Craig Mazin

Craig Mazin (born April 8, 1971) is an American filmmaker. He is best known for creating, writing, and producing the HBO historical disaster drama miniseries Chernobyl and co-creating, co-writing, and executive producing the HBO post-apocalyptic drama series The Last of Us (2023–present), the latter alongside Naughty Dog studio head Neil Druckmann. For the former, he won Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Writing and Outstanding Limited Series.

Prior to his dramatic work, Mazin was primarily known for his work on comedy films such as Scary Movie 3 (2003), Scary Movie 4 (2006), Superhero Movie (2008), The Hangover Part II (2011), The Hangover Part III, and Identity Thief (both 2013).

Early life Craig Mazin was born on April 8, 1971, to Ashkenazi Jewish parents. He grew up in the city's Staten Island borough. He moved as a teenager to Marlboro Township, New Jersey, where he attended Freehold High School in nearby Freehold Borough. The school later inducted him into its Hall of Fame in 2010. He graduated magna cum laude with a degree in psychology from Princeton University in 1992. His roommate during his freshman year was future Republican politician Ted Cruz, whom he has since described as a "huge asshole".

Career Mazin began his entertainment career as a marketing executive with Walt Disney Pictures in the mid-1990s, where he was responsible for writing and producing campaigns for studio films. He has since written movies such as Senseless, Scary Movie 3, Scary Movie 4, and Identity Thief. He has directed two films: 2000's low-budget superhero film The Specials, which he also produced, and the 2008 superhero spoof Superhero Movie, which he also wrote (he also made a cameo appearance as a janitor).

Since 2006, Mazin has collaborated with director Todd Phillips on several occasions. He co-wrote both Hangover sequels, The Hangover Part II and The Hangover Part III, and executive produced School for Scoundrels. In 2004, he was elected to the board of directors of the Writers Guild of America, West. He did not seek re-election and his term expired in September 2006. Along with fellow former WGA board member Ted Elliott, Mazin ran a website called The Artful Writer, which focused on issues relevant to working screenwriters. It closed in 2011 after seven years. In 2011, Mazin and fellow screenwriter John August began Scriptnotes, a weekly podcast on the craft of screenwriting and the U.S. film industry.

In 2017, HBO and Sky Television announced Chernobyl, a five-part drama miniseries created by Mazin about the infamous Chernobyl disaster. The series aired in 2019 and was filmed in Lithuania and Ukraine. Mazin said that the "lesson of Chernobyl isn't that modern nuclear power is dangerous [...] the lesson is that lying, arrogance, and suppression of criticism are dangerous". In an interview with Decider, he said, "If I came to HBO and said 'I want to do another season of Chernobyl, except it's gonna be about another tragedy,' whether it's Bhopal or Fukushima or something like that, I would imagine they at least would give me polite interest."

In 2019, it was announced that Disney had hired Mazin to co-write the screenplay of a sixth Pirates of the Caribbean movie with original Pirates screenwriter Ted Elliott. In July of that year, he withdrew his running for vice president of the Writers Guild of America West due to a "family issue." He was named as the scriptwriter for the Lionsgate film adaptation of the Borderlands video game series in February 2020, though his name was removed from the project by 2023.

He was announced as co-writer and co-executive producer for a television series adaptation of the video game The Last of Us for HBO and Sony Pictures TV in March 2020, alongside the game's co-director and writer Neil Druckmann. The Last of Us adaptation was greenlit by HBO in November 2020, and Season 1 was released in January 2023. In January 2021, Mazin signed an overall deal with HBO for an additional three years.

In July 2024, Mazin's screenplay to Leonie Swann's Three Bags Full was picked up by Amazon MGM. Mazin wrote the screenplay in 2016. The film's title was updated to The Sheep Detectives and it was released in theaters on May 15, 2026.

In June 2025, Mazin was announced to executive produce an e-sports drama, Damage, along with director and writer Celine Song. In August 2025, Mazin was tapped by HBO to executive produce Blackout Room, a high-concept mystery thriller drama. He will work alongside Jacqueline Lesko and Cecil O'Connor. In December 2025, Mazin, along with his production company, Word Games, was announced to be producing Natasha Lyonne's second feature film as a director, Bambo.

In February 2026, Mazin was tapped by HBO and Hasbro Entertainment to create, write, executive produce, and showrun a television series adaptation of the Baldur's Gate franchise, which will be a continuation to the videogames and will tell a story set immediately in the aftermath of the events of Baldur's Gate 3, as the characters are dealing with the ramifications of the events in the third game.

Personal life Mazin and his wife Melissa have two children, June and Jessica. He supported Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election. He has a tattoo of a switchblade belonging to The Last of Uss Ellie on his arm.

Filmography Film Year Title Director Writer Producer 1997 RocketMan 1998 Senseless 2000 The Specials 2003 Scary Movie 3 2006 Scary Movie 4 2008 Superhero Movie 2011 The Hangover Part II 2013 Identity Thief The Hangover Part III 2016 The Huntsman: Winter's War 2026 The Sheep Detectives

Executive producer School for Scoundrels (2006)

Additional literary material Dune: Part Two (2024) Wicked (2024)

Special thanks The Words (2012) Free Birds (2013) Don't Think Twice (2016)

Actor Year Title Role Notes 2006 Scary Movie 4 Saw Villain Voice role 2008 Superhero Movie Janitor Cameo

Television Year Title Director Writer Creator Executiveproducer Notes 2019 Chernobyl Miniseries 2021 Mythic Quest Episode "Backstory!";Also credited as consulting producer 2023–present The Last of Us Directed episodes "When You're Lost in the Darkness" and "Future Days"

Actor Year Title Role Notes 2020–2021 Mythic Quest Sol Green/Lou 6 episodes

Accolades