HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

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