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Ken Kwapis
 

Ken Kwapis

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Ken Kwapis is an award-winning director who has moved easily between the worlds of feature filmmaking and television directing. He previously directed The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, a film adaptation of Ann Brashares' best-selling novel, starring Amber Tamblyn, America Ferrera, Blake Lively and Alexis Bledel. Kwapis recently signed to direct the film adaptation of another best seller, He's Just Not That Into You.

For television, Kwapis helped launch some of the most innovative comedies of the past decade. He directed the pilot of NBC's Emmy Award-winning series The Office, starring Steve Carell, John Krasinski and Rainn Wilson, and directed this season's premiere and final episodes. Kwapis earned an Emmy nomination for his work as a producer-director of FOX's Malcolm in the Middle. He also directed the pilots for the groundbreaking HBO series The Larry Sanders Show, and the Emmy Award-winning The Bernie Mac Show. He also directed episodes of such critically acclaimed comedies as Freaks and Geeks and Bakersfield, P.D.

Kwapis' feature film credits include the romantic comedies The Beautician and the Beast, starring Fran Drescher, and He Said, She Said, starring Kevin Bacon and Elizabeth Perkins. He Said, She Said was conceived and co-directed with Kwapis' wife Marisa Silver. His other films include Dunston Checks In, starring Jason Alexander and Faye Dunaway; Vibes, starring Jeff Goldblum and Cyndi Lauper; and Sesame Street Presents: Follow That Bird, starring Jim Henson's Muppets.

Kwapis' film Sexual Life marked his first effort as a writer-director. Adapted from Arthur Schnitzler's play La Ronde, Sexual Life premiered to rave reviews at the Los Angeles Film Festival and aired on Showtime in 2005. The ensemble cast includes Anne Heche, Elizabeth Banks and Kerry Washington.

Kwapis studied filmmaking at Northwestern University and the University of Southern California. He won the Student Academy Award in Dramatic Achievement for his USC thesis film For Heaven's Sake, an adaptation of Mozart's one-act comic opera Der Schauspieldirektor (The Impresario).


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Ken Kwapis Facts

OccupationDirector
BirthdayAugust 17, 1957 (50)
SignLeo
BirthplaceBelleville, Illinois, USA

Selected Filmography

License to Wed
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
Sesame Street Presents
The Beautician and the Beast
A Cinderella Story/Sisterhood of Traveling Pants
Dunston Checks In
He Said, She Said
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