James Greer (writer)


James Greer is an American novelist, screenwriter, director, musician, and critic. As a screenwriter, he is known for writing the 2018 thriller Unsane directed by Steven Soderbergh and starring Claire Foy and Juno Temple, as well as the 2026 horror/thrillers Twisted starring Djimon Hounsou and Lauren LaVera and The Cure, starring David Dastmalchian and Ashley Greene. Previously, Greer co-wrote the family comedies Max Keeble's Big Move, Just My Luck and The Spy Next Door. He lives in Los Angeles.

Career

Musician/Critic

Greer was senior editor and senior writer at Spin magazine in New York City in the early 1990s, during which time he helped define the generational cohort that became later widely-known as Generation X.
He wrote and performed all instruments/vocals on the song "Trendspotter Acrobat" on the EP Sunfish Holy Breakfast by Guided By Voices. He was the bassist in the band from 1994 to 1996.
Greer started a band in 2012 with musician Lola G. called DTCV. Pronounced "detective", it was an indie rock duo from Joshua Tree, California. The band released a double album called Hilarious Heaven in 2013 on Xemu Records, followed by a compilation of their early singles and EPs, The Early Year. The duo released their second studio album, Uptime!, in 2015. In April 2016 the band released its third and final studio album, entitled Confusion Moderne, on Xemu Records.

Novelist/Author

Greer has published three novels: Artificial Light, The Failure. Artificial Light won a California Book Award Silver Medal for First Fiction. and Bad Eminence, which Andrew Gallix in The Irish Times called "this year's cult classic," writing that the novel was "hilarious, exhilarating and mind-blowing".
In 2013 Greer released his first book of short fiction, titled Everything Flows, via Curbside Splendor. Publishers Weekly said of the book "Halfway between the mind of God and a vivid dream, Everything Flows is proof that there remain new places to go, both on paper and in the known universe."
FICTION
  • Artificial Light
  • The Failure
  • The Speed Chronicles
  • Everything Flows
  • Bad Eminence
NON-FICTION

Screenwriter

Greer has written or co-written several movies, including Max Keeble's Big Move, Just My Luck starring Lindsay Lohan, the Jackie Chan vehicle The Spy Next Door and Unsane, directed by Steven Soderbergh, and starring Claire Foy and Juno Temple. In February 2018, Deadline Hollywood reported that Greer was set to write a script called Planet Kill for Soderbergh to produce. He also has adapted the John Barth novel The Sot-Weed Factor (novel) for a projected series from Soderbergh.. In 2026 two new projects co-written by Greer and his long-time writing partner Jonathan Bernstein were announced. One is a horror/thriller titled Twisted directed by Darren Bousman starring Djimon Hounsou and Lauren LaVera The film is set to be released on February 6, 2026. The other is titled The Cure, directed by Nancy Leopardi and starring David Dastmalchian and Ashley Greene and is due for a March 2026 release from Vertical Entertainment

Discography

Guided By Voices
  • Alien Lanes
  • Sunfish Holy Breakfast
  • Under The Bushes, Under The Stars
DTCV
  • Hilarious Heaven
  • Uptime!
  • Confusion Moderne

Filmography

Writer
FILM
TV
Director
  • 2023 - Mirror Moves
  • 2017 - A Walk Across the Human Bridge
  • 2016 - Bourgeois Pop
  • 2015 - Miley Cyrus Wins the Race
  • 2008 - La femme qui n'était rien
  • 2008 - Diegesis
  • 2006 - Love Is Stronger Than Witchcraft
  • 2006/II - Mimesis