Ken Kwapis is a renowned director of motion pictures and television, boasting an impressive portfolio of eleven feature films and nine television series. His filmography includes a wide range of genres and styles, from the comedic memoir-based A Walk In The Woods to the romantic comedies License to Wed and He Said, She Said, co-directed with Marisa Silver. Other notable films include the rescue adventure Big Miracle and the young adult novel-adapted The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, which was his feature debut, starring Jim Henson's Muppets in Sesame Street Presents: Follow That Bird.
In television, Kwapis played a pivotal role in launching several groundbreaking series, including the Emmy Award-winning HBO comedy The Larry Sanders Show, Fox's The Bernie Mac Show, and NBC's The Office. He directed the pilot and series finale of The Office, as well as numerous memorable episodes, such as "Casino Night," "Booze Cruise," and "Diversity Day." His work on The Office earned him an Emmy nomination for directing the episode "Gay Witch Hunt."
Kwapis also earned an Emmy nomination for his work as a producer-director on Fox's Malcolm In The Middle. Additionally, he helped launch several other series, including NBC's Outsourced, Showtime's Happyish, and Netflix's #blackAF. His extensive television directing credits include episodes of Freaks and Geeks, One Mississippi, and Santa Clarita Diet.
Before entering the industry, Kwapis honed his filmmaking skills at Northwestern University and the University of Southern California. His USC thesis film, "For Heaven's Sake," won the Student Academy Award in Dramatic Achievement, an adaptation of Mozart's one-act comic opera Der Schauspieldirektor ("The Impresario").
