Ken Kwapis

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ken Kwapis (born August 17, 1957) is an American film and television director and scriptwriter. He was born in Belleville, Illinois<ref>Anderson, Carla Keller. "Before they were stars...", Belleville News-Democrat, 29 April 2005. Retrieved on 2006-03-15.</ref>, attended St. Louis University High School, studied film first at Northwestern University, then on the graduate level at USC School of Cinema-Television.<ref>Notable Alumni. USC School of Cinema-Television. Retrieved on 2006-03-15.</ref> Kwapis helped define the single-camera sitcom in the 1990s and 2000s.<ref>Longwell, Todd. "Big 'Mac'", Hollywood Reporter, 2 February 2006. Retrieved on 2006-03-15.</ref>

1 Career history
2 Influences
3 Trivia
4 Select TV work
5 Theatrical film work
6 References

[edit] Career history

His thesis film For Heaven's Sake, a variation on a Mozart opera, won a Student Academy Award. He started making teen-oriented TV movies before working on acclaimed series such as The Larry Sanders Show. Since then he's mixed theatrical features with TV work.<ref>Ken Kwapis at the Internet Movie Database</ref> In 2005, he directed his first feature-length film (Sexual Life) that was based on his own original screenplay.

[edit] Influences

Kwapis ran a film society while in college and his knowledge of film history is evident in his work. For example, Dunston Checks In is virtually an homage to Ernst Lubitsch.<ref>Interview with director Ken Kwapis. Truly Moving Pictures. Retrieved on 2006-03-15.</ref> And The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants features a clip from Frank Borzage's Three Comrades. In Sisterhood's DVD commentary Kwapis remarks on Borzage's influence on his work.

[edit] Trivia

Kwapis has a cameo in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants as a piano player at a ballet recital.
Kwapis went to the prominent high school, Saint Louis University High School, in St. Louis, MO.