Daniel Knauf

Daniel Knauf
Knauf in 2006
Born	Los Angeles, California
Pen name	Wilfred Schmidt, Chris Neal
Occupation	Screenwriter, comic book writer, television producer
Nationality	American
Alma mater	California State University, Los Angeles
Notable works	Carnivàle
Children	Charles

Daniel Knauf, sometimes credited under the pseudonyms Wilfred Schmidt and Chris Neal, is an American screenwriter, comic book writer, director and producer best known for his creation of the 2003 HBO series Carnivàle.

Born and raised in Los Angeles, Knauf attended several colleges in South California studying fine art, and later graduated from the California State University, Los Angeles with a bachelor's degree in English in 1982. He began work as an employee benefits consultant and later a health insurance broker, writing once he was able to support himself and his family financially. Hoping to become a screenwriter, Knauf's first draft of Carnivàle, written in 1992, was 180 pages long and twice the length of the average feature film. Convinced the screenplay could not work as either a standard television series or a film, he put it aside, planning to one day adapt it into a novel.Carnivàle evolved as a result of Knauf's childhood fascination with carnivals and his interest in "freaks", due in part to the childhood polio that confined his father to a wheelchair, which Knauf felt his father was defined by. After meeting with a number of television writers at a Writers Guild of America retreat in the mid-90s, he started to think that his screenplay might work as a television piece. He took the first act and reworked it as a television pilot, but shelved the script again when he could not get the project produced.

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