John Requa (born January 1, 1967) is an American screenwriter (with

Glenn Ficarra Glenn Ficarra (born May 27, 1969) is an American filmmaker and actor. He frequently collaborated with John Requa. Life and career Ficarra met John Requa at Pratt Institute, where both were studying film. After college they went to work in ani ...

) of ''

Cats & Dogs ''Cats & Dogs'' is a 2001 spy-comedy film directed by Lawrence Guterman and written by John Requa and Glenn Ficarra. It stars Jeff Goldblum, Elizabeth Perkins and Alexander Pollock, with the voices of (among others) Tobey Maguire, Alec Bal ...

'', ''

Bad Santa ''Bad Santa'' is a 2003 American Christmas black comedy film directed by Terry Zwigoff and written by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa. It stars Billy Bob Thornton, with a supporting cast of Tony Cox, Lauren Graham, Brett Kelly, Lauren Tom, Joh ...

'' and the 2005 remake ''

Bad News Bears ''Bad News Bears'' is a 2005 American sports comedy film directed by Richard Linklater, written by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa and starring Billy Bob Thornton, Greg Kinnear, Marcia Gay Harden, Sammi Kane Kraft and Jeffrey Tedmori. It is a rema ...

''. The DVD commentary for ''

'' revealed that Requa was to have had a bit role in the film, but it was not shot. Requa and Ficarra directed Jim Carrey and

Ewan McGregor Ewan Gordon McGregor ( ; born 31 March 1971) is a Scottish actor. His accolades include a Golden Globe Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and the BAFTA Britannia Humanitarian Award. In 2013, he was appointed Officer of the Order of the British ...

in their screenplay ''

I Love You Phillip Morris ''I Love You Phillip Morris'' is a 2009 English-language French black comedy film based on a 1980s and 1990s real-life story of con artist, impostor and multiple prison escapee Steven Jay Russell, as played by Jim Carrey. While incarcerated, Russ ...

''. For their writing on this film, Requa and Ficarra received a nomination for the

Writers Guild of America Award for Best Adapted Screenplay The Writers Guild of America Award for Best Adapted Screenplay is one of the three screenwriting Writers Guild of America Awards, focused specifically for film. The Writers Guild of America began making the distinction between an original screenpl ...

Early life

Requa grew up in

Burien, Washington Burien ( ) is a suburban city in King County, Washington, United States, located south of Seattle on Puget Sound. As of the 2020 census, Burien's population was 52,066, which is a 56.3% increase since incorporation in 1993. An annexation in 2010 ...

, a suburb of Seattle, graduating from Burien's

Highline High School Highline High School is a public high school in Burien, Washington, United States, located about 3.5 miles from Seattle–Tacoma International Airport. Highline High School, the flagship high school of the Highline Public Schools district, opene ...

in 1985. His talents as a writer were evident when he wrote and performed in a skit for his senior year Homecoming assembly titled "Fernbusters." It was a morphing of ''

Ghostbusters ''Ghostbusters'' is a 1984 American supernatural comedy film directed and produced by Ivan Reitman, and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. It stars Bill Murray, Aykroyd, and Ramis as Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz, and Egon Spengler, thr ...

'' and the Christmas Trees sketch from ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock (streaming service), Peacock. ...

''. In it, Requa played the killer fern. For another assembly later that year he wrote a skit about an almighty creator named Sven. Requa attended Highline at the same time as Dana Newton, who became a senior producer on ''

The Oprah Winfrey Show ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', often referred to as ''The Oprah Show'' or simply ''Oprah'', is an American daytime syndicated talk show that aired nationally for 25 seasons from September 8, 1986, to May 25, 2011, in Chicago, Illinois. Produced ...

'', Randy Dixon who is an internationally known improv artist who heads

Unexpected Productions Unexpected Productions (UP) is an improvisational comedy company in Seattle, Washington, USA. From their home at the Market Theater in Seattle's historic Pike Place Market, in Post Alley, Unexpected Productions produces year-round shows, teaches im ...

in Seattle, and Mike Starr who was the original Bassist for

Alice in Chains Alice in Chains (often abbreviated as AIC) is an American rock band from Seattle, Washington, formed in 1987 by guitarist and vocalist Jerry Cantrell and drummer Sean Kinney, who later recruited bassist Mike Starr and lead vocalist Layne ...

and seen on season three of ''

Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew ''Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew'', later called simply ''Rehab with Dr. Drew'', is a reality television show that aired on the cable network VH1 in which many of the episodes chronicle a group of well-known people as they are treated for alco ...

''. Requa graduated from the film program at the Pratt Institute in the early 90s. While there he met and began his long association with writing partner Glenn Ficarra.

Professional career

As best as is known, all of John Requa's professional work has been in association with his writing partner Glenn Ficarra. Requa and Ficarra wrote numerous episodes of ''

The Angry Beavers ''The Angry Beavers'' is an American animated television series created by Mitch Schauer for Nickelodeon. The series revolves around Norbert and Daggett Beaver, two young beaver brothers who have moved out of their parents' home to become bache ...

'', an animated series on

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Group. It ...

from 1997 until 2001. Their first episode was season two's ''Kandid Kreatures'' which they followed with ''Dag for Night'', ''Un-Barry-ble'', ''Zooing Time'', ''Sans-a-Pelt'' and ''Gonna Getcha''. They went on to write eleven more episodes over the remaining three seasons of the show. The pair directed ''

Focus Focus, or its plural form foci may refer to: Arts * Focus or Focus Festival, former name of the Adelaide Fringe arts festival in South Australia Film *''Focus'', a 1962 TV film starring James Whitmore * ''Focus'' (2001 film), a 2001 film based ...

'', starring

Will Smith Willard Carroll Smith II (born September 25, 1968), also known by his stage name The Fresh Prince, is an American actor and rapper. He began his acting career starring as a fictionalized version of himself on the NBC sitcom '' The Fresh ...

and

Margot Robbie Margot Elise Robbie (; born 2 July 1990) is an Australian actress and producer. Known for her work in both blockbuster and independent films, she has received several accolades, including nominations for two Academy Awards, four Golden Glob ...

, and '' Whiskey Tango Foxtrot'', starring

Tina Fey Elizabeth Stamatina "Tina" Fey (; born May 18, 1970) is an American actress, comedian, writer, producer, and playwright. She is best known for her work on the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' (1997–2006) and for creating the ...

and Robbie. More recently, his Zaftig company signed a deal with

Fox Entertainment Fox Entertainment is an American production company owned by Fox Corporation. The company was formed in 2019 after The Walt Disney Company's acquisition of 21st Century Fox. The programming is created for the Fox Broadcasting Company, MyNetwork ...

Filmography

Film

Executive producer * ''

Storks Storks are large, long-legged, long-necked wading birds with long, stout bills. They belong to the family called Ciconiidae, and make up the order Ciconiiformes . Ciconiiformes previously included a number of other families, such as herons an ...

'' (2016) * ''

DC League of Super-Pets ''DC League of Super-Pets'' is a 2022 American 3D computer-animated superhero comedy film based on the DC Comics superhero team Legion of Super-Pets. Produced by Warner Animation Group and DC Entertainment and distributed by Warner Bros. ...

'' (2022)

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Requa, John 1967 births Living people American male screenwriters Pratt Institute alumni People from Burien, Washington Film directors from Washington (state) Screenwriters from Washington (state) Highline High School alumni