Daniel Kwan () and Daniel Scheinert, known collectively as Daniels, are American film directors and screenwriters. They began their career as directors of music videos, including the popular

DJ Snake William Sami Étienne Grigahcine (born 13 June 1986), known by his stage name DJ Snake, is an Algerian French music producer and DJ, first achieving international recognition in 2013 by releasing an instrumentation-oriented single called "Turn Do ...

Lil Jon Jonathan H. Smith (born January 17, 1971) better known by his stage name Lil Jon, is an American rapper, producer and former frontman of the rap group Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz. He was instrumental in the emergence of the hip hop subgenre cru ...

music video for the single "

Turn Down for What "Turn Down for What" is a song by French DJ and record producer DJ Snake and American rapper Lil Jon released on December 18, 2013. The song and its viral music video popularized the use of the phrase. The song was particularly successful in Nort ...

" (2013). They have since ventured into film, having written and directed the

surreal Surreal may refer to: *Anything related to or characteristic of Surrealism, a movement in philosophy and art * "Surreal" (song), a 2000 song by Ayumi Hamasaki * ''Surreal'' (album), an album by Man Raze *Surreal humour, a common aspect of humor ...

comedy-drama ''

Swiss Army Man ''Swiss Army Man'' is a 2016 American absurdist black comedy film written and directed by Daniel Scheinert and Daniel Kwan (in their respective feature directorial debuts). The film stars Paul Dano, Daniel Radcliffe, and Mary Elizabeth Winste ...

'' (2016) and the science-fiction action comedy '' Everything Everywhere All at Once'' (2022). The latter became

A24 A24 is an American independent entertainment company that specializes in film and television production, as well as film distribution. It is based in New York City. A24 was founded in 2012 by Daniel Katz, David Fenkel and John Hodges. Pr ...

's highest-grossing film of all time.

Careers

Kwan and Scheinert met while they were both studying film at

Emerson College Emerson College is a private college with its main campus in Boston, Massachusetts. It also maintains campuses in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California and Well, Limburg, Netherlands ( Kasteel Well). Founded in 1880 by Charles Wesley Emerson as a ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

. They went to college with

Sunita Mani Sunita Mani (born December 13, 1986) is an American actress, dancer and comedian. She is best known for her television roles as Trenton in the USA Network drama ''Mr. Robot'' (2015–2017) and Arthie Premkumar in the Netflix comedy '' GLOW'' (2 ...

, who starred with Kwan in the music video for "

", which Daniels directed. Since 2011, the duo have directed music videos for artists including

Foster the People Foster the People is an American indie pop band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 2009. Its members are singer Mark Foster, guitarist Sean Cimino, and keyboardist Isom Innis. Foster founded the band in 2009 after spending several years in ...

The Shins The Shins is an American indie rock band formed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in 1996. The band is the project of singer-songwriter James Mercer, who has served as the band's sole constant member throughout numerous line-up changes. The band's cu ...

and

Tenacious D Tenacious D is an American comedy rock duo formed in Los Angeles, California in 1994. It was founded by actors Jack Black and Kyle Gass, who were members of The Actors' Gang theater company at the time. The duo's name is derived from "tenacio ...

. In 2018, Kwan co-founded the group We Direct Music Videos (W.D.M.V.), described as "a global community of music video directors who are committed to sustainable directorial labor practices". In 2016, the duo expanded to feature films, writing and directing ''

'', starring

Paul Dano Paul Franklin Dano (; born June 19, 1984) is an American actor. He began his career on Broadway before making his film debut in ''The Newcomers'' (2000). He won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Debut Performance for his role in '' L.I.E.' ...

and

Daniel Radcliffe Daniel Jacob Radcliffe (born 23 July 1989) is an English actor. He rose to fame at age twelve, when he began portraying Harry Potter in the film series of the same name; and has held various other film and theatre roles. Over his career, Rad ...

, which received positive reviews, as well as the duo winning the Directing Award at the

2016 Sundance Film Festival The 2016 Sundance Film Festival took place from January 21 to January 31, 2016. The first lineup of competition films was announced on December 2, 2015. The opening night film was ''Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You'', directed by Heidi Ew ...

. Daniels have since accumulated several television directing credits, including ''

Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens ''Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens'' (or simply ''Nora from Queens'') is an American comedy television series starring Awkwafina that first aired on January 20, 2020, on Comedy Central. The series was renewed for a second season before the series p ...

Legion Legion may refer to: Military * Roman legion, the basic military unit of the ancient Roman army * Spanish Legion, an elite military unit within the Spanish Army * Legion of the United States, a reorganization of the United States Army from 179 ...

'' (Kwan only) ''and

On Becoming a God in Central Florida ''On Becoming a God in Central Florida'' is an American dark comedy television series created by Robert Funke and Matt Lutsky that premiered on Showtime on August 25, 2019. The series stars Kirsten Dunst and is set in the early 1990s. In Septem ...

'' (Scheinert only). Daniels were attached as directors on a prospective TV adaption of ''

Cat's Cradle Cat's cradle is a game involving the creation of various string figures between the fingers, either individually or by passing a loop of string back and forth between two or more players. The true origin of the name is debated, though the fi ...

'' by

Kurt Vonnegut Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (November 11, 1922 – April 11, 2007) was an American writer known for his satirical and darkly humorous novels. In a career spanning over 50 years, he published fourteen novels, three short-story collections, five plays, and ...

, being developed by

Noah Hawley Noah ''Nukh''; am, ኖህ, ''Noḥ''; ar, نُوح '; grc, Νῶε ''Nôe'' () is the tenth and last of the pre-Flood patriarchs in the traditions of Abrahamic religions. His story appears in the Hebrew Bible (Book of Genesis, chapters 5– ...

, but the project was not picked up. The duo announced in 2017 they would write, direct and produce a sci-fi film, with their producing partner

Jonathan Wang Jonathan Wang (Chinese: 王慶 Pinyin: wáng qìng) is a Taiwanese-American film producer best known for '' Everything Everywhere All at Once'' (2022) and '' Swiss Army Man'' (2016). He is the long-time collaborator and producer of directing duo, ...

and the

Russo brothers Anthony Russo (born February 3, 1970) and Joseph Russo (born July 18, 1971), collectively known as the Russo brothers (), are American directors, producers, and screenwriters. They direct most of their work together. They are best known for dir ...

. '' Everything Everywhere All at Once,'' starring

Michelle Yeoh Michelle Yeoh Choo Kheng, ( ; born 6 August 1962) is a Malaysian actress. Credited as Michelle Khan in her early Hong Kong films, she rose to fame in the 1990s after starring in a series of Hong Kong action films where she performed her own ...

Stephanie Hsu Stephanie Ann Hsu (born November 25, 1990) is an American actress. She originated the theatrical roles of Christine Canigula in '' Be More Chill'' and Karen the Computer in '' The SpongeBob Musical'', performing in the Broadway runs of both. On ...

Ke Huy Quan Ke Huy Quan (born August 20, 1971), also known as Jonathan Ke Quan (), is a Vietnam-born American actor and stunt choreographer. Quan played Short Round in '' Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom'' (1984) and Data in '' The Goonies'' (1985)'' ...

, James Hong and

Jamie Lee Curtis Jamie Lee Curtis (born November 22, 1958) is an American actress, producer, children's author, and activist. She came to prominence with her portrayal of Lt. Barbara Duran on the ABC sitcom '' Operation Petticoat'' (1977–78). In 1978, she m ...

, was released in March 2022 to widespread critical acclaim. As of 2022, Daniels have signed a first look TV deal with

. The same year, they also signed a five-year film deal with

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

. Daniels were on the ''Time'' 100 Next list in 2022.

Personal lives

Kwan was born in

Westborough, Massachusetts Westborough is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 21,567 at the 2020 Census, in over 7,000 households. Incorporated in 1717, the town is governed under the New England open town meeting system, headed ...

. He is married to fellow filmmaker and animator

Kirsten Lepore Kirsten Lepore is an American animator, best known for her stop motion short films like "Sweet Dreams", "Bottle", and "Move Mountain". From 2014 to 2015, she worked on an episode of the American cartoon series ''Adventure Time'' entitled "Bad Jub ...

. Scheinert was born and raised in

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...

, the son of Becky and Ken Scheinert. He attended Oak Mountain Elementary and Middle School, and was a student in the

International Baccalaureate program The International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) is a two-year educational programme primarily aimed at 16-to-19-year-olds in 140 countries around the world. The programme provides an internationally accepted qualification for entry into ...

Shades Valley High School Shades Valley High School (SVHS) is a four-year public secondary school in the Birmingham, Alabama suburb of Irondale. The school was established in 1948 near Homewood and moved to its present location in 1996. SVHS is the largest of 14 high sc ...

Filmography

Short films

Scheinert only

Feature films

Scheinert only

Television

Kwan only Scheinert only

Music videos

Accolades

References

External links

* * *
Daniels articles at Prettybird
{{DEFAULTSORT:Daniels Screenwriting duos Filmmaking duos