Jake Kasdan

Early life

Jacob Kasdan was born to Meg (née Goldman), a writer, and Lawrence Kasdan, a writer and director, in Detroit. Jacob grew up in a Jewish family with little religious education. His younger brother, Jonathan Kasdan, also works in the film and television industry as an actor and writer.

Career

Jake Kasdan has directed nine films. He has also worked in television, most notably with Judd Apatow as a consulting producer and director on Freaks and Geeks and as a director on Undeclared. He has directed numerous stage productions.

In 2008, Kasdan received his first Golden Globe nomination for *Walk Hard *in the Best Original Song category (shared with John C. Reilly, Apatow, and Marshall Crenshaw), but lost to "Guaranteed" from Into the Wild (written by Eddie Vedder). As a child, Kasdan made appearances in his father's movies such as The Big Chill and Silverado (in the former he is an autograph seeker at a funeral and in the latter a stable boy).

After the success of New Girl, Kasdan announced that on July 11, 2012, he had signed a deal with 20th Century Fox Television, through The Detective Agency to pursue his own projects. In February 2015, Fox announced that it had greenlit a pilot for the comedy The Grinder to be directed by Kasdan and starring Rob Lowe. On March 26, 2019, The Detective Agency's producing partners Kasdan and Melvin Mar reupped, and signed a new overall deal at 20th Century Fox Television.

In October 2021, it was announced that Disney+ had given a series order to a television adaptation of the graphic novel American Born Chinese. It will be produced by 20th Century Fox Television with Kelvin Yu and Charles Yu as writers and executive producers, Marvin Mar and Kasdan as executive producers, and Destin Daniel Cretton as director and executive producer. Most recently, he served as executive producer of the workplace comedy pilot XYZ at ABC.

In late 2024, it was announced that Jake Kasdan, Patty Jenkins and Joe Cornish would each direct a live-action film for the Lego Group and Universal Pictures. The script for Kasdan's film script was written by Andrew Mogel and Jarrad Paul, based on a story and previous draft by Matt Mider and Kevin Burrows, and Kasdan will also produce the film through Detective Agency.

Personal life

Kasdan is married to singer-songwriter Inara George of the duo The Bird and the Bee. They have three children including twins Beau and Lorelei Kasdan and older son Otis Kasdan.

Filmography

Film

Acting credits

Soundtrack credits

Music video

• Believe by Shawn Mendes (2015)

Other credits

Television

TV movies

Acting credits

Awards

References

References

1. Schleier, Curt. (2014-07-18). "What's a Nice Jewish Boy Like Jake Kasdan Doing Making a 'Sex Tape?'".
2. Marechal, A. J.. (2012-07-12). "Kasdan signs deal with 20th TV".
3. (12 February 2015). "Fox Orders Rob Lowe Comedy 'The Grinder' To Pilot". Variety.
4. Thorne, Will. (2019-03-26). "Jake Kasdan and Melvin Mar Sign New Overall Deal at 20th Century Fox".
5. Andreeva, Nellie. (October 4, 2021). "Disney+ Greenlights 'American Born Chinese' Series From Melvin Mar, Kelvin Yu & Jake Kasdan; 'Shang-Chi's Destin Daniel Cretton To Direct". [[Deadline Hollywood]].
6. White, Peter. (2021-12-15). "'Doogie Kameāloha, M.D.' Duo Alison Bennett & Melvin Mar Set Workplace Comedy 'XYZ' At ABC".
7. D'Alessandro, Anthony. (October 31, 2024). "Jake Kasdan, Patty Jenkins & Joe Cornish Set To Helm Live-Action Lego Movies For Universal".
8. Audio commentary to [[Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story. ''Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story'']]