American film director and screenwriter
Etan Cohen |
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| Born | (1974-03-14) March 14, 1974 (age 49)
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| Nationality | American |
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| Alma mater | Harvard College |
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| Occupation(s) | Film director, screenwriter |
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| Years active | 1995–present |
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Etan Cohen (Hebrew: איתן כהן; born March 14, 1974) is an Israeli-American screenwriter and film director who has written scripts for Hollywood movies, including Idiocracy, Tropic Thunder, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, Men in Black 3, and The Bad Guys.
Early life and education
Born in Israel to a Jewish family, Cohen grew up in Sharon, Massachusetts. He graduated from the Maimonides School and Harvard College, where he wrote for the Harvard Lampoon.[1][2]
Career
His first produced scripts, in 1995 and 1997, were for Beavis and Butthead, where he was credited as Ethan Cohen.[citation needed] He has since written for other Mike Judge-directed projects, including King of the Hill 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,’.[3] After scripting Idiocracy, he worked on the animated series, American Dad! 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 wrote Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, which earned an Annie Award 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 earned him a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Director.[4]
Personal life
Cohen is an observant Jew.[5] He keeps kosher and does not work on the Jewish Sabbath and he and his wife send their children to a Jewish day school.[5]
