Francis Veber

Francis Paul Veber (born 28 July 1937) is a French film director, screenwriter and producer, and playwright. He has written and directed both French and American films. Eight French-language films with which he has been involved, as either writer or director or both, have been remade as English-language Hollywood films: Le grand blond avec une chaussure noire (as The Man with One Red Shoe), L'emmerdeur (as Buddy Buddy), La Cage aux Folles (as The Birdcage), Le Jouet (as The Toy), Les Compères (as Fathers' Day), La chèvre (as Pure Luck), Les Fugitifs (as Three Fugitives), and Le dîner de cons (as Dinner for Schmucks). He also wrote the screenplay for My Father the Hero, the 1994 American remake of the French-language film Mon père, ce héros. Some of his screenplays started as theater plays (for instance, Le dîner de cons). This theatrical experience contributes to his films' tight structure, resulting in what has been called "marvels of economy". Many of his French comedies feature recurring types of characters, named François Pignon (a bungler) and François Perrin (a bully).