Etan Cohen (; born March 14, 1974) is an
Israeli-American screenwriter and film director who has written scripts for Hollywood movies, including ''
Idiocracy'' (2006), ''
Tropic Thunder'' (2008), ''
Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa'' (2008), ''
Men in Black 3'' (2012), and ''
The Bad Guys'' (2022).
Early life and education
Born in Israel to a
Jewish
Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
family, Cohen grew up in
Sharon, Massachusetts. He graduated from the
Maimonides School and
Harvard College
Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...
, where he wrote for the ''
Harvard Lampoon''.
Career
His first produced scripts, in 1995 and 1997, were for ''
Beavis and Butthead'', where he was credited as Etan Cohen. He has since written for other
Mike Judge
Michael Craig Judge (born October 17, 1962) is an American actor, animator, writer, producer, and director. He is best known for being the creator of the animated television series ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' (1993–1997, 2011, 2022–present). He ...
-directed projects, including ''
King of the Hill
''King of the Hill'' is an American animated sitcom created by Mike Judge and Greg Daniels that initially aired on Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox from January 12, 1997, to September 13, 2009, with four more episodes airing in First-run syndicati ...
'' from 2001 to 2005, and for the feature film ''
Idiocracy'' in 2006. In the late 1990s he worked on two other television series – the animated ''
Recess'' and the short lived ''
It's Like, You Know...''. In 2007, he wrote the short film ‘My Wife is Retarded,’. After scripting ''Idiocracy'', he worked on the animated series, ''
American Dad!
''American Dad!'' is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane, Mike Barker (producer), Mike Barker and Matt Weitzman for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series premiered on February 6, 2005, following Super Bowl XXXIX, with the r ...
'' and wrote the episode, "
Failure Is Not a Factory-Installed Option". The ''American Dad!'' minor character of the same name is named for him.
In 2008, Cohen co-wrote, along with
Ben Stiller and
Justin Theroux, the action-comedy film ''
Tropic Thunder''. He also co-wrote, along with
Eric Darnell
Eric Darnell (born August 21, 1961) is an American animator, storyboard artist, film director, director, screenwriter, songwriter and occasional voice acting, voice actor best known for co-directing ''Antz'' with Tim Johnson (film director), Tim ...
and
Tom McGrath, ''
Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa'', which earned an
Annie Award
The Annie Awards are accolades which the Los Angeles branch of the International Animated Film Association, ASIFA-Hollywood, has presented each year since 1972 to recognize excellence in animation shown in American cinema and television. Origina ...
nomination for best
Writing in a Feature Production.
Cohen penned the script for 2012's ''
Men in Black 3''. In 2015, he made his directorial debut with ''
Get Hard'', which he also co-wrote.
Cohen wrote and directed the 2018 film ''
Holmes & Watson''. The film was a critical and commercial flop and later earned him a
Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Director
The Razzie Award for Worst Director is an award presented at the annual Golden Raspberry Awards to the worst director of the previous year. The following is a list of nominees and recipients of that award, along with the film(s) for which they we ...
.
Personal life
Cohen is an observant Jew.
He keeps kosher and does not work on the Jewish Sabbath. He and his wife send their children to a Jewish day school.
Filmography
Films
Television
Awards and nominations
References
External links
*
*https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/etan_cohen
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cohen, Etan
American male screenwriters
American comedy film directors
Living people
Israeli emigrants to the United States
Israeli Jews
Jewish American screenwriters
Mass media people from Jerusalem
1974 births
DreamWorks Animation people
Maimonides School alumni
The Harvard Lampoon alumni
Harvard College alumni
People from Sharon, Massachusetts
Film directors from Massachusetts
Screenwriters from Massachusetts