awards. Dunham also directed several episodes of Girls and became the first woman to win the Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – Comedy Series. She started her career writing, directing, and starring in her semi-autobiographical independent film Tiny Furniture (2010), for which she won an Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay. She has since written and directed the 2022 films Sharp Stick and Catherine Called Birdy. In 2025, she created the Netflix series Too Much starring Megan Stalter.

American comedian, actress, and writer

actor, singer, book author

American actor, animator and filmmaker (born 1971)

American actor and comedian

American novelist (b. 1964)

American actor, comedian, and filmmaker (1944–2014)

American actress and comedian (born 1952)

American director, writer, and producer (born 1940)

American television producer, television and film writer, and author

American comedian, actor (1942–2019)

American director and producer (1935–2023)

James Francis Gunn Jr. is an American filmmaker. He began his career as a screenwriter in the mid-1990s, starting at Troma Entertainment with Tromeo and Juliet (1996). He then began working as a director, starting with the horror-comedy film Slither (2006), and moving to the superhero genre with Super (2010), Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017), The Suicide Squad (2021), and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023).

American stand-up comedian (1921–2004)

American novelist, short story writer, essayist

American actor, comedian and filmmaker

American actor

American actress, writer, and comedian

American playwright, writer, academic (1927-2018)

Adam Jared Brody is an American actor. His breakout role was as Seth Cohen on the Fox television series The O.C. (2003–2007). For his performance as Noah Roklov in the Netflix romantic comedy series Nobody Wants This (2024–present), he earned nominations for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Television Series (Musical/Comedy) and the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series; he won the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actor in a Comedy Series.

American stand-up comedian and actor (born 1964)

American comedian and actress (born 1981)

American animator, film director, screenwriter, producer (born 1957)

American stunt performer and actor

American filmmaker (born 1968)

American actress

American filmmaker and novelist

Justin Paul Theroux is an American actor and filmmaker. He gained recognition for his partnership with David Lynch on the surrealist art films Mulholland Drive (2001) and Inland Empire (2006). He also appeared in films such as Romy and Michele's High School Reunion (1997), American Psycho (2000), Zoolander (2001), Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle (2003), Miami Vice (2006), The Girl on the Train (2016), Bumblebee (2018), and Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024).

American film director, screenwriter and producer

American actress

American actress

American author and critic

American actor and comedian

American film director, animator, screenwriter and producer (born 1957)