Daniel Taplitz

Writer-director Daniel Taplitz's record of comedies with dark twists began with his script for the offbeat 1987 mystery "The Squeeze." That same year, he made his directorial debut with an installment of the long-running after school special program "CBS Schoolbreak Series." Next came two television movies as writer-director: the 1989 vampire comedy "Nightlife" and 1992's witch-centric "Black Magic." During this time Taplitz received a Daytime Emmy nomination for directing the first episode of HBO's social-issues drama anthology "Lifestories: Families in Crisis." 1997's feature film "Commandments" was his most ambitious work yet, a comedy about a man who has suffered despite living a righteous life and decides to systematically break all of the Bible's Ten Commandments in response. 2004's comedy "Breakin' All The Rules" also examined one man's active transgressions, with Jamie Foxx as a dumped man who writes a book on how to drive away romantic partners. More prolific as a writer than director, Taplitz's recent scripts include the 2008 comedy "Chaos Theory," starring Ryan Reynolds as an efficiency expert who finds himself faced with personal crises that only disorder can solve, and the 2011 Australian family movie "Red Dog," based on the true story of a canine who traveled across the outback in search of his master.