ANDREW JAY COHEN (Director/Producer/Writer) has succeeded for the past 15 years in creating high concept ideas, developing them, and collaborating with top talent and directors to bring them to fruition. Most recently he wrote, produced, and directed The House, which he wrote on spec, attached Will Ferrell and sold to New Line/Warner Brothers. The movie also stars Amy Poehler (Parks & Recreation) and Jason Mantzoukas (The League) and comes out June 30, 2017 — a coveted July 4th weekend spot on this summer’s movie schedule.

Cohen’s ability to package and sell movies came early on in his career. In 2006, he pitched a movie for him to write and direct, attaching Jason Segel to Moving In at Montecito/Paramount. Then, after co-producing Judd Apatow’s Funny People in 2009, he attached Jonah Hill and set up The Best Thing About Pam Rooney at Universal.

In 2012, Cohen pitched the idea for the movie Neighbors to Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg (This is the End, The Interview) at Point Grey Pictures. Seth Rogen agreed to star in and produce the film. They then successfully pitched to Zac Efron. With those two stars attached, they auctioned the idea to a very competitive market and ultimately landed at Universal. Nicholas Stoller (Get Him to the Greek, Forgetting Sarah Marshall) signed on to direct and the movie became one of the highest-grossing comedies in recent memory. Cohen wrote and served as executive producer on the 2016 follow-up, Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising. The sequel, also directed by Nicholas Stoller, stars Zac Efron, Seth Rogen, Rose Byrne, and Chloe Grace Moretz. Cohen also served as 2nd Unit Director on the original Neighbors and helped develop the visual style of the franchise.

In 2014, Cohen took a Craigslist ad that went viral, developed it into a story, attached director Jonathan Levine (50/50, The Night Before) and sold the pitch that would become Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates at auction to Chernin/Fox. The movie stars Zac Efron, Anna Kendrick, Adam Devine, and Aubrey Plaza. It premiered July 8, 2016.

Cohen studied film at Yale University and NYU and got his start in the film industry working at CAA. While working for a television agent, Cohen wrote and directed spec commercials and short films in his free time. One of them caught the eye of director Adrian Lyne, who hired Cohen as his assistant on Unfaithful. Following that, Cohen went on to work alongside Judd Apatow for many years—first as Apatow’s assistant on Anchorman, then as associate producer on The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Talladega Nights.

Cohen also wrote viral hits “Seth Rogen = Worst Person in the World” and wrote/directed/produced “Acting with James Franco” and “Makin’ Music with John Mayer” for Funny or Die. In addition, Cohen produced and directed the short film American Storage starring Steve Carell, which he set up at Paramount Vantage. He would later go on to direct a pilot of the same name for IFC based on the short.