Steven S. DeKnight

Steven S. DeKnight (born April 8, 1964) is an American screenwriter, television producer, and director. He is best known for being the creator, head writer, and executive producer of the Starz series Spartacus, including Spartacus: Blood and Sand, Spartacus: Gods of the Arena, Spartacus: Vengeance, and Spartacus: War of the Damned. Career DeKnight previously worked on Smallville, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Angel. He also wrote "Swell", a story in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer season eight comic series, and served as a consulting producer on Joss Whedon's television series Dollhouse. In May 2014, DeKnight was reported to be taking over showrunning duties for the first season on the Netflix exclusive television series Daredevil from Drew Goddard, after Goddard's departure due to scheduling conflicts with directing Sinister Six. He was later replaced by Doug Petrie and Marco Ramirez to serve as co-showrunners for the second season of the series. In 2015, DeKnight joined the Transformers Cinematic Universe franchise's writers room, where Paramount Pictures hired multiple noted screenwriters to flesh out the future of the film series. He directed the science fiction sequel Pacific Rim Uprising. The original film's director, Guillermo del Toro, remained on the film in the role of producer