# Etan Cohen

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, Tropic Thunder, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, Men in Black 3, and The Bad Guys.

## Early life and education

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.

## Career

His first produced scripts, in 1995 and 1997, were for Beavis and Butthead, where he was credited as Etan Cohen. 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. 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,’. 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.

## Personal life

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

## Filmography
### Films

| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 | |

### Television

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

## Awards and nominations

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