Adam Simon (born February 6, 1962) is an American director, producer, and screenwriter. His directing credits include Brain Dead (1990), Body Chemistry II: The Voice of a Stranger (1992), and Carnosaur (1993). Simon, along with producer Brannon Braga, co-created the television series Salem. As a screenwriter, Simon is known for Bones (2001), The Haunting in Connecticut (2009), and Books of Blood (2020).

Adam Simon
Adam Simon at the 2015 WonderCon promoting Salem
Born (1962-02-06) February 6, 1962 (age 62)
OccupationDirector • screenwriter • producer
Years active1989–present

Career

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He plays a humorous version of himself, pitching a project and getting barred from the studio lot, in the famous opening-shot of Robert Altman's The Player (1992). He previously appeared, thinly veiled, as a fictional character in Christopher Guest's film The Big Picture (1989) and would reappear in Kim Newman's novel Johnny Alucard (2013), where he again pitches a project and becomes the only person in Hollywood standing up to a particularly sinister studio executive.[1]

Kim Newman has noted that Adam Simon has "become one of the most oft-cited figures in contemporary Hollywood satire, and those in the know have begun to play the game of Simon-spotting. [...] Remarkable look- and act-alikes for Adam Simon have appeared in a couple of sinister Hollywood satires: Adam Rafkin (Jarrad Paul) on the cancelled-too-soon TV series Action, who ruins his emotional and physical health on successive drafts of Beverly Hills Gun Club for sleazy überproducer Peter Dragon (Jay Mohr); and Adam Kesher (Justin Theroux) in David Lynch's Mulholland Drive, who finds his entire life - and film project - jeopardised when he considers going against the wishes of backers who represent either organised crime or Hell."[2]

Filmography

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Film

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Title Year Credited as Notes
Director Producer Writer
Lock Up 1989 No Co- No
Brain Dead 1990 Yes No Yes
Body Chemistry II: The Voice of a Stranger 1992 Yes No No
Carnosaur 1993 Yes No Yes
The Typewriter, the Rifle & the Movie Camera 1996 Yes No Yes Documentary film
The American Nightmare 2000 Yes No Yes Documentary film
John Landis on: An American Werewolf in London 2001 Yes No No Featurette
Bones 2001 No No Yes
The Spectre of Hope 2002 No Yes No Documentary film
The Haunting in Connecticut 2009 No No Yes
Captive State 2019 No Executive No
Books of Blood 2020 No Executive Yes

Television

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Title Year Credited as Notes
Creator Director Writer Executive
producer
Directors on Directors 1997 No Yes (1) No No Docuseries, Episode "Simon - Corman"
BlackBoxTV 2012 No No Yes (1) No Anthology series
Salem[3] 2014–17 Yes No Yes (21) Yes
Next 2020 No No Yes (3) Co-executive Co-executive producer (9 episodes)

Actor

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Title Year Role Notes
The Unborn 1991 Priest
Bob Roberts 1992 Cutting edge head writer
The Player 1992 Adam Simon
Directors on Directors 1997 Himself Docuseries, Episode "Simon - Corman"
Digging Up Bones 2002 Himself Featurette documentary
Urban Gothic: Bones and Its Influences 2002 Himself Featurette documentary
The Brains Behind the Nightmare 2020 Himself Featurette documentary
Tales from the Cranium 2020 Himself Featurette documentary

References

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  1. ^ Excerpt from "Johnny Alucard"
  2. ^ "Who Let Adam Simon on the Lot?" by Kim Newman
  3. ^ "Q&A: Executive Producer Adam Simon on "SALEM" and a Lovecraftian Second Season". Archived from the original on 2015-04-02. Retrieved 2015-03-30.
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