British–American filmmaker (born 1976)
Gil Kenan (born October 16, 1976)[ 1] is a British–American filmmaker. He is best known for directing the films Monster House (2006) and Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024), with the former nominated him for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature . He has also collaborating with director Jason Reitman for co-writing Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021) and Saturday Night (2024).
Early life
Kenan was born in London to a Jewish family.[ 2] [ 3] When Kenan was three, his family immigrated to Tel Aviv, Israel .[ 2] [ 3] He has one brother.[ 4] At age eight, Kenan and his family once again moved to Reseda, Los Angeles .[ 1]
Kenan studied at the film division of the University of California, Los Angeles where he received a Master of Fine Arts degree in animation in 2002.[ 5] [ 6] For his graduate thesis, he created a 10-minute stop-motion /live-action short film , The Lark .[ 5] [ 7]
Career
The first public screening of The Lark caught the attention of Jordan Bealmear, who was an assistant at Creative Artists Agency .[ 8] The agency sent hundreds of copies of Kenan's short in order to interest parties in the film industry and after a few months of interviews,[ 8] Robert Zemeckis offered Kenan the director's chair for his first feature, Monster House (2006).[ 8] Executive produced by Zemeckis and Steven Spielberg ,[ 8] it was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature , losing to Happy Feet .[ 9]
Kenan followed Monster House with City of Ember , a post-apocalyptic science fiction adventure film based on Jeanne Duprau 's 2003 novel of the same name .[ 10] Produced by Tom Hanks ,[ 10] it was released in October 2008 to mixed reviews and poor box office results.[ 11] [ 12] Kenan's next film, Poltergeist , a remake of the 1982 Tobe Hooper film of the same name , was released in May 2015. In July of that same year, Kenan signed on to direct and co-write a film adaptation of the popular video game series Five Nights at Freddy's by Scott Cawthon ,[ 13] but later withdrew from the project. Kenan also co-wrote and directed the Christmas fantasy film A Boy Called Christmas , and was released on Netflix in 2021. In 2019, Kenan co-wrote a script along with Jason Reitman for Ghostbusters: Afterlife , which is a direct sequel to Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters II , was released in 2021.[ 14] After the film's success, he and Reitman signed an overall deal with Sony Pictures Entertainment to develop more projects.[ 15] He was later chosen to direct the 2024 film Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire , a sequel to Ghostbusters: Afterlife , replacing Reitman, who instead became a producer and was a co-writer of the film with Kenan.[ 16] [ 17]
Influences
Kenan has cited David Lynch , Richard Elfman , Lotte Reiniger , Zbigniew Rybczyński , and Alfred Hitchcock as influences; he once met with Elfman. Among his favorite movies and short films, Kenan has listed Eraserhead , Forbidden Zone and Tango , as all three influenced Kenan's short The Lark . He first became aware of a director's own style while watching Terry Gilliam 's Time Bandits and appreciated Gilliam's point of view as well as that of Steven Spielberg in his 1980s films, leading him to respect a film's craft and storytelling.[ 4]
Personal life
In 2005, Kenan married Eliza Chaikin, who was an art director on City of Ember .[ 1] [ 6]
Filmography
Short film
Year
Title
Director
Writer
2002
The Lark
Yes
Yes
Feature film
Television
Awards and nominations
References
^ a b c d e Daly, Steve (July 26, 2006). "House Beautiful" . Entertainment Weekly . Archived from the original on February 1, 2014. Retrieved January 23, 2014 .
^ a b "Scary 'Monster House' comes direct from the basement" . Jewish Journal . February 23, 2007.
^ a b Kaminer, Amir (August 9, 2006). "Israeli producer in US tunes in to voices from home" . Ynetnews – via www.ynetnews.com.
^ a b Awalt, Steven (September 27, 2021). "Into the 'Monster House' " . Amblin Entertainment . Retrieved September 27, 2021 .
^ a b Furniss, Maureen (November 27, 2002). "Fresh from the Festivals: November 2002's Film Reviews" . Animation World Network . Retrieved January 23, 2014 .
^ a b Burke, Anne (July 14, 2006). "Monster Man" . UCLA Magazine . Retrieved January 23, 2014 .
^ Pfefferman, Naomi (February 22, 2007). "Scary 'Monster House' comes direct from the basement" . Jewish Journal . Retrieved January 23, 2014 .
^ a b c d Murray, Chris (August 7, 2006). "Gil Kenan: on Monster House, Robert Zemeckis & His Big Break" . PopcornTaxi . Archived from the original on February 8, 2014. Retrieved January 23, 2014 .
^ a b Baisley, Sarah (January 23, 2007). "Cars, Happy Feet and Monster House Vie for Best Animated Oscar" . Animation World Network . Retrieved January 23, 2014 .
^ a b Wolff, Ellen (October 10, 2008). "Director Kenan Shines a Light on 'City of Ember' " . Animation World Network . Retrieved January 23, 2014 .
^ "City of Ember (2008)" . Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved January 23, 2014 .
^ "City of Ember (2008)" . Box Office Mojo. Retrieved January 23, 2014 .
^ "Five Nights at Freddy's" . Deadline. July 28, 2015. Retrieved January 4, 2018 .
^ Hipes, Patrick (January 25, 2019). " 'Morbius' & 'Ghostbusters' Solidify Summer 2020 Release Dates" . Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved January 25, 2019 .
^ Vlessing, Etan (November 29, 2021). "Jason Reitman, Gil Kenan Ink Sony Pictures Overall Deal" . The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved November 30, 2021 .
^ Kroll, Justin (December 5, 2022). " 'Ghostbusters: Afterlife' Sequel Taps Gil Kenan To Direct With Previous Cast Returning" . Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved December 6, 2022 .
^ Lopez, Kristen (July 28, 2023). "Sony Pushes 'Ghostbusters: Afterlife' Sequel to Easter 2024" . TheWrap . Retrieved July 28, 2023 .
^ Encinias, Joshua (March 26, 2024). "Watch: 'Ghostbusters' puts Coney Island on ice" . Brooklyn Magazine . Archived from the original on July 18, 2024. Retrieved July 21, 2024 .
External links
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