Graydon Carter has been editor of Vanity Fair since July 1992. He founded Spy magazine in 1986 with Kurt Andersen and Tom Phillips. He worked as a staff writer for Time, where he covered business, law, and entertainment for five years before joining Life as a staff writer in 1983. Prior to joining Vanity Fair, Mr. Carter was the editor of The New York Observer. Under Mr. Carter, Vanity Fair has won 14 National Magazine Awards, including two for General Excellence. He was recently named to the ASME Hall of Fame. He has been named Advertising Age's editor of the year and is the first editor ever to be twice named Adweek magazine's editor of the year. Mr. Carter is the author of What We've Lost (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, September 2004), a comprehensive critical examination of the Bush administration. He is also the co-editor, with Kurt Andersen and George Kalogerakis, of Spy: The Funny Years (Miramax, October 2006). He edited the best-selling Vanity Fair's Hollywood (Viking Studio, October 2000), as well as Oscar Night (Knopf, October 2004), a lavish photographic history of the exclusive Oscar parties held over the past 75 years, and Vanity Fair Portraits (Abrams, September 2008), a collection of the magazine's most memorable portraits taken over the past 95 years. He also edited Vanity Fair's Tales of Hollywood (Penguin, 2008) and Vanity Fair's Proust Questionnaire: 101 Luminaries Ponder Love, Death, Happiness, and the Meaning of Life (Rodale, 2009), as well as The Great Hangover (HarperCollins, 2010), a collection of articles from Vanity Fair written about the 2008 financial crisis. More recently, Mr. Carter edited Bohemians, Bootleggers, Flappers, and Swells (Penguin, 2014), a book of works by Vanity Fair's astonishing early catalogue of writers, from Dorothy Parker to P. G. Wodehouse, in honor of the magazine's 100th anniversary. Mr. Carter was a producer of "I'll Eat You Last," a one-woman play starring Bette Midler, about legendary Hollywood talent agent Sue Mengers. The show, directed by Tony Award-winner Joe Mantello, opened at the Booth Theater in New York City on April 2013, and at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles on December 3. Mr. Carter co-produced two documentaries for HBO: Public Speaking (2010), directed by Martin Scorsese, which spotlights writer Fran Lebowitz, and His Way (2011), about acclaimed Hollywood producer Jerry Weintraub, which was nominated for a Primetime Emmy. Mr. Carter was an executive producer of 9/11, the highly acclaimed film by Jules and Gedeon Naudet about the World Trade Center attacks, which aired on CBS. He received an Emmy Award for 9/11, as well as a Peabody Award. He produced the acclaimed documentary The Kid Stays in the Picture, about the legendary Hollywood producer Robert Evans, which premiered at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival and had its European premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. Mr. Carter produced the documentary Chicago 10, which premiered on the opening night of the Sundance Film Festival in January 2007. He also produced Surfwise, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2007, and Gonzo, about the life and work of Hunter S. Thompson, which was directed by Academy Award-winner Alex Gibney. Mr. Carter is a co-owner of three New York City restaurants: the Waverly Inn, the Monkey Bar, and the Beatrice Inn. Born in Toronto, Canada, Mr. Carter resides in Manhattan with his wife, Anna, and their daughter. He also has four older children.
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Biography from IMDb.
- July 14, 1949 (77)
- Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Producer and actor
- 17 on MovieCove · 20 credits in all
What are Graydon Carter's films like?
Across their 15 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Society and Power.
Themes
What they feel like to watch
Ironic 0 · Wry 1 · Earnest 13
A split, not a type: Light 6 · Serious 5 · Dark 3
Grounded 11 · Stylized 2 · Heightened 1
A split, not a type: Gentle 7 · Charged 4 · Intense 3
Steady 8 · Shifting 5 · Whiplash 1
Straight-faced 7 · Some laughs 7 · Funny 0
A split, not a type: Slow burn 8 · Even-paced 5 · Relentless 1
A split, not a type: Casual 7 · Engaged 6 · Full focus 1
Easy watch 8 · Affecting 5 · Heavy 1
Resolved 11 · Open-ended 3 · Ambiguous 0
Moods and endings
- Happy1
- Bittersweet11
- Ambiguous3
AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.
Where can I watch Graydon Carter's films?
As of October 24, 2026, 13 of their 17 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on Tubi (6).
Subscription and free streaming for Graydon Carter's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.
Filmography
20 credits, 17 with a MovieCove page; 11 appearances as themselves are hidden until asked for.
Ask E. Jean (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2026)
AKA Mr. Chow(2023)
Midcredits score: 72nd percentile of all films
Fake Famous(2021)
Midcredits score: 62nd percentile of all films
Very Ralph(2019)
Midcredits score: 73rd percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 86th percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 28th percentile of all films
Agnelli(2017)
Midcredits score: 92nd percentile of all films
Everything Is Copy(2015)
Midcredits score: 94th percentile of all films
She's Funny That Way(2014)
Midcredits score: 46th percentile of all films
Arbitrage(2012)
Midcredits score: 65th percentile of all films
His Way(2011)
Midcredits score: 72nd percentile of all films
Public Speaking (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2011)
Hi Society: The Wonderful World of Nicky Haslam (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2009)
Gonzo(2008)
Midcredits score: 94th percentile of all films
Chicago 10(2007)
Midcredits score: 76th percentile of all films
Surfwise(2007)
Midcredits score: 83rd percentile of all films
Alfie(2004)
Midcredits score: 42nd percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 89th percentile of all films
9/11(2002)
Midcredits score: 99th percentile of all films
A Beautiful Mind(2001)
Midcredits score: 99th percentile of all films
Career shape
A full career of 19 titles from 2001 to 2026.
Film career
- 2004Screen debut· Alfie
Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it. The ring is the typical Midcredits score (the median percentile) of the role's titles that are on MovieCove, shown from 5 scored.
Awards
a Primetime Emmy from 4 major nominations, 2002–2019.
- Primetime Emmy, nominated · Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special
- Primetime Emmy, nominated · Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special
- Primetime Emmy, nominated · Outstanding Nonfiction Special
- Primetime Emmy, won · Outstanding Non-Fiction Special (Informational)
Major bodies only: the Oscars, Primetime Emmys, Golden Globes, BAFTAs and Screen Actors Guild Awards are named; Cannes, Venice, the Berlinale, Sundance, the directors', writers' and producers' guilds, the Grammys, Critics Choice and the Independent Spirit Awards count as other major bodies. Festival and regional prizes are not counted. Source: IMDb.
How do Graydon Carter's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 76th percentile, the median of all 17; across their 14 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 77th percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up9
- 50th to 74th5
- 25th to 49th3
Shape of the crowd
10 of their 17 titles are Crowd Pleasers.
- Universally Loved4
- Crowd Pleaser10
- Broadly Agreed2
- Mixed1
Reviewers score the acting 51/100 in their films, across 7 reviewed titles; fans 63, detractors 47. The element that speaks to their work as an actor.
Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.
Who does Graydon Carter work with?
People who share at least 2 of Graydon Carter's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Annabelle Dunne shares the most, 5.
Directors
- Nick HookerShared titles: AKA Mr. Chow (2023), Agnelli (2017), Everything Is Copy (2015)See all 3 shared titles with Nick Hooker
- Alex GibneyShared titles: The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley (2019), Gonzo (2008)See all 2 shared titles with Alex Gibney
- Brett MorgenShared titles: Chicago 10 (2007), The Kid Stays in the Picture (2002)See all 2 shared titles with Brett Morgen
Actors
- Robert De NiroShared titles: American Prince: JFK Jr. (2025), 9/11 (2002)See all 2 shared titles with Robert De Niro
- Liev SchreiberShared titles: Everything Is Copy (2015), Chicago 10 (2007)See all 2 shared titles with Liev Schreiber
Composers
- Jeff DannaShared titles: Chicago 10 (2007), The Kid Stays in the Picture (2002)See all 2 shared titles with Jeff Danna
Producers
- Annabelle DunneShared titles: AKA Mr. Chow (2023), Fake Famous (2021), Swiped: Hooking Up in the Digital Age (2018), Agnelli (2017), Everything Is Copy (2015)See all 5 shared titles with Annabelle Dunne
- Lisa HellerShared titles: AKA Mr. Chow (2023), Fake Famous (2021), Swiped: Hooking Up in the Digital Age (2018), Everything Is Copy (2015)See all 4 shared titles with Lisa Heller
- Nancy AbrahamShared titles: AKA Mr. Chow (2023), Fake Famous (2021), The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley (2019)See all 3 shared titles with Nancy Abraham
- Carly HugoShared titles: Swiped: Hooking Up in the Digital Age (2018), Agnelli (2017), Everything Is Copy (2015)See all 3 shared titles with Carly Hugo
