Daniel Kwan (born February 10, 1988) and Daniel Scheinert (born June 7, 1987), known collectively as the Daniels, are an American filmmaking duo. They began their career as directors of music videos, including ones for "

Houdini Harry Houdini (, born Erik Weisz; March 24, 1874 – October 31, 1926) was a Hungarian-American escape artist, magic man, and stunt performer, noted for his escape acts. His pseudonym is a reference to his spiritual master, French magician ...

" (2012) by

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 ...

and "

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) by

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 D ...

and Lil Jon, both of which earned them nominations at the

Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

. They have since ventured into film, having written and directed the absurdist comedy-dramas ''

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 ''

Everything Everywhere All at Once ''Everything Everywhere All at Once'' is a 2022 American absurdist comedy-drama film written and directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (collectively known as "Daniels"), who produced it with Anthony and Joe Russo. The plot centers on a ...

'' (2022). The latter became the independent production company A24's highest-grossing release, and won the duo many awards, including Academy Awards for Best Picture,

Best Director Best Director is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards. It may refer to: Film awards * AACTA Award for Best Direction * Academy Award for Best Director * BA ...

, and Best Original Screenplay.

Careers

Music videos

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 ...

in Boston. Kwan graduated in 2010 and Scheinert graduated in 2009. They went to college with Sunita Mani, who starred with Kwan in the music video for "

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

, The Shins 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".

Transition to film and television

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, 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 ...

. In 2019, Scheinert directed the black comedy-

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

The Death of Dick Long ''The Death of Dick Long'' is a 2019 black comedy-drama film directed and produced by Daniel Scheinert and written by Billy Chew. The film stars Michael Abbott Jr., Virginia Newcomb, Andre Hyland, Sarah Baker, Jess Weixler, Roy Wood Jr., and S ...

'', which premiered at the

2019 Sundance Film Festival The 2019 Sundance Film Festival took place from January 24 to February 3, 2019. The first lineup of competition films was announced on November 28, 2018. Films U.S. Dramatic Competition * '' Before You Know It'' by Hannah Pearl Utt * ''B ...

and received positive reviews. The Daniels have since accumulated several television directing credits, including '' Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens, Legion'' (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 (TV network), Showtime on August 25, 2019. The series stars Kirsten Dunst and is set in the e ...

'' (Scheinert only). The duo were attached as directors on a prospective TV adaption of '' Cat's Cradle'' by Kurt Vonnegut, 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.

''Everything Everywhere All at Once''

The Daniels announced in 2017 they would write, direct, and produce a science-fiction 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, Da ...

and the Russo brothers. ''

,'' starring Michelle Yeoh, Stephanie Hsu,

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 James Hong (; born February 22, 1929) is an American actor, producer and director. He has worked in numerous productions in American media since the 1950s, portraying a variety of roles. With more than 650 film and television credits as of 20 ...

and Jamie Lee Curtis, was released in March 2022 to widespread critical acclaim and box office success, garnering several awards and accolades for the duo including Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Director at the 95th Academy Awards. The film received 11 Academy Award nominations, more than any other film that year, and won seven. Prior to the Oscars ceremony, ''

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

'' calculated that ''Everything Everywhere All at Once'' had surpassed '' The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King'' (2003) as the most awarded film of all time.

Upcoming projects

, the Daniels have signed a first look TV deal with A24. 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 ...

. The duo were on the ''Time'' 100 Next list in 2022. In March 2023, it was revealed that the Daniels had directed one episode of '' Star Wars: Skeleton Crew'' (2024). In February 2024, it was revealed that the Daniels' next feature film would be released on June 12, 2026.

Personal lives

Kwan was born in Westborough, Massachusetts, to a

Taiwanese Taiwanese may refer to: * Taiwanese language, another name for Taiwanese Hokkien * Something from or related to Taiwan ( Formosa) * Taiwanese aborigines, the indigenous people of Taiwan * Han Taiwanese, the Han people of Taiwan * Taiwanese people, ...

mother and a father from

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

. He has been 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 ...

since 2016, and together they have one son. Kwan was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder after researching the condition for ''Everything Everywhere All At Once''. Scheinert was born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama, the son of Becky and Ken Scheinert. He attended Oak Mountain Elementary and Middle School, and was a student at the advanced magnet program

Jefferson County International Baccalaureate School Jefferson County International Baccalaureate School (JCIB) is a public International Baccalaureate school located on the campus of Shades Valley High School in Irondale, Alabama. The school enrolls 372 students in grades 9- 12 and is a part of t ...

at the campus of

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 sch ...

Filmography

Short film

Scheinert only

Feature film

Scheinert only

Television

Kwan only Scheinert only

Music videos

Accolades

References

External links

* * *
Edgar Wright's interview with Daniels
on BFI {{DEFAULTSORT:Daniels Living people 1987 births 1988 births American male screenwriters Best Directing Academy Award winners Best Original Screenplay Academy Award winners Directors Guild of America Award winners Emerson College alumni Film directors from Alabama Film directors from Massachusetts Film producers from Alabama Film producers from Massachusetts Filmmaking duos Filmmakers from Alabama Filmmakers from Massachusetts Hugo Award-winning writers MTV Video Music Award winners Nebula Award winners People from Birmingham, Alabama Postmodernist filmmakers Mass media people from Boston People from Westborough, Massachusetts Producers who won the Best Picture Academy Award Pseudonymous artists Screenwriting duos Sundance Film Festival award winners Writers Guild of America Award winners Directors of Best Picture Academy Award winners