Everything we know about the Oscar-winning 'Everything Everywhere All at Once' directors the Daniels

Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert met while studying film at Emerson College.

The two first met while taking a 3D animation course at the liberal arts college, according to The Boston Globe. Prior to transferring to Emerson, Kwan attended the University of Connecticut and majored in business. 

Scheinert graduated from Emerson in 2009 and Kwan graduated in 2010. 

The two began collaborating after spending a summer together as "camp counselors."

The Daniels didn't start making films until the summer of 2009 after Scheinert graduated. 

That summer, Kwan and Scheinert became teaching assistants at New York Film Academy's Harvard program for middle school and high school students. Kwan told The Boston Globe that the "camp counselor" experience pushed them to start collaborating artistically.  

"We were jealous of the kids because they got to make movies all day, and we didn't," Kwan said to the outlet. Their work relationship eventually led the duo to direct their first short film together in 2009, "Swingers." 

Swingers from on Vimeo.

 

 

Despite their decade-long career together, the Daniels "didn't really like each other at first," Kwan told The Film Stage.

"Nothing about our interactions early on was good chemistry. In fact we didn't really like each other at first; we didn't understand each other," Kwan told The Film Stage in April 2022.

The two shared with the outlet that their collaboration was a happy accident. Kwan had just purchased a new camera and wanted to teach Scheinert how to use After Effects, an editing software. The rest was history. 

The Daniels branched out to direct music videos, including the 2014 hit "Turn Down for What."

The Daniels' music video resume includes the Lil Jon and DJ Snake single "Turn Down for What" and the 2011 Foster the People track "Houdini." 

Both videos capture the duo's whimsical, surreal style seen in their later work. 

 

In 2016, the duo directed their first feature film, "Swiss Army Man."

Starring Paul Dano and Daniel Radcliffe, "Swiss Army Man" was the Daniels' debut film. The surrealist comedy follows Dano's character Hank as a man stranded on a deserted island.

When Hank is about to lose all hope, he spots a corpse (Radcliffe) that talks to him. Hank names the corpse Manny and drags his lifeless body around the island to keep him company. 

 

The Daniels got the idea for "Everything Everywhere All at Once" while promoting "Swiss Army Man."

The film's first script centered on Ke Huy Quan's character named Waymon, who is married to Evelyn (Michelle Yeoh). Waymon was initially going to be played by Jackie Chan, the Daniels told The Boston Globe. 

When Chan declined the role, the duo decided that their next favorite actor was Yeoh and began focusing the story on her character. 

In February, Yeoh spoke to CNN about what the role meant to her.

"It's always the guy that gets to go on the adventure and save the world and rescue your daughter and you think, 'Why can't I do that too?'" Yeoh said. "It was so overwhelming at that point to get a script that said, 'This is a very ordinary woman, Asian immigrant woman, who is dealing with all the problems that we all can relate to.'"

In March 2022, their film "Everything Everywhere All at Once" was released, becoming A24's highest-grossing film.

In September 2022, Deadline reported that "Everything Everywhere All at Once" had surpassed "Hereditary" and "Uncut Gems" in global box office sales, becoming A24's highest-grossing film.

Kwan and Scheinert spoke to Sky News about the reception of the film in March. 

"So we were expecting a lot more people to be like, 'this was too much for me' - and some people are saying it's too much, and that's fine, but this reception has been mind-blowing," Kwan said.  

Kwan and Scheinert took home multiple accolades throughout the 2023 award season.

Throughout the 2023 award season, "Everything Everywhere All at Once" was a clear frontrunner. The film gathered a total of 350 wins, according to its IMDb page. Their slate of wins included SAG Awards, BAFTAs, Critics Choice Awards, and Golden Globes. 

The self-described weirdos weren't expecting so many people to connect with their film, Kwan shared with Sky News.

"We're used to a very specific crowd who loves our stuff - you know, the weirdos of the world... and they just connect with it because they see us as weirdos and it's a beautiful thing where they love it, it's some of their favourite stuff they've ever seen," Kwan said. 

During Sunday's Academy Awards ceremony, the Daniels took home the biggest awards of the night.

Kwan and Scheinert walked away on Sunday with the Academy Award for best original screenplay, best directing, and best picture. 

In their acceptance speech for best directing, Scheinert thanked "all the mommies in the world" and shouted out his mother and father for not squashing his creativity as a child. 

Kwan took the opportunity to encourage everyone to tap into their creativity. "There is greatness in every single person, it doesn't matter who they are. If you have a genius that is waiting to erupt, you just need to find the right people to unlock that," Kwan said.