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Etan Cohen

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Not to be confused with Ethan Coen.

Etan Cohen
איתן כהן
Born (1974-03-14) March 14, 1974 (age 51)
Israel
NationalityAmerican
Alma materHarvard College
Occupation(s)Film director, screenwriter
Years active1995–present

Etan Cohen (Hebrew: איתן כהן; born March 14, 1974) is an Israeli-American screenwriter and film director who has written scripts for Hollywood movies, including Idiocracy (2006), Tropic Thunder (2008), Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (2008), Men in Black 3 (2012), and The Bad Guys (2022).

Early life and education

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Born in Israel to a Jewish family, Cohen grew up in Sharon, Massachusetts. He graduated from the Maimonides School and Harvard College, where he wrote for the Harvard Lampoon.[1][2]

Career

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His first produced scripts, in 1995 and 1997, were for Beavis and Butthead, where he was credited as Etan Cohen. [3]He has since written for other Mike Judge-directed projects, including King of the Hill from 2001 to 2005, and for the feature film Idiocracy in 2006.[4] In the late 1990s he worked on two other television series – the animated Recess and the short lived It's Like, You Know.... In 2007, he wrote the short film ‘My Wife is Retarded,’.[5] After scripting Idiocracy, he worked on the animated series, American Dad! and wrote the episode, "Failure Is Not a Factory-Installed Option". The American Dad! minor character of the same name is named for him.

In 2008, Cohen co-wrote, along with Ben Stiller and Justin Theroux, the action-comedy film Tropic Thunder. He also co-wrote, along with Eric Darnell and Tom McGrath, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, which earned an Annie Award nomination for best Writing in a Feature Production.

Cohen penned the script for 2012's Men in Black 3. In 2015, he made his directorial debut with Get Hard, which he also co-wrote.

Cohen wrote and directed the 2018 film Holmes & Watson. The film was a critical and commercial flop and later earned him a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Director.[6]

Personal life

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Cohen is an observant Jew.[7] He keeps kosher and does not work on the Jewish Sabbath. He and his wife send their children to a Jewish day school.[7]

Filmography

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Films

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Year Title Director Writer Notes
2006 Idiocracy No Yes Co-wrote with Mike Judge
2008 Tropic Thunder No Yes Co-wrote with Justin Theroux and Ben Stiller
2008 Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa No Yes Co-wrote with Eric Darnell and Tom McGrath
Nominated – Annie Award for Best Writing in an Animated Feature Production[8]
2012 Men in Black 3 No Yes
2015 Get Hard Yes Yes Directorial debut
Co-wrote with Jay Martel and Ian Roberts
2018 Holmes & Watson Yes Yes Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Director[9]
2022 The Bad Guys No Yes Additional screenplay material by Yoni Brenner and Hilary Winston
Also executive producer with Aaron Blabey and Patrick Hughes
2022 Puss in Boots: The Last Wish No Partial Additional screenplay material
2024 Brothers No Yes
2025 The Bad Guys 2 No Yes Co-wrote with Yoni Brenner

Television

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Year Title Notes
1995–1997 Beavis and Butt-head
1999 It's Like, You Know
Recess
Timon & Pumbaa
2001–2005 King of the Hill Annie Award for Best Writing in an Animated Television Production[10]
2006 American Dad!

Awards and nominations

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Year Award Category Nominated work Result Ref.
2005 Annie Award Writing in an Animated Television Production King of the Hill Won [11]
2007 US Comedy Arts Festival Comedy Festival Award for Best Short Film My Wife Is Retarded Won [12]
2009 Annie Award Best Writing in an Animated Feature Production Madagascar 2 Nominated [11]
2019 39th Golden Raspberry Awards Worst Director Holmes & Watson Won [13]

References

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  1. ^ Smith, Lynn (August 15, 2008). "The joke is on you". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on August 12, 2019. Retrieved August 12, 2019.
  2. ^ Chris Lee (May 29, 2012). "The Movie Redemption of 'Men in Black 3' Scribe Etan Cohen". The Daily Beast. IAC. Archived from the original on November 17, 2019. Retrieved August 12, 2019.
  3. ^ Judge, Mike (August 22, 1997), "Drinking Butt-ies", Beavis and Butt-Head, Mike Judge, Toby Huss, retrieved May 7, 2025
  4. ^ "Etan Cohen | Writer, Producer, Additional Crew". IMDb. Retrieved May 7, 2025.
  5. ^ "My Wife is Retarded". IMDb. Archived from the original on August 14, 2023. Retrieved August 14, 2023.
  6. ^ Howard, Annie (February 22, 2019). "Worst Director - Razzie Awards: 'Holmes & Watson' Named Worst Picture of the Year". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on February 25, 2019. Retrieved August 12, 2019.
  7. ^ a b Zeitchik, Steven (March 13, 2015). "Etan Cohen, director of 'Get Hard,' is used to confounding expectations". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on December 9, 2020. Retrieved November 28, 2020.
  8. ^ "Annie Awards - 36th Annie Awards". Annie Awards. Archived from the original on September 3, 2017. Retrieved April 30, 2023.
  9. ^ Montgomery, Daniel (February 23, 2019). "2019 Razzie winners announced: Full list of Razzie Award winners in all 10 categories [WATCH]". GoldDerby. Archived from the original on November 12, 2021. Retrieved April 30, 2023.
  10. ^ "Annie Awards - 32nd Annie Awards". Archived from the original on September 3, 2017. Retrieved April 30, 2023.
  11. ^ a b "Etan Cohen - Awards". IMDb. Archived from the original on May 31, 2023. Retrieved January 31, 2024.
  12. ^ Sciretta, Peter (February 13, 2007). "The 2007 U.S. Comedy Arts Festival Film Program Line-Up". /Film. Archived from the original on April 30, 2023. Retrieved April 30, 2023.
  13. ^ "2019 Razzie winners announced: Full list of Razzie Award winners in all 10 categories [WATCH]". February 23, 2019. Archived from the original on November 12, 2021. Retrieved November 15, 2019.
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