23 Facts About Ken Kwapis

Kenneth William Kwapis was born on August 17,1957 and is an American film and television director, screenwriter, and author.

Ken Kwapis specialized in single-camera sitcoms in the 1990s and 2000s and has directed feature films such as Sesame Street Presents: Follow That Bird, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, and He's Just Not That Into You.

Ken Kwapis is the son of Marge and Bruno Walter Kwapis, who was an oral surgeon.

Ken Kwapis is of Polish descent and was raised Catholic, attending the Jesuit preparatory academy at St Louis University High School.

Ken Kwapis is married to author and film director Marisa Silver, with whom he has two sons: Henry and Oliver.

In 1983, Ken Kwapis directed Revenge of the Nerd for CBS' Afternoon Playhouse, followed by Summer Switch for ABC's Afterschool Special.

In 1987, Ken Kwapis made his prime time television debut, directing an installment of Steven Spielberg's Amazing Stories.

Ken Kwapis then moved into series television, directing the pilot of HBO's comedy The Larry Sanders Show, which influenced many subsequent shows.

Ken Kwapis contributed two episodes to the sci-fi series Eerie, Indiana.

In 2001, Ken Kwapis helped develop The Bernie Mac Show for Fox, directing the pilot and ten additional episodes, including the series finale, "Bernie's Angels".

Also for Fox, Ken Kwapis was one of the main creative forces behind Grounded for Life, a hybrid comedy combining single- and multi-camera techniques.

Ken Kwapis experimented with the form even further in the pilot of Watching Ellie, Julia Louis-Dreyfus' follow-up to Seinfeld.

In 2005, Ken Kwapis was instrumental in adapting the BBC mockumentary The Office for American television under the same title, for NBC.

Ken Kwapis went on to direct 13 additional episodes, including the 100th episode of the series, "Company Picnic", and the series finale.

Ken Kwapis' follow-up was another look at romantic entanglements, He's Just Not That Into You.

Ken Kwapis launched his seventh series and directed his tenth feature film in 2010.

Ken Kwapis was the executive producer and director of the pilot of Outsourced, a half-hour comedy for NBC.

For Working Title Films, and Universal Pictures, Ken Kwapis directed the rescue adventure Big Miracle, starring Drew Barrymore and John Krasinski.

In 2013, nine years after bringing the pilot to US television, Ken Kwapis directed the series finale of The Office.

Ken Kwapis produced the half-hour Showtime pilot Happyish, written by Shalom Auslander and starring Philip Seymour Hoffman.

In 2014, Ken Kwapis directed the feature film A Walk in the Woods, based on the bestselling travel memoir by Bill Bryson.

Ken Kwapis was a guest on the July 15,2020 episode of the podcast Office Ladies, hosted by The Office stars Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey, to discuss his work on The Office and, specifically, the season two finale, "Casino Night", which he directed.

Ken Kwapis was largely responsible for directing the original run of the series.