Daniel Kwan (關家永; born February 10, 1988) and Daniel Scheinert (born June 7, 1987), known collectively as "Daniels" (or "the Daniels"), are a duo of American filmmakers.
The two met as film students at Emerson College. While both had worked individually in making short films, they began making shorts together in 2009, and later started directing music videos in 2010. Musical acts they have directed for include Foster the People, Tenacious D, The Shins and Battles, and many point to the massive viral success of their 2014 video for DJ Snake and Lil' Jon's "Turn Down For What" (viewed over 1 billion times) as their mainstream breakthrough.
The Daniels transitioned into film and television in 2016, making their feature film debut as writers and directors with Swiss Army Man. They went on to direct episodes for various shows, including Awkwafina is Nora from Queens, Legion (2017) (Kwan only), and On Becoming a God in Central Florida (Scheinert only); Scheinert also directed his first solo feature, titled The Death of Dick Long and released in 2019.
The Daniels' second film was announced in 2017. The film was eventually released in 2022 as Everything Everywhere All at Once and went on to gross over $141 million worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing film of its distributor A24 (a record previously set by Hereditary). The film is currently estimated to be the single most awarded film of all time, and won a leading seven awards out of a leading 11 nominations at the 95th Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Among the wins were Best Director and Best Original Screenplay specifically for the Daniels, making them only the third duo in history to win the former awardnote .
Later in 2022, news broke of the Daniels signing a first-look TV deal with A24 as well as a five-year film deal with Universal Pictures. In 2024, it was announced that their next film would be released on June 12, 2026.
Kwan is married to fellow filmmaker and animator Kirsten Lepore, and the two have one son. He is also known for co-founding the group We Direct Music Videos (W.D.M.V.) in 2018; the group is described as "a global community of music video directors who are committed to sustainable directorial labor practices".
Feature films directed by Daniels:
- Swiss Army Man (2016)
- The Death of Dick Long (2019; Scheinert only)
- Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)
