Zak Penn is an American screenwriter and director. Penn wrote and directed Incident at Loch Ness, The Grand, and co-wrote the script for X-Men: The Last Stand. With Michael Karnow, Penn is the co-creator of the TV series Alphas on the Syfy network.
Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Class Animated Program
Movies
The Avengers, The Incredible Hulk, X-Men: The Last Stand, X2, Atari: Game Over, Incident at Loch Ness, Elektra, The Grand, Last Action Hero, Behind Enemy Lines, PCU, Suspect Zero, Inspector Gadget, Osmosis Jones, Star Maps, Chuck & Buck, Starz Inside: Comic Books Unbound
TV Shows
Alphas
#
Quote
1
[his experience co-writing the original draft of Last Action Hero (1993)] The weird thing is that The Simpsons (1989) inspired it in the first place....We thought, 'If this show can destroy genres even as it embraces them, why can't we do it in live action?' But somewhere along the way, the movie got lost. And nobody came out smelling like a rose. (...) We dubbed it 'Reverse Purple Rose' after we realised it was the opposite of Woody Allen's The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985), where a character comes out of the screen into the real world. (...) We rented every action movie we could think of and made a checklist. Does the second-most evil bad guy die before or after the most evil bad guy? Does the hero have a Vietnam buddy? It was fun, although watching Steven Seagal movies one after another can be soul-crushing. (...) [The premiere] was not a pleasant experience. People kept saying, 'Did you do all those fart jokes?' 'No, no, that wasn't me.' 'Why did you have a kid thrown off a roof in the opening sequence? It made my kid cry.' 'I didn't write that!' [Empire 2012]
2
If you want to do only what you want, be prepared to make no money. If you want to get paid, you're going to have to do something that people want to see. And I've tried pretty hard to balance those two things without getting angry. It's not like, I'm an important artist so I deserve to be rich and do whatever I want to do.
3
...if you get a bunch of cynical people making a big-budget Hollywood movie, the irony is it doesn't work. [referring to his experience with 'The Last Action Hero']
#
Fact
1
Earliest known memory is of the Watergate break-in.
2
Graduated from Wesleyan University in 1990.
Writer
Title
Year
Status
Character
Ready Player One
2018
screenplay post-production
The Karate Kid 2
screenplay announced
Avengers Assemble in the Playroom
2012
Video short story - uncredited
Alphas
TV Series creator - 23 episodes, 2011 - 2012 written by - 2 episodes, 2011 story - 1 episode, 2011 teleplay - 1 episode, 2011
The Avengers
2012
story
The Incredible Hulk
2008
screen story / screenplay
The Grand
2007
written by
X-Men: The Last Stand
2006
written by
X-Men: The Official Game
2006
Video Game screenplay & story
Fantastic Four
2005
Video Game
Elektra
2005
written by
Suspect Zero
2004
screenplay / story
Incident at Loch Ness
2004
written by
X2
2003
story
Behind Enemy Lines
2001
screenplay
Inspector Gadget
1999
screenplay
PCU
1994
written by
Last Action Hero
1993
Video Game characters
Last Action Hero
1993
story
Producer
Title
Year
Status
Character
Alphas
2011
TV Series executive producer - 11 episodes
The Grand
2007
producer
Ozzy & Drix
2003-2004
TV Series executive producer - 13 episodes
Incident at Loch Ness
2004
producer
Osmosis Jones
2001
producer
Actor
Title
Year
Status
Character
On Story
2013
TV Series
Dakota
2012
TV Series
Baseball Cap
Hero Factor
2008
TV Series
Osmosis Jones
2001
Emergency Room Doctor #3
Chuck & Buck
2000
Josh Weintraub
Star Maps
1997
Carmel County Writer
PCU
1994
Bathroom Patron
Miscellaneous
Title
Year
Status
Character
Alphas
2012
TV Series consultant - 3 episodes
Charlie's Angels
2000
script revisions - uncredited
Antz
1998
story consultant
Director
Title
Year
Status
Character
Atari: Game Over
2014
Documentary
The Grand
2007
Incident at Loch Ness
2004
Thanks
Title
Year
Status
Character
The Brothers Grimsby
2016
special thanks
Rescue Dawn
2006
special thanks
Star Maps
1997
special thanks
Self
Title
Year
Status
Character
The Insiders on TheLipTV
2015
TV Series
Himself
Atari: Game Over
2014
Documentary
Himself - Narrator
Conversations with Hollywood
2012
TV Series
Himself
Advice for New Screenwriters
2010
Video documentary short
Himself
More Tales from the Script
2010
Video documentary
Himself
Writers on Genre: Action/Adventure/Thriller
2009
Video documentary
Himself
Tales from the Script
2009
Documentary
Himself
Starz Inside: Comic Books Unbound
2008
TV Movie documentary
Himself - Screenwriter, X2 & X-Men: The Last Stand
Up Close with Carrie Keagan
2008
TV Series
Himself
X-Men: The Excitement Continues
2006
Video documentary short
Himself
Incident at Loch Ness
2004
Himself (Crew of Discovery IV)
Won Awards
Year
Award
Ceremony
Nomination
Movie
2013
Hugo
Hugo Awards
Best Dramatic Presentation - Long Form
The Avengers (2012)
2004
New American Cinema Award
Seattle International Film Festival
Incident at Loch Ness (2004)
Nominated Awards
Year
Award
Ceremony
Nomination
Movie
2013
Bradbury Award
Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America
The Avengers (2012)
2004
Daytime Emmy
Daytime Emmy Awards
Outstanding Special Class Animated Program
Ozzy & Drix (2002)
2004
Hugo
Hugo Awards
Best Dramatic Presentation - Long Form
X2 (2003)
2002
ALMA Award
ALMA Awards
Outstanding Screenplay (Original or Adapted)
Behind Enemy Lines (2001)
1994
Saturn Award
Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA
$10 Million
