Gil Kenan

Gil Kenan
Kenan in 2007, at the 34th Annie Awards
Born (1976-10-16) October 16, 1976[1]
London, England
Alma mater UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television
Occupation Film director
Years active 2002-present
Notable work Monster House
City of Ember
Spouse(s)
Eliza Chaikin (m. 2005)
[1]

Gil Kenan (born October 16, 1976) is a British-American film director and screenwriter, best known for his work on the films Monster House and City of Ember.

Life and career

Kenan was born in London. When he was three, his family moved to Tel Aviv. At age eight, they moved to Reseda, Los Angeles.[1]

He studied at the film division of the University of California, Los Angeles where he received a MFA degree in animation in 2002.[2][3] For his graduate thesis, he created a 10-minute stop-motion/live-action film, The Lark.[2][4]

The first public screening of The Lark caught the attention of Jordan Bealmear, who was an assistant at Creative Artists Agency.[5] The agency sent hundreds of copies of Kenan's short to interested parties in the film industry, and after a few months of interviews,[5] Robert Zemeckis offered Kenan the director's chair for his first feature, 2006's Monster House.[5] Executive produced by Zemeckis and Steven Spielberg,[5] it was nominated for a 2006 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.[6]

Kenan followed Monster House with City of Ember, a post-apocalyptic adventure based on Jeanne Duprau's 2003 novel.[7] Produced by Tom Hanks,[7] it was released in October 2008 to mixed reviews but poor box office results.[8][9] Kenan's next film, Poltergeist, a remake of the 1982 Tobe Hooper film of the same name, was released in May 2015. In July of that same year, Kenan signed on to direct and co-write a film adaptation of the video game Five Nights at Freddy's[10] but later withdrew from the project.

Personal life

In 2005,[1] Kenan married Eliza Chaikin, who served as art director on City of Ember.[3]

Filmography

YearFilmDirectorOtherNotes
2004 The Lark Yes Yes Writer; short film
2006 Monster House Yes
2008 City of Ember Yes
2015 Poltergeist Yes
2016 Scream Yes Episode: "Village of the Damned"
2017 The Little Hours Yes Special thanks

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Daly, Steve (July 26, 2006). "House Beautiful". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved January 23, 2014.
  2. 1 2 Furniss, Maureen (November 27, 2002). "Fresh from the Festivals: November 2002's Film Reviews". Animation World Network. Retrieved January 23, 2014.
  3. 1 2 Burke, Anne (July 14, 2006). "Monster Man". UCLA Magazine. Retrieved January 23, 2014.
  4. ↑ Pfefferman, Naomi (February 22, 2007). "Scary 'Monster House' comes direct from the basement". Jewish Journal. Retrieved January 23, 2014.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Murray, Chris (August 7, 2006). "Gil Kenan: on Monster House, Robert Zemeckis & His Big Break". PopcornTaxi. Archived from the original on February 8, 2014. Retrieved January 23, 2014.
  6. ↑ Baisley, Sarah (January 23, 2007). "Cars, Happy Feet and Monster House Vie for Best Animated Oscar". Animation World Network. Retrieved January 23, 2014.
  7. 1 2 Wolff, Ellen (October 10, 2008). "Director Kenan Shines a Light on 'City of Ember'". Animation World Network. Retrieved January 23, 2014.
  8. ↑ "City of Ember (2008)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved January 23, 2014.
  9. ↑ "City of Ember (2008)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved January 23, 2014.
  10. ↑ "Five Nights at Freddy's". Deadline. Retrieved January 4, 2018.
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