Stephen Jay Schwartz spent a number of years as the Director of Development for film director Wolfgang Petersen (whose credits include Das Boot, In the Line of Fire, Air Force One, The Perfect Storm, Troy) where he worked with writers, producers and studio executives to develop screenplays for production. Among the film projects he helped developed are Air Force One, Outbreak, Red Corner, Bicentennial Man and Mighty Joe Young.

A filmmaker in his own right, Stephen has had his work exhibited at the AFI Los Angeles International Film Festival, the Directors Guild of America, The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California.

He also worked as a screenwriter and freelance “script doctor,” developing concepts, treatments and feature films for independent film producers. His writing credits include Inside the Space Station, narrated by Liam Neeson and produced as a “Watch with the World” special for The Discovery Channel.

Boulevard, a very dark crime thriller set in present-day Los Angeles, is Stephen’s first novel. It was sold in a two-book deal to Forge Books (a MacMillan imprint), and is set for publication in September of ’09.

In addition to writing novels, Stephen plans to direct feature films through his production company, Picaro Entertainment. Stephen Jay Schwartz currently lives in Southern California with his wife and two young boys. His household includes one very frumpy-looking labridoodle and a rat.