Matthew Weiner
The creator and showrunner who built Mad Men from a spec script into a four-time Emmy-winning drama.
Matthew Weiner is the American television writer, producer, and director best known as the creator and showrunner of the television series Mad Men. He began his television career as a writer on Becker and worked on several other sitcoms before writing the pilot episode of Mad Men as a spec script. After achieving success on both The Sopranos and Mad Men, he wrote, directed, and produced the comedy-drama film Are You Here in 2013, published his first novel Heather, the Totality in 2017, and created the anthology drama series The Romanoffs in 2018. Weiner has won nine Primetime Emmy Awards, two for The Sopranos and seven for Mad Men, as well as three Golden Globe Awards for Mad Men.
Quick Facts
- Birth name
- Matthew Hoffman Weiner
- Born
- 29 June 1965
- Birthplace
- Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
- Years active
- 1996–present
- Occupation
- Screenwriter
- television producer
- director
- Children
- 4
- Education
- Wesleyan University (BA); University of Southern California (MFA)
Lore & Background
Weiner wrote the pilot of Mad Men in 1999 as a spec script while working as a writer on Becker. The Sopranos creator David Chase offered Weiner a job as a writer for the series after being impressed by the script. During his time on The Sopranos, Weiner began looking for a network to produce Mad Men. HBO, Showtime and FX passed on the project.
HBO offered to produce the series if Chase would be on board as a writer or producer, but Chase instead chose to focus on developing feature films. Weiner eventually pitched the series to AMC, which had never produced an original dramatic television series. It picked up the show, ordering a full 13-episode season. Mad Men premiered on July 19, 2007, six weeks after The Sopranos concluded.
Weiner served as showrunner, an executive producer, and head writer of Mad Men throughout its seven seasons. As the showrunner he had a major role in the writing and directing of each episode, also approving actors, costumes, hairstyles, and props. He is credited with writing or co-writing seven episodes of the first season, eleven episodes of the second, twelve episodes of the third, ten of the fourth, nine of the fifth, ten of the sixth, and twelve of the seventh.
He also directed all seven season finales, along with the season seven midseason finale and the penultimate episode of the series.
Reader's Guide
The production of Mad Men was defined by Weiner's insistence on historical precision and atmospheric storytelling. Set designers recreated authentic 1960s offices and homes down to the smallest prop, ensuring a seamless visual experience. Critically, the series received universal acclaim for its writing, acting, and production values. It won numerous Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Drama Series multiple times.
Did You Know?
- Mad Men is the first basic cable series to win the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series, winning the award in 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011.
- Weiner's first feature film, Are You Here, premiered at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival.
- In May 2025, the world premiere of Weiner's play, John Wilkes Booth: One Night Only, took place at Baltimore Center Stage, about a mile from Green Mount Cemetery where Booth is buried.
More in Production & Legacy
Elsewhere in Mad Men
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