Jaffe was born and raised in New York state, the son of Herb Jaffe, a successful literary agent and whose clients included Mario Puzo, Paddy Chayefsky, Irwin Shaw, and Margaret Bourke-White. At an early age, he wanted to be a novelist, and later an architect. His father entered the film industry while Jaffe was in high school, and became an executive at United Artists after selling his agency to ICM Partners.^[4][5][6]

While attending the University of Southern California to study linguistics, Jaffe developed a keen interest foreign films from directors like François Truffaut, Akira Kurosawa, and Michelangelo Antonioni.^[7] His first job in the industry came when he was involved in the making of a behind-the-scenes documentary of the critically acclaimed 1972 drama film Fat City^[8] through producer Ray Stark, who had established a scholarship at USC in his son's name. Stark proposed a promotional film that would intersperse behind-the-scenes footage with footage of real boxers on whom the film was based. Jaffe worked closely with director John Huston during production.^[9]

On the verge of being drafted with only one semester of school left, Jaffe flew to Amsterdam where he stayed for a year. While there, he served as an assistant director on the film Lifespan and as a personal assistant to its director Alexander Whitelaw. His father, upon leaving his position at United Artists, convinced Jaffe to join him in Spain for the film The Wind and the Lion after an initial refusal to avoid accusation of nepotism.^[10]

Jaffe served as an associate producer on the 1977 horror film Demon Seed, which he co-wrote with his brother Robert and co-produced with his father Herb. He wrote and produced Motel Hell with Robert in 1980.

Jaffe formed long-term collaborative partnerships with directors Nicholas Meyer and Kathryn Bigelow, serving as a second unit director and producer on films like Time After Time, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country,^[11] and Strange Days.^[12] He was an executive producer on the 1990 film Ghost, which won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and was nominated for Best Picture.

In 2008, he formed the independent production company Helix Films with producers Gaukhar Noortas and Kevin Foo.^[13][14] He wrote, produced, and directed Gahan Wilson: Born Dead, Still Weird, a documentary based on the life of the eponymous cartoonist.^[15]

Executive producer

• Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins (1985)
• Plain Clothes (1988)
• Ghost (1990)
• The Informant (1997)
• The Weight of Water (2000)

Second unit director

• Time After Time (1979)
• The Day After (1983)
• Flesh and Blood (1985)
• Ghost (1990)
• Company Business (1991)
• Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)
• Strange Days (1995)

Associate producer

• Demon Seed (1977)
• Time After Time (1979)

Other credits

• Steven-Charles Jaffe at IMDb
• Steven-Charles Jaffe at Rotten Tomatoes