Jonathan Tropper

Renowned for balancing tear-jerking poignancy with razor-sharp wit, author, screenwriter and professor Jonathan Tropper mastered the art of the dramedy with a series of best-selling novels, several of which attracted the attention of Hollywood. Tropper penned his first book, Plan B, during his stint as a manager of a jewellery display manufacturer but after Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt's production company acquired the rights to his second, 2004's The Book of Joe, he quit his day job and became a full-time writer. His subsequent four novels were all optioned at auction within a week of their publication including 2005's Everything Changes, 2007's How To Talk To A Widower and 2012's One Last Thing Before I Go, both of which stuck to Tropper's familiar themes of thirty-something everymen taking stock of their lives in light of a particular crisis. But it was 2009's family drama This Is Where I Leave You that first made it to the big screen, while Tropper ventured into television into 2013 by co-creating the cult action drama "Banshee" (Cinemax-) with fellow novelist David Schickler.

Born in the upper-middle class neighbourhood of Riverdale, NY in 1970, Tropper briefly studied abroad in Israel before attending New York University where he graduated with a master's degree in creative writing. Tropper then spent eight years working at a Manhattan-based company which manufactures display units for jewellery companies, but continued to pursue his writing ambitions in his spare time, and in 2000, published his first book. The story of four 30-year-olds who kidnap their drug-addicted former college friend to help him get his life back on track, Plan B attracted the interest of an agent, but was largely ignored by the public. However, 2004 follow-up The Book of Joe, the tale of a novelist forced to return to the hometown he trashed in his best-seller-turned-blockbuster movie following his father's stroke, was much more successful, and after being optioned by Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston's production company, Tropper packed in his day job to become a full-time author.

The story of a groom-to-be haunted by the death of his best friend and his attraction to his widow, Tropper's third book, 2005's Everything Changes, also sparked the interest of a Hollywood A-lister, namely Tobey Maguire, whose production company acquired the rights. And after 2007's How To Talk To A Widower, the tale of a late twenty-something dealing with the task of raising his teenage stepson after his wife's sudden death, became his third consecutive novel to be optioned within a week of its release, Tropper was hailed as America's answer to Nick Hornby. Having taken up a post at Manhattanville University teaching fiction, Tropper then added another string to his bow in 2009 when he landed his first screenwriting job for a proposed remake of the classic James Stewart movie "Harvey" (1950).

Later that year, Tropper published his fifth novel, This Is Where I Leave You, a family drama in which four siblings reunite at their childhood home in order to fulfil their late father's last request of a seven-day grieving period. The story eventually became Tropper's first to reach the big screen when an adaptation, which he also wrote, starring Jason Bateman, Tina Fey and Jane Fonda hit theaters in 2014. Before that, Tropper teamed up with actor Ed Burns to pen the screenplay for his second novel, The Book of Joe, and released the tale of a former middle-aged rocker forced to re-evaluate his poor life decisions after being diagnosed with a terminal illness, One Last Thing Before I Go. In 2013, Tropper ventured into the world of television when he joined forces with fellow novelist David Schickler to create and executive produce "Banshee" (Cinemax, 2013-), a brooding drama about an ex-con who assumes the identity of a murdered sheriff to hide from a powerful crime lord.