Ken Kwapis is an award-winning director who has moved easily between the worlds of feature filmmaking and television directing. He most recently directed the Warner Bros. comedy “License to Wed” starring Robin Williams, Mandy Moore and John Krasinski. 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 is in pre-production to direct the film adaptation of Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo’s non-fiction bestseller, “He’s Just Not That Into You,” for New Line Cinema.
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. He received a 2007 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.” He 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 films 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’ feature “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”).
