Music videos Kwan and Scheinert met while studying film at
Emerson College in
Boston. Kwan graduated in 2010 and Scheinert graduated in 2009. They went to college with
Sunita Mani, who starred with Kwan in the music video for "
Turn Down for What", which they directed. Since 2011, the duo have directed music videos for artists including
Foster the People,
the Shins and
Tenacious D. In 2018, Kwan co-founded the group We Direct Music Videos (W.D.M.V.), described as "a global community of music video directors who are committed to sustainable directorial labor practices".
Transition to film and television In 2016, the duo expanded to feature films, writing and directing
Swiss Army Man, starring
Paul Dano and
Daniel Radcliffe, which received positive reviews, as well as the duo winning the Directing Award at the
2016 Sundance Film Festival. In 2019, Scheinert directed the
black comedy-
drama film The Death of Dick Long, which premiered at the
2019 Sundance Film Festival and received positive reviews. The Daniels have since accumulated several television directing credits, including
Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens, Legion (Kwan only)
and On Becoming a God in Central Florida (Scheinert only). The duo were attached as directors on a prospective TV adaption of ''
Cat's Cradle'' by
Kurt Vonnegut, being developed by
Noah Hawley, but the project was not picked up. The Daniels directed one episode of
Star Wars: Skeleton Crew (2024).
Everything Everywhere All at Once The Daniels announced in 2017 they would write, direct, and produce a
science-fiction film with their producing partner
Jonathan Wang and the
Russo brothers.
Everything Everywhere All at Once, starring
Michelle Yeoh,
Stephanie Hsu,
Ke Huy Quan,
James Hong and
Jamie Lee Curtis, was released in March 2022 to widespread critical acclaim and box office success, garnering
several awards and accolades for the duo including Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Director at the
95th Academy Awards. The film received 11 Academy Award nominations, more than any other film that year, and won seven. Prior to the Oscars ceremony,
IGN calculated that
Everything Everywhere All at Once had surpassed
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) as the most awarded film of all time.
Upcoming projects , the Daniels have signed a
first look TV deal with
A24. The same year, they also signed a five-year film deal with
Universal Pictures. The duo were on the
Time 100 Next list in 2022. In February 2024, it was announced that the Daniels' next feature film was scheduled to release on June 12, 2026. The following year it was announced that the film had been delayed to an unspecified date after
Universal Pictures confirmed that
Steven Spielberg's then-untitled
Disclosure Day would release on that date. In June 2025, it was announced that
Paul Dano would write and potentially direct and produce "a high-concept comedy" for
Universal Pictures, produced by the Daniels. == Personal lives ==