David Benioff is an American novelist, screenwriter and television producer. He is the co-creator and showrunner of the HBO series Game of Thrones. Born David Friedman in New York City. His father Stephen Friedman, is Jewish and a former head of Goldman Sachs. He changed his name in his teens to David Benioff, his mother's maiden name. He is the youngest of three children. A Dartmouth College alumnus and distinguished member of Phi Delta Alpha Fraternity, he worked as a club bouncer and at 22 became a high school English teacher at Poly Prep in Brooklyn, New York City. Additionally, he... attended the University of California Irvine and Trinity College Dublin and received a Master of Fine Arts degree in the creative writing program. While working as a high school English teacher, he wrote the book called The 25th Hour and received positive recognition for the book. He later adapted the book into a screenplay, which was filmed starring Edward Norton and was directed by Spike Lee. He then wrote a collection of short stories titled When the Nines Roll Over in 2004.
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