Ken Kwapis

KEN KWAPIS

Date of Birth: August 17, 1958

Born in Belleville, Illinois, Ken Kwapis' USC thesis film For Heaven's Sake! was based on Mozart's one-act opera Der Schauspieldirektor, with backbiting nuns replacing the dueling divas of the original. The film won Kwapis a Student Academy Award in Dramatic Achievement.

His earliest work as a television director includes the telefilms Revenge of the Nerd (1983) and Summer Switch (1984). He made his feature film directorial debut with Sesame Street Presents: Follow that Bird (1985), and went on to direct comedies such as He Said, She Said (1991) starring Kevin Bacon (and conceived and co-directed with Kwapis' wife Marisa Silver), The Beautician and the Beast (1997) starring Fran Drescher and Dunston Checks In (1996), starring Faye Dunaway.

TV directorial credits include The Larry Sanders Show, The Bernie Mac Show, Freaks and Geeks and Malcolm in the Middle, receiving an Emmy nomination for his participation in the latter.

Kwapis took on a change of pace when he directed the major motion picture drama The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, starring Alexis Bledel and Amber Tamblyn. He then made his debut as a writer/director with Sexual Life (2005), which premiered to rave reviews in competition at the Los Angeles Film Festival and premiered on Showtime in July 2005.

Filmography:

He's Just Not That Into You (2009)
License to Wed (2007)
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (2005)
Sexual Life (2005)
The Beautician and the Beast (1997)
Dunston Checks In (1996)
He Said, She Said (1991)
Vibes (1988)
Sesame Street Presents: Follow that Bird (1985)