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 li ...

'' (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 mad ...

'' (Netflix/Marvel) and ''

Happy! Happy! may refer to: * ''Happy!'', a comic series by Grant Morrison; see Grant Morrison bibliography#Other US publishers * ''Happy!'' (TV series), a Syfy television series based on the comics by Grant Morrison * ''Happy!'' (sports manga), a Japa ...

'' (SyFy), and authored comic book series published by

Image Comics Image Comics is an American comic book publisher and is the third largest comic book and graphic novel publisher in the industry in both unit and market share. It was founded in 1992 by several high-profile illustrators as a venue for creator-o ...

IDW Publishing IDW Publishing is an American publisher of comic books, graphic novels, art books, and comic strip collections. It was founded in 1999 as the publishing division of Idea and Design Works, LLC (IDW), itself formed in 1999, and is regularly re ...

, 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 known ...

. His television pilots have been developed at UCP,

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

, 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 or ...

, 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 The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), also colloquially known as the Television Academy, is a professional honorary organization dedicated to the advancement of the television industry in the United States. It is a 501(c)(6) non-prof ...

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 Manha ...

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'', '' Ghosts of Girlfriends Past'', '' Mr. Popper's Penguins'', and '' Vampire Academy''. Filmography Film Prod ...

(''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'' — an

(''The Walking Dead'') series with his longtime creative partner, Eisner-nominated comic book artist

M.K. Perker Mustafa Kutlukhan Perker (born 2 November 1972) is a Turkish artist. Career With the ability of producing work in different styles and techniques, he has built a successful career in both editorial illustration and comics. His work has appeared i ...

. In 2016, FX purchased the series and commissioned Kristensen to write the pilot. Several other

series are currently in development. In 2014 Ken was hired to write ''Indestructible'', a monthly super-hero comic book series created by Jeff Kline (''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 Min ...

. 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 Steve Lightfoot (sometimes credited as Steven Lightfoot or Robert Scott Fraser) is a British television writer and producer who worked as an executive producer and writer on the NBC thriller television series ''Hannibal'', the Netflix series '' ...

, 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 h ...

, 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

—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 the ...

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 Nea ...

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 o ...

'' 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) *'' Todd, The Ugliest Kid on Earth'' #1–8 (

, 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

(SyFy), Ken served as Producer on four seasons of ''

Jail A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, corre ...

'' (

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'' (

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 f ...

), 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 Season One may refer to: Albums * ''Season One'' (Suburban Legends album), 2004 * ''Season One'' (All Sons & Daughters album), 2012 * ''Season One'' (Saukrates album), 2012 See also * * * Season 2 (disambiguation) Season 2 may refer to: ...

, Episode 10, 2017;

Season Two Season 2 may refer to: * ''Season 2'' (Infinite album) * ''2econd Season ''2econd Season'' is the second and most recent album by Atlanta-based rapper Unk. Release It was released on November 4, 2008. Guest Performers The album features gue ...

, Episodes 3 and 9, 2019) *''

'' (

, Episode 6, 2018;

, Episode 4, 2019) *
Futurestates
' (2012) **3.06 - ''The Sixth World'' *''

'' (2011) *'' Inside American Jail'' (2007)

Film

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