Jake Kasdan
Kasdan in March 2012
Born	Jacob Kasdan (1974-10-28)October 28, 1974 (age 50) Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Occupations	Director producer screenwriter actor
Years active	1983–present
Spouse	Inara George
Children	3
Father	Lawrence Kasdan
Relatives	Jonathan Kasdan (brother) Mark Kasdan (uncle)

Jacob Kasdan (born October 28, 1974) is an American filmmaker and actor. He is best known for directingWalk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (2007),Bad Teacher (2011),Sex Tape (2014),Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017),Jumanji: The Next Level (2019), andRed One (2024).

Jacob Kasdan was born to Meg (née Goldman), a writer, andLawrence Kasdan, a writer and director, inDetroit. Jacob grew up in aJewish family with little religious education.^[1][2] His younger brother,Jon Kasdan, also works in the film and television industry as an actor and writer.

Jake Kasdan has directed nine films. He has also worked in television, most notably withJudd Apatow as a consulting producer and director onFreaks and Geeks and as a director onUndeclared. He has directed numerous stage productions. He is attached to direct a family film adaption of aJohn Grisham novel,Calico Joe.

In 2008, Kasdan received his first Golden Globe nomination forWalk Hardin the Best Original Song category (shared withJohn C. Reilly, Apatow, andMarshall Crenshaw), but lost to "Guaranteed" fromInto the Wild (written byEddie Vedder). As a child, Kasdan made appearances in his father's movies such asThe Big Chill andSilverado (in the former he is an autograph seeker at a funeral and in the latter a stable boy).

After the success ofNew Girl, Kasdan announced that on July 11, 2012, he had signed a deal with20th Century Fox Television, through The Detective Agency to pursue his own projects.^[3] In February 2015, Fox announced that it had greenlit a pilot for the comedyThe Grinder to be directed by Kasdan and starringRob Lowe.^[4] 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.^[5]

In October 2021, it was announced thatDisney+ had given a series order to a television adaptation of the graphic novelAmerican Born Chinese. It will be produced by 20th Century Fox Television withKelvin Yu andCharles Yu as writers and executive producers, Marvin Mar and Kasdan as executive producers, andDestin Daniel Cretton as director and executive producer.^[6] Most recently, he served as executive producer of the workplace comedy pilotXYZ atABC.^[7]

Kasdan is married to singer-songwriterInara George ofThe Bird and the Bee. They have three children including twins Beau and Lorelei Kasdan and older son Otis Kasdan.^[8]

Director

Acting credits

Soundtrack credits

Music video

• Believe byShawn Mendes (2015)

Other credits

TV movies

Acting credits

• Jake Kasdan atIMDb
• The Director Interviews: Jake Kasdan,The TV SetArchived 2009-12-12 at theWayback Machine atFilmmaker Magazine
• The Director Interviews: Jake Kasdan,Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story atFilmmaker Magazine

• 1974 births
• American male child actors
• American male film actors
• American comedy film directors
• American fantasy film directors
• American action film directors
• Jewish American male actors
• Jewish film people
• Film producers from Michigan
• Jewish American screenwriters
• American television directors
• Living people
• Male actors from Detroit
• Film directors from Michigan
• 21st-century American Jews
• Kasdan family

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