Koppelman was born on April 27, 1966 in Roslyn Harbor, New York to a Jewish family, the son of Brenda "Bunny" Koppelman and Charles Koppelman. His father was a producer and media executive. Koppelman holds degrees from Tufts University and Fordham University School of Law.\n', '

He first started managing local Long Island bands as a teenager. He would also book bands at a local nightclub. Through booking acts, he came into contact with Eddie Murphy and helped arrange Murphy\'s first record deal. As a student at Tufts University, he discovered singer songwriter Tracy Chapman and executive-produced her first album. He was later brought to Giant Records by president Irving Azoff. During his career, Koppelman was an A&R representative for music labels Elektra Records, Giant Records, SBK Records and EMI Records.\n', '

In 1997, Koppelman wrote the original screenplay for Rounders with his writing partner, David Levien. Koppelman has described his approach to writing as a team as having only one rule: no video games in the office. In 2001, Koppelman wrote, produced, and directed his first film, Knockaround Guys, which film critic Roger Ebert gave 3 out of 4 stars. Since then, Koppelman has worked on a dozen films, including having written Ocean’s Thirteen and directed an ESPN 30 for 30 documentary, This Is What They Want.\n', '

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