Ken Kristensen is an American screenwriter, television writer, and comic book author. Kristensen has served as writer-producer on multiple series including '' Shantaram'' (Apple TV+/Paramount), '' The Continental: From the World of John Wick'' (Peacock/Lionsgate TV), ''

Echo In audio signal processing and acoustics, an echo is a reflection of sound that arrives at the listener with a delay after the direct sound. The delay is directly proportional to the distance of the reflecting surface from the source and the lis ...

'' (Disney+/Marvel), ''Spidey and his Amazing Friends'' (Disney Junior/Marvel), ''

The Punisher The Punisher (Francis "Frank" Castle, born Castiglione) is an antihero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Gerry Conway and artists John Romita Sr. and Ross Andru. The Punisher mad ...

'' (Netflix/Marvel) and '' Happy!'' (SyFy), and authored comic book series published by

Image Comics Image Comics is an independent American American comic book, comic book publisher and is the third largest direct market comic book and graphic novel publisher in the industry by market share. Its best-known publications include ''Spawn (comics) ...

IDW Publishing IDW Publishing is an American publisher of comic books, graphic novels, art books, and comic strip collections. It was founded in 1999 as the publishing division of Idea and Design Works, LLC (IDW) and is recognized as the fifth-largest comic ...

, and

Dark Horse Comics Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book, graphic novel, manga and Artist's book, art book publisher founded in Milwaukie, Oregon, by Mike Richardson in 1986. The company was created using funds earned from Richardson's chain of Portland, O ...

. His television pilots have been developed at UCP,

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

, FX, A&E,

Paramount Network Paramount Network is an American basic cable television channel and the flagship property of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global, who operates it through the MTV Entertainment Group. The network's headquarters are located a ...

, and Pivot TV. Kristensen is also a member of the

Writers Guild of America West The Writers Guild of America West (WGAW) is a labor union representing film, television, radio, and new media writers. It was formed in 1954 from five organizations representing writers, including the Screen Writers Guild. It has around 20,000 me ...

Producers Guild of America The Producers Guild of America (PGA) is a 501(c)(6) trade association representing the interests Television producer, television producers, Film producer, film producers and emerging media producers in the United States. The PGA's membership inclu ...

, The Animation Guild, and the

Academy of Television Arts & Sciences The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), also colloquially known as the Television Academy, is a professional honorary organization dedicated to the advancement of the Television in the United States, television industry in the United S ...

Career

Ken Kristensen received an MFA from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

Film School. While still in film school he was selected to both the Sundance and IFP labs, and worked as an associate producer under

Gary Winick Gary Scott Winick (March 31, 1961February 27, 2011) was an American filmmaker whose films as a director include ''Tadpole'' (2002) and ''13 Going on 30'' (2004), and who also produced such films as ''Pieces of April'' (2003) and ''November'' (2 ...

(''Charlotte's Web'') and

Mark Waters Mark Stephen Waters (born June 30, 1964) is an American director. Early life Waters was raised in South Bend, Indiana. He studied at the University of Pennsylvania in theatre arts before studying at the American Film Institute. When studying a ...

(''Mean Girls''). After graduating, Ken won the Academy Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting, and was a finalist for the Disney Feature Fellowship. He was hired by

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...

winner

Michael Chabon Michael Chabon ( ; born May 24, 1963) is an American novelist, screenwriter, columnist, and short story writer. Born in Washington, D.C., he spent a year studying at Carnegie Mellon University before transferring to the University of Pittsburgh, ...

to write for '' The Amazing Adventures of The Escapist'' (a

graphic novel A graphic novel is a self-contained, book-length form of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and Anthology, anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comics sc ...

spinoff of Chabon's ''The Adventures of Kavalier and Clay''), and released by

. Ken co-created the critical and commercial hit '' Todd, The Ugliest Kid on Earth'' — an

(''The Walking Dead'') series with his longtime creative partner, Eisner-nominated comic book artist M.K. Perker. In 2016, FX purchased the series and commissioned Kristensen to write the pilot. Several other

series are currently in development. In 2014 Ken was hired to write ''Indestructible'', a monthly super-hero comic book series created by

Jeff Kline Jeff Kline is an American film and television writer-producer and former television executive. He has been involved in more than 40 animated and live-action series and pilots, and he has received multiple Emmy nominations and wins. Early lif ...

(''Transformers Prime'') and published by IDW/

Darby Pop Publishing Darby Pop Publishing is an American comic book publishing company founded in 2013 by film writer and producer Jeff Kline. It has published sixteen original series and over one hundred issues/trade paperbacks (TPs) to date. Creators have included ...

. In 2015 Kristensen co-wrote and produced the short film Ronnie BoDean with director Steve Judd, starring Wes Studi. Marvel's ''The Punisher''—a Netflix TV series created by

Steve Lightfoot Steve Lightfoot (sometimes credited as Steven Lightfoot or Robert Scott Fraser) is a British television writer and producer who worked as an executive producer and writer on the NBC thriller television series ''Hannibal'', the Netflix series '' ...

, starring

Jon Bernthal Jonathan Edward Bernthal (; born September 20, 1976) is an American actor. He came to prominence for portraying Shane Walsh on the AMC horror drama series '' The Walking Dead'' (2010–2012; 2018), where he was a starring cast member in the f ...

, based on the comic book, began production in 2016 with Kristensen on board as a writer. The show debuted in 2017 to critical and commercial acclaim. Kristensen wrote on season two, which debuted in January 2019. Kristensen wrote ''Fairy Godbrothers'', a hard cover graphic novel illustrated by M.K. Perker and published by Adaptive Books, August 2017. In 2018 Scout Comics published Kristensen's comic book series ''Oblivion'', a post-apocalyptic comic book series, with art by Francesco Gaston. In 2017 Kristensen joined the writing staff of Happy! —a SyFy TV series, starring

Christopher Meloni Christopher Peter Meloni (; born April 2, 1961) is an American actor. He is known for portraying NYPD Detective Elliot Stabler on the NBC legal drama series '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'' (1999–2011, 2021–present) and its spin-off '' ...

, based on the comic book published by Image Comics, and created by

Grant Morrison Grant Morrison (born 31 January 1960) is a Scottish comic book writer, screenwriter, and producer. Their work is known for its nonlinear narratives, Humanism, humanist philosophy and counterculture, countercultural leanings. Morrison has writt ...

and Brian Taylor, produced by

Original Film Original Film is an American film and television production company founded by Neal H. Moritz. Notable films the company has produced include the '' I Know What You Did Last Summer'', '' Cruel Intentions'' and ''Fast & Furious'' franchises, the ...

and

Universal Cable Productions Universal Content Productions LLC (UCP) is an American television production company operating within the Universal Studio Group division of NBCUniversal, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Comcast. History Universal Cable Productions In July ...

. Season one premiered December 2017 to critical and commercial acclaim and was quickly granted a season two by the network. Kristensen was also on board as writer on season two, which debuted March 2019. In 2020 Kristensen was writer and Supervising Producer on the Apple TV+ series Shantaram, which premiered in October 2022. He served as Co-Executive Producer on season two, but the show was cancelled before that season was produced. In 2021/2022 Kristensen served as Co-Executive Producer and writer for the Peacock/Lionsgate ''

John Wick ''John Wick'' is an American media franchise created by Derek Kolstad. It centers on a neo-noir action thriller film series featuring titular character portrayed by Keanu Reeves. Wick is a legendary hitman who is reluctantly drawn back int ...

'' spinoff entitled '' The Continental: From the World of John Wick,'' release in 2023. Kristensen wrote and produced the acclaimed Marvel Studios/Disney+ series ''

'' released in 2024. In 2024

Screen Rant ''Screen Rant'' is an entertainment website that offers news in the fields of television, films, video games, and comic books. It is owned by Valnet, parent of publications including Comic Book Resources, Collider, MovieWeb and XDA Developers. ...

br>announced
that Kristensen was co-creating a TV and comic book series based on the adventures of journalists working for the legendary tabloid newspaper

Weekly World News The ''Weekly World News'' is a tabloid formerly published in a newspaper format reporting mostly fictional "news" stories in the United States from 1979 to 2007. The paper was renowned for its outlandish cover stories often based on supernatur ...

Bibliography

*Weekly World News (

Mad Cave Studios Mad Cave Studios (also known simply as Mad Cave) is an independent comic book publisher based out of Miami, Florida; it was established in 2014.

, slated for release in 2026) *Rant CPU (Scout Comics, slated for release in 2025) *Oblivion (Scout Comics, 2018–2019) *
Fairy Godbrothers
' (Adaptive Books, August 2017) *'' The Amazing Adventures of The Escapist'' (

, Spring 2018) *'' Todd, The Ugliest Kid on Earth'' #1–8 (

, January–December 2013) *''Indestructible'' #5–8 ( IDW, April–September 2014)

Filmography

Television

In addition to being a writer-producer on Shantaram (Apple TV+/Paramount), '' The Continental: From the World of John Wick'' (John Wick spinoff from Peacock/Lionsgate), ''

'' (Disney+/Marvel), Spidey and His Amazing Friends (Disney Jr/Marvel),

(Netflix/Marvel) and Happy! (SyFy), Ken served as Producer on four seasons of ''

Jail A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where people are imprisoned under the authority of the state, usually as punishment for various cr ...

'' (

Spike Spike, spikes, or spiking may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Books * ''The Spike'' (novel), a novel by Arnaud de Borchgrave * ''The Spike'' (Broderick book), a nonfiction book by Damien Broderick * ''The Spike'', a starship in Peter ...

), two seasons of '' Inside American Jail'' (

TruTV TruTV (stylized as truTV) is an American basic cable Television channel, channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The channel primarily broadcasts reruns of Television comedy, comedy, Reality television, docusoaps and reality shows, with a rec ...

), and the TV special ''Road Warriors'' (

). He has also written and produced pilots for HBO, FX, A&E, Discovery Channel, Paramount Network, and Pivot TV. * ''

'' (Season One, Episodes 1, 2, 3 and 4, 2024) * '' Shantaram'' (Season One, Episodes 5 and 12, 2022) * '' The Continental: From the World of John Wick'' (2023) * ''Spidey and His Amazing Friends'' (2021 TV series) *''

'' (

Season One Season One may refer to: Albums * ''Season One'' (Suburban Legends album), 2004 * ''Season One'' (All Sons & Daughters album), 2012 * ''Season One'' (Saukrates album), 2012 See also * * * Season 2 (disambiguation) Season 2 may refer to: ...

Episode 10 Episode Ten, Episode 10 or Episode X may refer to: Television episodes * Episode 10 (All of Us Are Dead), "Episode 10" (''All of Us Are Dead'') * Episode 10 (Diyar-e-Dil), "Episode 10" (''Diyar-e-Dil'') * Episode 10 (Mindhunter season 1), "Epi ...

, 2017; Season Two, Episodes 3 and 9, 2019) *'' Happy!'' (

, Episode 6, 2018; Season Two, Episode 4, 2019) *
Futurestates
' (2012) **3.06 - ''The Sixth World'' *''

'' (2011) *'' Inside American Jail'' (2007)

Film

Ronnie BoDean
(2015)
The Factory
(2014) *
The Raft
' (2014) *''Road Warriors'' (2011) *''Lunar Landing'' (2008) *''

Deadline Deadline(s) or The Deadline(s) may refer to: * Time limit, a narrow field of time by which an objective must be accomplished Arts, entertainment, and media Comics * Deadline (DC Comics), a fictional villain * ''Deadline'' (magazine), a Britis ...

'' (2008) *''Dead Man's Morphine'' (2006) *''Still Center'' (2005) *''

Sorry, Haters ''Sorry, Haters'' is a 2005 drama film written and directed by Jeff Stanzler, starring Robin Wright, Abdellatif Kechiche, Élodie Bouchez and Sandra Oh. Distributed by IFC Films, the film premiered at the 2005 Toronto International Film Festiva ...

'' (2005) *''The Disappearance of Andy Waxman'' (2004)

Writer

*''Lunar Landing'' (2008) *''La Muerte Es Pequena'' (2005)

Director

*''Lunar Landing'' (2008) *''No Apologies: 'Sorry, Haters' Roundtable'' (2006)

Notes/References

External links

*' *
Official website
' *https://writers.wga.org/kenkristensen {{DEFAULTSORT:Kristensen, Ken Living people American male screenwriters American television writers American male television writers American comics writers Columbia University School of the Arts alumni American television producers Year of birth missing (living people)