Overview

Whether adapting beloved properties, writing original horror, creating books for young readers, or developing new musicals, he is drawn to stories that blend emotional truth with commercial appeal, often finding unexpected intersections between pop culture and deeper human questions. His projects share a fascination with identity, reinvention, fandom, community, and the stories people tell themselves to survive.

Theater

Erik’s musicals include an adaptation of the Warner Bros. holiday classic Christmas in Connecticut (Broadway Licensing Worldwide), Breaking Up Is Hard to Do (Theatrical Rights Worldwide), Misty Makes It Better, and a musical adaptation of Noël Coward’s Private Lives.

His original plays are Fuckin’ Ruthie, DEFAMED!!!, Like a Billion Likes, Tell-Tale, Doll, and Charlie!, as well as adaptations including Cheers Live on Stage, the comic adaptation of Stephen King’s Carrie, and the upcoming stage version of King’s Cujo.

His work has been produced and developed throughout the United States and internationally, including at P.S. 122, HERE Arts Center, Goodspeed Musicals, Pioneer Theatre Company, Actors' Playhouse, Stage West, and global productions from London to Seoul.

His work has earned the Robert Chesley/Victor Bumbalo Playwriting Award, the Southwest Playwriting Contest, a GLAAD Media Award nomination, and finalist recognition from both the O'Neill National Playwrights Conference and the Woodward/Newman Drama Award.

He’s a Tony voter, a member of the Dramatists Guild, and serves on the American Theatre Wing’s Advisory Board and the Clive Barnes Foundation awards selection committee. He’s developed work with the writers’ group at the Musical Theatre Factory and was the Playwright in Residence for the acclaimed troupe Theatre Couture.

Books

Erik's forthcoming titles from Penguin Random House include the Pop! Playbooks (a new series of pop-culture activity books for younger readers) as well as Taylor & Travis: A Love Story Album. Declared “a pop-culture expert” by People, Erik’s currently working on his original fiction debut, the horror novel Peak Fear. He is a member of the Horror Writers Association and a voter for the Bram Stoker Awards.

Erik is also the author of a critically acclaimed humor series for middle-grade readers and adults firmly in touch with their inner kids. Muppets Meet the Classics, published by Disney and Penguin Workshop, includes The Phantom of the Opera and Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm.

Film & Television

Erik penned the screen adaptation of Theatre Couture’s Charlie! The movie premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival. He was a staff writer and story editor for season two of Here TV’s supernatural series Dante’s Cove. His screenplay Heartbreaker, a psychosexual thriller, was a finalist for the Outfest Screenwriting Lab and he was commissioned to write original poems for the Showtime film The Escape, starring Patrick Dempsey.

Publishing & Journalism

In the publishing world, Erik spent more than a decade as an executive editor at Entertainment Weekly and InStyle, one of the world’s largest fashion media brands.

Previously, Erik was the editor-in-chief of Show People magazine and an editor and critic at Us Weekly and Time Out New York. His articles have appeared in Glamour, W, Real Simple, Town & Country, People, LIFE and Out, among others. 

For People, he continues to edit and write collectible special editions devoted to major cultural figures and entertainment franchises, including Taylor Swift, Wicked, Saturday Night Live, Mission: Impossible, Top Gun, and The Lord of the Rings.

Academia

Erik is an Adjunct Professor of DEI at Syracuse’s Newhouse School of Communications.

On-Air Reporting

He has been an on-air reporter for the TV program Talking Movies on BBC/BBC America; acted as host of ABC’s entertainment program The Us Weekly Report; and was a correspondent for ABC’s News One radio show.

As a correspondent, he has appeared on CNN, VH1, Entertainment Tonight, The View, Access Hollywood, and, in a moment of shining glory, on MTV’s How to Live Like a Celebrity Pet.