Eric Kripke

Eric Kripke
Kripke in 2010.
Born1974 (age 49–50)
Alma materUniversity of Southern California
Occupations
  • Writer
  • television producer
Known forCreator of Supernatural

Eric Kripke (born 1974)[1] is an American writer and television producer. Kripke came to prominence in the late 2000s for creating The WB/CW fantasy drama series Supernatural (2005–2020). He served as the showrunner during the first five seasons of the series. Since then, he has created and/or produced a number of television series including Revolution (2012–2014), Timeless (2016–2018), and The Boys (2019–present).

Early life

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Kripke, who is Jewish,[2] was raised in the Toledo, Ohio, suburb Sylvania Township, the son of Larry and Joan Kripke, and graduated from Sylvania Southview High School in 1992.[3] His cousin was Saul Kripke, an influential philosopher and logician.[4] Kripke often created home movies with friends to show to other students.[3] His artistic influences include John Bellairs.[5] He attended the University of Southern California.[3]

Career

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Kripke's 16-minute short film Truly Committed received an audience choice award at the Slamdance Film Festival.[3] He also directed the short Battle of the Sexes.[6] He later developed and wrote for The WB's 2003 television series Tarzan, which was cancelled after eight episodes,[3] and followed this by writing the 2005 film Boogeyman.[7] Furthermore, he was an associate producer for the 2011 romantic action thriller The Adjustment Bureau.[8]

He was developing his first feature film Haunted, for a 2012 release. In August 2011, it was announced that Kripke was developing a series for The CW Television Network based on the DC Comics character Deadman, but no series materialized.[9]

Boogeyman

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Main article: Boogeyman (film)

Prior to his success with Supernatural, Kripke co-wrote the screenplay for the film Boogeyman, which was released in early 2005. The film focuses on Tim, played by Barry Watson, who is suffering the loss of his mother; he goes home to confront the supernatural creature who he believes killed his father and is also the reason for his mother's demise.[10]

Supernatural

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Main article: Supernatural (American TV series)

In 2005, Kripke created the series Supernatural, which is about two brothers' (Sam and Dean Winchester) personal battle against demons, poltergeists and other supernatural phenomena. Kripke served as a part-time executive consultant on season seven[11] on the series after serving as the show's primary showrunner for the first five seasons. Supernatural first aired on The WB and then on The CW, which was created by The WB's 2006 merger with UPN. During the series, it was in 2008 that he signed an overall deal with Warner Bros.[12]

Revolution

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Main article: Revolution (TV series)

After Kripke stepped down as primary showrunner for Supernatural following the show's fifth season, he began developing other projects. One of these projects, entitled Revolution, was picked by NBC for the 2012–13 season.[13] The series centers on a group of characters struggling to survive and reunite with loved ones in a post-apocalyptic world where everything electronic has mysteriously stopped working, and centers around their battle to resolve the blackout. It stars Billy Burke, Tracy Spiridakos, David Lyons, Giancarlo Esposito, Elizabeth Mitchell, Graham Rogers and Anna Lise Phillips co-starring.[14]

Revolution has a Metacritic rating of 64/100 from 32 reviews. Glenn Garvin of The New York Times wrote, "Revolution is big, bold and brassy adventure, a cowboys-and-Indians story for end times."[15]

Revolution was cancelled by NBC after two seasons.[16]

Jacked

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In April 2015, Kripke announced he is writing the comic book series called Amped (later re-titled Jacked) for Vertigo and DC Comics to be released in fall 2015.[17] The story follows Josh Jaffe, a neurotic family man who buys an online 'smart pill' to increase his focus and jolt him out of his slump, but to his surprise finds the pill gives him super strength, prompting him to try to become a superhero. Concurrently, a TV adaptation was being developed for USA Network, with Kripke serving as both the writer and executive producer. The series was set to be co-produced by Kripke Enterprises and Warner Horizon Television.[18]

Timeless

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Main article: Timeless (TV series)

In August 2015, it was announced that Kripke, along with fellow writer Shawn Ryan, were developing an action-adventure show, Timeless, for NBC. Described as "Back to the Future meets Mission: Impossible", Timeless is about an unlikely trio traveling through time to battle unknown criminals in order to protect history. Ryan and Kripke co-wrote the script and executive-produced with Davis Entertainment's John Davis, John Fox and MiddKid Productions.

After being cancelled after one season, a fan campaign was made to revive the series for a short second season which was again subsequently cancelled when ratings did not improve.

The Boys

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Main article: The Boys (TV series)

On April 6, 2016, it was announced that Cinemax was developing a television series adaptation of the comic book. The production was being developed by Kripke, Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen. Kripke was set to write the series while Goldberg and Rogen were set to direct, with Kripke, Goldberg, Rogen, Neal H. Moritz, Pavun Shetty, Ori Marmur, James Weaver, Ken Levin and Jason Netter serving as executive producers. Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson were set as co-executive producers. Production companies involved with the series included Point Grey Television, Original Film and Sony Pictures Television.

Filmography

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Film

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Title Year Credited as Notes
Writer Director Producer
Battle of the Sexes 1997 Yes Yes No Short film
Truly Committed 1997 Yes Yes No Short film
Boogeyman 2005 Yes No Yes
The Adjustment Bureau 2011 No No Associate
The House with a Clock in Its Walls 2018 Yes No Yes
Butcher: A Short Film 2020 Yes No Executive Short film

Television

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The numbers in directing and writing credits refer to the number of episodes.

Title Year Credited as Network Notes
Creator Director Writer Executive
Producer
Tarzan 2003 Developer No Yes (2) Yes The WB
Supernatural 2005–2020 Yes Yes (2) Yes (17) Yes The CW Executive producer (seasons 1–6, "Bloodlines": 127 episodes);
Executive consultant (seasons 7–15: 200 episodes)
Ghostfacers 2010 Yes No No Yes
Supernatural: The Anime Series 2011 Yes No No No BS11
Revolution 2012–2014 Yes No Yes (4) Yes NBC
Timeless 2016–2018 Yes No Yes (1) Yes
The Boys 2019–present Developer Yes (2) Yes (3) Yes Amazon Prime Video
The Boys Presents: Diabolical 2022 Yes No No Yes
Gen V 2023 Developer No Yes (1) Yes

References

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  1. ^ Abbott, Stacey; Lavery, David, eds. (2011). TV Goes to Hell: An Unofficial Road Map of Supernatural. ECW Press. p. 273. ISBN 9781770900349.
  2. ^ Bloom, Nate (September 7, 2012). "Celebrity Jews". J. The Jewish News of Northern California. Archived from the original on September 7, 2020. Retrieved September 7, 2020.
  3. ^ a b c d e Smith, Ryan E. (August 17, 2008). "Sylvania area native gives city a role in his TV series". The Toledo Blade. Archived from the original on April 25, 2019. Retrieved February 5, 2019.
  4. ^ "x.com".
  5. ^ Fleming, Mike Jr. (November 18, 2011). "Phoenix Co-President Bradley Fischer Forms Mythology with Scribes Laeta Kalogridis and James Vanderbilt". Deadline. Retrieved 2012-05-31.
  6. ^ McNary, Dave (2011-07-12). "Warner Bros. gets 'Haunted'". Variety. Retrieved 2022-02-10.
  7. ^ Schneider, Michael (June 22, 2008). "Eric Kripke scores WB TV deal". Variety. Retrieved February 5, 2019.
  8. ^ Chang, Justin (February 24, 2011). "The Adjustment Bureau". Variety. Retrieved February 5, 2019.
  9. ^ Byrne, Craig (August 25, 2011). "Deadman TV Series In Development at The CW From Supernatural's Eric Kripke". KSiteTV.
  10. ^ Aurthur, Kate (2006-01-22). "Things That Go Bump in Prime Time". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-02-10.
  11. ^ Ausiello, Michael. "Ask Ausiello". TVLine. Retrieved 2014-06-15.
  12. ^ Schneider, Michael (2008-06-23). "Eric Kripke scores WB TV deal". Variety. Retrieved 2021-02-15.
  13. ^ Ausiello, Michael (2012-02-02). "Pilot Scoop: NBC Orders J.J. Abrams/Eric Kripke Thriller Revolution". TVLine. Archived from the original on 2012-08-07. Retrieved 2012-08-26.
  14. ^ Andreeva, Nellie. "2ND UPDATE: '1600 Penn', 'Animal Practice', 'New Normal', 'Revolution' & 'Save Me' Picked Up To Series At NBC". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 2012-08-26.
  15. ^ "Metacritic data for Revolution". Metacritic. Retrieved 2013-02-22.
  16. ^ Mitovich, Matt Webb (2014-05-09). "NBC Cancels Revolution and 4 Others". TVLine. Archived from the original on 2016-08-09. Retrieved 2014-07-24.
  17. ^ Arrant, Arrant (April 7, 2015). "SUPERNATURAL Creator Develops New Fall Vertigo Series & TV Adaptation". Newsarama.com. Retrieved April 7, 2015.
  18. ^ Goldberg, Lesley (April 7, 2015). "TV Upfronts: USA Developing Dramas From Rob Reiner, Catherine Hardwicke, 'Supernatural' Boss". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 7, 2015.
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