- Ken Kwapis is an award-winning director of motion pictures and television. He has directed eleven feature films, among them A Walk In The Woods, based on Bill Bryson's acclaimed comedic memoir; He's Just Not That Into You, inspired by the New York Times bestselling advice book; and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, adapted from the beloved young adult novel. Other films include the rescue adventure Big Miracle, and the romantic comedies License to Wed and He Said, She Said (co-directed with Marisa Silver). His feature debut was Sesame Street Presents: Follow That Bird, starring Jim Henson's Muppets.
For television, Kwapis helped launch nine series, including the groundbreaking HBO comedy The Larry Sanders Show, Fox's Emmy Award-winning The Bernie Mac Show, and NBC's The Office. Kwapis directed the pilot of The Office and its series finale, along with many memorable episodes -"Casino Night," Booze Cruise," "Diversity Day," to name a few. He earned an Emmy nomination for directing the episode "Gay Witch Hunt."
Kwapis also earned an Emmy nomination for his work as a producer-director of Fox's Malcolm In The Middle. Other series Kwapis helped launch include NBC's Outsourced, Showtime's Happyish, and Netflix's #blackAF. He directed numerous episodes of shows such as Freaks and Geeks, One Mississippi, and Santa Clarita Diet.
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").
- IMDb mini biography by: Ken Kwapis
- SpouseMarisa Silver(? - present) (2 children)
- Children
- He is of Polish descent.
- Son of Marjorie (Wells) and Bruno W. Kwapis, an oral surgeon, Kwapis has one brother and two sisters.
- Since Pants [The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (2005)] was released, I can't tell you how many conversations I've had about public displays of emotion in general, and crying at the movies in particular. I've received messages from male friends berating me for creating something that brought them to tears. I've received emails from girls who claim they'd never cried at the movies before Pants. And there are many rave reviews that are quite apologetic in tone. Many journalists have a hard time distinguishing between honest emotion and sentiment. I feel certain the audience knows the difference.
- I'm surprised how many directors sit on their asses in the video village rather than watching the action beside the camera, particularly if the scene is an intimate one for the actors. The video village has really created a climate in which films and television shows are directed by consensus. It's nauseating.
- Many people assume that the great benefit of television directing is learning to work at an accelerated pace, to think on your feet. While that's hard to deny, what's been crucial for me is working on shows with unique tones.
- Once upon a time I heard a producer complain about a director by saying, "He doesn't know how to move the camera." As far as I'm concerned, camera movement is the cheapest currency available to a director. The real measure of good directing is knowing when not to move the camera, when not to intrude. The test is being able to create an evocative image that doesn't advertise your skill or your film literacy.
- [re directing pilot episode of The Office (2005)] Jenna Fischer asked casting director Allison Jones for advice about how to win the role of Pam. Allison replied, 'Just go in there...and bore them.' Perfect.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content
