Claude Kerven

After receiving a BA in experimental filmmaking, Kerven attended NYU’s Graduate Film School, where his thesis film, “Candy Store” was awarded an Academy Award for Best Dramatic Student Film. Shortly after, Kerven began his professional career in children’s television, garnering an Emmy Award for Outstanding Children’s Special for “Starstruck” and a DGA Award Nomination for “High School Narc.” His success in children’s television led to a stint at Saturday Night Live, where Kerven directed over 25 short films and commercial parodies. Aspiring to write screenplays for feature films, Kerven went on to co-author “Mortal Thoughts,” starring Bruce Willis and Harvey Keitel, “The Shadow War,” for Universal Studios and “Darkman and the Circus of Fear,” for producer Sam Raimi. In his career, Kerven has had the opportunity to direct such notable actors as Eddie Murphy, Sarah Jessica Parker, Billy Crystal, Viggo Mortensen, Martin Short, Stevie Wonder, Christopher Guest, Lily Tomlin, Jim Belushi, Julia-Louis Dreyfus, Jerry Lewis, Peter Storemare and Elizabeth Moss. For the past 10 years, Kerven has been the co-chair of the filmmaking department at the New York Film Academy, where he teaches directing and screenwriting.