Synecdoche, New York is a 2008 American postmodern psychological drama film written and directed by Charlie Kaufman in his directorial debut. It stars Philip Seymour Hoffman as Caden Cotard, a theater director whose attempt to create a massive, ever-evolving stage production begins to consume his life and blur the boundaries between fiction and reality. The title is a play on both the concept of synecdoche—a part representing a whole—and Schenectady, New York, where much of the story is set.