Ken Kristensen is a screenwriter, TV writer, and comic book author. Kristensen has served as writer-producer on multiple series including '' Shantaram'' (Apple TV+/Paramount), '' The Continental: From the World of John Wick'' (Peacock/Lionsgate TV), ''

Echo In audio signal processing and acoustics, an echo is a reflection of sound that arrives at the listener with a delay after the direct sound. The delay is directly proportional to the distance of the reflecting surface from the source and the lis ...

'' (Disney+/Marvel), ''Spidey and his Amazing Friends'' (Disney Junior/Marvel), ''

The Punisher The Punisher (Francis "Frank" Castle, born Castiglione) is an antihero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Gerry Conway and artists John Romita Sr. and Ross Andru. The Punisher made ...

'' (Netflix/Marvel) and '' Happy!'' (SyFy), and authored comic book series published by Image Comics, IDW Publishing, and

Dark Horse Comics Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book, graphic novel, and manga publisher founded in Milwaukie, Oregon by Mike Richardson in 1986. The company was created using funds earned from Richardson's chain of Portland, Oregon comic book shops know ...

. His television pilots have been developed at UCP, HBO, FX, A&E,

Paramount Network Paramount Network is an American basic cable television channel owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Media Networks. The network's headquarters are located at the Paramount Pictures studio lot in Los Angeles. The channel was ...

, and Pivot TV. Kristensen is also a member of the

Writers Guild of America West The Writers Guild of America West (WGAW) is a labor union representing film, television, radio, and new media writers. It was formed in 1954 from five organizations representing writers, including the Screen Writers Guild. It has around 20,000 mem ...

Producers Guild of America The Producers Guild of America (PGA) is a 501(c)(6) trade association representing television producers, film producers and New Media producers in the United States. The PGA's membership includes over 8,000 members of the producing establishment w ...

, The Animation Guild, and the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.

Career

Ken Kristensen received an MFA from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

Film School. While still in film school he was selected to both the Sundance and IFP labs, and worked as an associate producer under

Gary Winick Gary Scott Winick (March 31, 1961February 27, 2011) was an American filmmaker whose films as a director include ''Tadpole'' (2002) and '' 13 Going on 30'' (2004), and who also produced such films as ''Pieces of April'' (2003) and ''November'' ( ...

(''Charlotte's Web'') and

Mark Waters Mark Stephen Waters (born June 30, 1964) is an American filmmaker who directed the comedy films '' Freaky Friday'', ''Mean Girls ''Mean Girls'' is a 2004 American teen comedy film directed by Mark Waters and written by Tina Fey. The film ...

(''Mean Girls''). After graduating, Ken won the Academy Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting, and was a finalist for the Disney Feature Fellowship. He was hired by Pulitzer Prize winner

Michael Chabon Michael Chabon ( ; born May 24, 1963) is an American novelist, screenwriter, columnist, and short story writer. Born in Washington, DC, he spent a year studying at Carnegie Mellon University before transferring to the University of Pittsburgh, gr ...

to write for '' The Amazing Adventures of The Escapist'' (a

graphic novel A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...

spinoff of Chabon's ''The Adventures of Kavalier and Clay''), and is slated for a fall 2015 release by

. Ken co-created the critical and commercial hit ''

Todd, The Ugliest Kid on Earth ''Todd, The Ugliest Kid on Earth'' is a comic book series written by Ken Kristensen and illustrated by M.K. Perker. It focuses on the dysfunctional Belluomo Family, their exploits and lampooning American society. Plot Todd is framed and jailed fo ...

'' — an Image Comics (''The Walking Dead'') series with his longtime creative partner, Eisner-nominated comic book artist M.K. Perker. In 2016, FX purchased the series and commissioned Kristensen to write the pilot. Several other Image Comics series are currently in development. In 2014 Ken was hired to write ''Indestructible'', a monthly super-hero comic book series created by

Jeff Kline Jeff Kline is an American film and television writer-producer and former television executive. He has been involved in more than 40 animated and live-action series and pilots, has received multiple Emmy nominations and wins. Early life Jeff ...

(''Transformers Prime'') and published by IDW/

Darby Pop Publishing Darby Pop Publishing is an American comic book publishing company founded in 2013 by film writer and producer Jeff Kline. Sixteen original series and 100+ issues/TPs have been published to date. Creators have included Eric Garcia (''City: The Mind ...

. In 2015 Kristensen co-wrote and produced the short film Ronnie BoDean with director Steve Judd, starring Wes Studi. Marvel's ''The Punisher''—a Netflix TV series created by Steve Lightfoot, starring

Jon Bernthal Jonathan Edward Bernthal (; born September 20, 1976) is an American actor. Beginning his career in the early 2000s, he came to prominence for portraying Shane Walsh on the AMC horror series '' The Walking Dead'' (2010–2012; 2018), where ...

, based on the comic book, began production in 2016 with Kristensen on board as a writer. The show debuted in 2017 to critical and commercial acclaim. Kristensen wrote on season two, which debuted in January 2019. Kristensen wrote ''Fairy Godbrothers'', a hard cover graphic novel illustrated by M.K. Perker and published by Adaptive Books, August 2017. In 2018 Scout Comics published Kristensen's comic book series ''Oblivion'', a post-apocalyptic comic book series, with art by Francesco Gaston. In 2017 Kristensen joined the writing staff of Happy! —a SyFy TV series, starring

Christopher Meloni Christopher Peter Meloni (; born April 2, 1961) is an American actor. He is known for his television roles as NYPD Detective Elliot Stabler on the NBC legal drama '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'' for its first 12 seasons and its spin-off ...

, based on the comic book published by Image Comics, and created by

Grant Morrison Grant Morrison, MBE (born 31 January 1960) is a Scottish comic book writer, screenwriter, and producer. Their work is known for its nonlinear narratives, humanist philosophy and countercultural leanings. Morrison has written extensively for th ...

and Brian Taylor, produced by

Original Film Original Film is an American film and television production company founded by Neal H. Moritz. Notable films the company has produced include the ''Fast & Furious'' franchise. History Original Film was started out in the early 1990s by Neal ...

and

Universal Cable Productions Universal Content Productions (UCP) is an American television production company operating within the Universal Studio Group division of NBCUniversal. History Universal Cable Productions In July 2008, Universal Cable Productions was split off ...

. Season one premiered December 2017 to critical and commercial acclaim and was quickly granted a season two by the network. Kristensen was also on board as writer on season two, which debuted March 2019. In 2020 Kristensen was writer and Supervising Producer on the Apple TV+ series Shantaram, which premiered in October 2022. He served as Co-Executive Producer on season two, but the show was cancelled before that season was produced. Kristensen joined the Marvel Studios/Disney+ series ''

'' in 2021 as writer and Co-Executive Producer. That series is slated for release in 2023. In 2021/2022 Kristensen served as Co-Executive Producer and writer for the Peacock/Lionsgate ''

John Wick ''John Wick'' is an American action thriller media franchise created by Derek Kolstad and centering around John Wick, a former hitman who is forced back into the criminal underworld he had abandoned. The franchise began with the release of '' ...

'' spinoff entitled '' The Continental: From the World of John Wick,'' slated for release in 2023.

Bibliography

*Oblivion (Scout Comics, 2018-2019) *
Fairy Godbrothers
' (Adaptive Books, August 2017) *'' The Amazing Adventures of The Escapist'' (

, Spring 2018) *''

'' #1–8 ( Image Comics, January–December 2013) *''Indestructible'' #5–8 ( IDW, April–September 2014)

Filmography

Television

In addition to being a writer-producer on Shantaram (Apple TV+/Paramount), '' The Continental: From the World of John Wick'' (John Wick spinoff from Peacock/Lionsgate), ''

'' (Disney+/Marvel), Spidey and His Amazing Friends (Disney Jr/Marvel),

(Netflix/Marvel) and Happy! (SyFy), Ken served as Producer on four seasons of '' Jail'' (

Spike Spike, spikes, or spiking may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Books * ''The Spike'' (novel), a novel by Arnaud de Borchgrave * ''The Spike'' (book), a nonfiction book by Damien Broderick * ''The Spike'', a starship in Peter F. Hamilto ...

), two seasons of ''

Inside American Jail Inside may refer to: * Insider, a member of any group of people of limited number and generally restricted access Film * ''Inside'' (1996 film), an American television film directed by Arthur Penn and starring Eric Stoltz * ''Inside'' (2002 f ...

'' (

TruTV TruTV (stylized as truTV) is an American basic cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The channel primarily broadcasts comedy, docusoaps and reality shows. The channel was originally launched in 1991 as Court TV, a network that fo ...

), and the TV special ''Road Warriors'' (

). He has also written and produced pilots for HBO, FX, A&E, Discovery Channel, Paramount Network, and Pivot TV. * ''

'' (Season One, 2023) * '' Shantaram'' (Season One, Episodes 5 and 12, 2022) * '' The Continental: From the World of John Wick'' (2023) * ''Spidey and His Amazing Friends'' (2021 TV series) *''

'' ( Season One,

Episode 10 Episode 10 may refer to: * ''Episode Ten'' (Primeval) 2009 TV episode of ''Primeval'' * ''Episode 10'' (The Young Pope) 2016 episode * ''Episode 10'' (Tá no Ar) 2015 episode See also * Episode (disambiguation) * 10 (disambiguation) * X (dis ...

, 2017; Season Two, Episodes 3 and 9, 2019) *'' Happy!'' ( Season One, Episode 6, 2018; Season Two, Episode 4, 2019) *
Futurestates
' (2012) **3.06 - ''The Sixth World'' *'' Jail'' (2011) *''

'' (2007)

Film

Ronnie BoDean
(2015)
The Factory
(2014) *
The Raft
' (2014) *''Road Warriors'' (2011) *''Lunar Landing'' (2008) *''

Deadline Deadline(s) or The Deadline(s) may refer to: * Time limit, a narrow field of time by which an objective must be accomplished Arts, entertainment, and media Comics * Deadline (DC Comics), a fictional villain * ''Deadline'' (magazine), a British ...

'' (2008) *''Dead Man's Morphine'' (2006) *''Still Center'' (2005) *''

Sorry, Haters ''Sorry, Haters'' is a 2005 drama film written and directed by Jeff Stanzler, starring Robin Wright, Abdel Kechiche, Élodie Bouchez and Sandra Oh. Distributed by IFC Films, the film premiered at the 2005 Toronto International Film Festival and ...

'' (2005) *''The Disappearance of Andy Waxman'' (2004)

Writer

*''Lunar Landing'' (2008) *''La Muerte Es Pequena'' (2005)

Director

*''Lunar Landing'' (2008) *''No Apologies: 'Sorry, Haters' Roundtable (2006)

Notes/References

External links

*' *
Official website
' *https://writers.wga.org/kenkristensen {{DEFAULTSORT:Kristensen, Ken Living people American screenwriters American television writers American male television writers American comics writers Columbia University School of the Arts alumni American television producers Year of birth missing (living people)