Early career

Neuwirth began his career as a staff artist in a specialty ad agency, Carluth Studios, where he prepared print ads for United Artists feature films.^[5] As a freelancer, he drew editorial cartoons, illustrated magazine articles and animatics for TV commercials, designed posters for New York City's Phoenix Theatre's 1981-1982 season.^[6][7]

Television and film

In 1979 through 1983, Neuwirth worked at The Studios of Diamond & Diaferia, an animation film production company. As a staff designer and director he created show openings, logos and motion graphics for television series including ABC News Nightline, This Week with David Brinkley, 20/20, ABC News Closeup, The Today Show and the ESPN network.^[5][8] After leaving Diamond & Diaferia, Neuwirth served as Art Director for all five seasons of the Lifetime Television Network series about parenting, Mother's Day, hosted by Joan Lunden.^[9]

In 1984, Neuwirth wrote jokes for television host Regis Philbin's nightclub act.^[10] Partnering with comedy writer Gary Cooper, Neuwirth continued to write material for Philbin's shows at supper clubs and hotel casinos. During this period, he also launched an independent production company, Neuwirth Design. For the next several years, Neuwirth produced TV commercials, created animated scoreboard graphics for the New York Yankees' 1986 and 1987 seasons,^[5] animated the special effects sequences for Troma Entertainment’s feature film, Sgt. Kabukiman N.Y.P.D. (1990),^[11] designed opening titles for TV movies including King's Ransom,^[12] and continued to partner with Cooper writing film scripts.

In 1995, Neuwirth and Cooper were hired by veteran children's television producer Nina Elias-Bamberger to co-develop Big Bag^[13] a puppet/animated TV series co-produced by The Jim Henson Company and Sesame Workshop.^[14] The show aired on Cartoon Network from 1996 to 1998. Neuwirth and Cooper stayed on to associate produce, story edit and write many of the series’ animated shorts. Their claymation Koki cartoons for Big Bag were featured in the Sixth International Children's Television Festival at The Museum of TV & Radio (1997),^[15] and won Prix Jeunesse and New York Film Festival awards.^[8]

The pair continued to write episodic television shows including The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss^[16] (their script Mystery of Winna-Bango Falls was nominated for a 1998 Writers Guild Award),^[17] Courage the Cowardly Dog,^[18] Gadget & the Gadgetinis,^[19] Dragon Tales^[20] and season two of Fix and Foxi,^[21] a European cartoon series based on Rolf Kauka’s popular comic books, during which they served as head writers. In the summer of 2001, Neuwirth relocated to Sydney, Australia for several months to continue as supervising producer of the show, overseeing post-production.^[22]

In 2002, Neuwirth embarked on a solo writing and producing career. His credits include scripts for Paramount+’s popular reboot of Rugrats (2021),^[23] head writing Season 6 of Nickelodeon’s Bubble Guppies (2021),^[24] developing, executive producing and story editing The Bug Diaries (2019) on Amazon Prime,^[25] developing, head writing and producing two seasons of Space Racers (2014),^[26] an award-winning animated TV series^[25] created with the participation of NASA and airing on PBS Kids, Universal Kids, Netflix and Amazon Prime, scripting and story editing The Octonauts (2010),^[27] and writing episodes of Arthur (2008),^[28] including "Is That Kosher?", in which he created the character "Bubbe" for guest star Joan Rivers, a role that garnered her a Daytime Emmy Award nomination.^[29]

Additional writing credits include scripts for Donkey Hodie (2021),^[30] Chico Bon Bon: Monkey with a Tool Belt (2020),^[31] Tumble Leaf (2015),^[32] Tickety Toc (2014),^[33] Jelly Jamm (2011),^[34] Cyberchase (2010),^[35] Jungle Junction (2009),^[36] Martha Speaks (2009),^[37] Speed Racer: The Next Generation (2009),^[38] Between the Lions (2009),^[39] WordWorld (2007),^[40] and scripts and songs for Mama Mirabelle's Home Movies (2006).^[41]

In 2004, he began directing a feature-length musical documentary, What's the Name of the Dame?,^[42] which was completed seven years later. The film, which examined the fusion of two modern cultural phenomena, ABBA songs and the art of drag, made its debut at the Atlanta Film Festival in March 2011.^[43] It was subsequently selected by numerous festivals across the US, including New York's Newfest,^[44] and Canada.^[43]

In 2012, Neuwirth and Margarethe Baillou of M.Y.R.A. Entertainment teamed up to begin producing together. Their first project, the independent feature film Drawing Home, was released theatrically in 2017.^[42] He and Baillou also collaborated in 2016 as executive producers on Change in the Air (2018),^[45] and on director Luca Guadagnino's acclaimed indie film Call Me by Your Name,^[46] which premiered to raves at the Sundance Film Festival and was released by Sony Pictures Classics for release in 2017, winning dozens of accolades including an Academy Award and a BAFTA Award, both for Best Adapted Screenplay.^[47] Neuwirth served as associate producer.

Other projects currently filming and/or in development include the political documentary feature State of Dispute,^[48] dramatic limited TV series The Yank and Shadow Cast,^[49][50] and a feature film, Boy From Berlin, inspired by the young gay Jewish WWII hero Gad Beck’s memoir An Underground Life.

Throughout his involvement in feature films, Neuwirth continued to work in animated television as an artist and writer. He drew storyboards for commercials and TV series, including Cartoon Network's Courage the Cowardly Dog. In 2011, he wrote the Hallmark Channel’s stop-motion Christmas special, Jingle All the Way,^[51][52] In 2012, he wrote the screenplay for the sequel, Jingle & Bell’s Christmas Star,^[53] and the animated short film Polariffic (2014),^[54] also for the Hallmark Channel. Polariffic was nominated for Best Animated Special Production at the 42nd Annual Annie Awards,^[55] and selected by the 2015 Annecy Film Festival.^[56] Neuwirth was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for "Outstanding Writing in an Animated Program," for a 2014 episode of Cyberchase.^[57] In 2020, he co-created, produced, scripted and co-wrote the songs for Flower of the Dawn, the pilot episode of new musical anthology series Fairy Tale Forest, featuring the voices of Mel Brooks, Jane Lynch, Matt Lucas, Whoopi Goldberg, and Broadway legend Jennifer Holliday.^[58]

Chelsea Boys

In 1998, Neuwirth teamed with artist/writer Glen Hanson to create the internationally syndicated comic strip Chelsea Boys.^[59] Two book collections were published: Chelsea Boys (2003),^[60] nominated for Best Humor Book by the 2004 Lambda Literary Awards,^[61] and Chelsea Boys Steppin’ Out (2007).^[62][63] Chelsea Boys was optioned for television several times, notably in 2001 by Hollywood film company Film Roman, producers of The Simpsons.^[64] Hanson and Neuwirth signed a deal in 2005 with MTV's new Logo Network to develop a TV show based on the comic strip,^[65] but after several months of development the network declined to move forward, citing budget concerns. As of 2015, the strip has not been animated. Chelsea Boys has appeared in anthologies, including What's Wrong: Explicit Graphic Interpretations Against Censorship (2002).^[66]

Hanson and Neuwirth also collaborated on projects for DC Comics. They co-scripted the RealWorlds graphic novel Wonder Woman vs. The Red Menace (2000).^[67]

Books and journalism

Following the attack in New York City of September 11, 2001, Neuwirth took a hiatus from television work and began writing non-fiction books and articles about the entertainment industry. His first book, Makin’ Toons (2003),^[68] offered an insider's look at the creation of the most popular animated TV shows and movies being developed in the early 1990s.

Neuwirth's next book, an oral history titled They'll Never Put That On The Air (2006),^[69] focused on the unique role of TV comedy in breaking down television's restrictive taboos of the 1950s and 1960s. Entertainment Weekly magazine placed the book on their "Must List."^[70] Throughout the decade, Neuwirth contributed articles about pop culture and cartoons to various entertainment industry publications, including Animation Magazine^[71][72] and Emmy Magazine.^[73]

Several picture books adapted from original scripts Neuwirth wrote for TV series have been published, including Martha Speaks: A Pup's Tale (2010).^[74] As a book illustrator, his credits include Warner Books’ Joan Lunden's Mothers’ Minutes (1986),^[75] and Golden Books’ Where in America is Carmen Sandiego? (1992).

Neuwirth has guest lectured at schools and universities, and appeared on talk radio, TV and other venues to discuss creating animation, television comedy, and comics.^[76] He has participated in and moderated panels at MoCCA,^[77] City University of New York (CUNY)^[78] School of Visual Arts,^[79] and in museums and bookstores.

For the Archive of American Television, Neuwirth has conducted candid videotaped interviews with legendary figures in television history such as Joan Rivers,^[80] Dominick Dunne,^[81] and sex therapist Ruth Westheimer ("Dr. Ruth").^[82] He has also interviewed directors and performers on stage, including British comic and actor Ricky Gervais, for BAFTA-New York screenings.^[83][84]

Film

Television