--- name: "John Requa" canonical: "https://film.one/person/john-requa" fi1m_id: "john-requa" imdb_id: "nm0720135" tmdb_id: 56412 wikidata_id: "Q3182354" roles: ["Director","Producer"] born: "1 January 1967" reviewed_on_fi1m: 3 average_fi1m_score: 74 average_as: "director" average_over: 2 updated: "2026-10-05T16:01:56.055233+00:00" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # John Requa ## Identity John Requa - **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/john-requa - **Type:** Person - **Fi1m ID:** john-requa - **IMDb ID:** nm0720135 - **TMDB ID:** 56412 - **Wikidata ID:** Q3182354 - **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Requa, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3182354, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0720135/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/56412 Director and producer. Born 1 January 1967 in Burien, Seattle, Washington, USA. ## Details - **Work:** Director, Producer - **Born:** 1 January 1967, Burien, Seattle, Washington, USA - **Active:** 2016–present - **Titles on Fi1m:** 3: 2 directing, 1 writing - **Frequently works with:** [Glenn Ficarra](https://film.one/person/glenn-ficarra.md), [Dan Fogelman](https://film.one/person/dan-fogelman.md), [Ken Olin](https://film.one/person/ken-olin.md), [Sterling K. Brown](https://film.one/person/sterling-k-brown.md) - **Average Fi1m score:** 74, as director, over 2 titles - **Fi1m score by decade:** 2010s 76 (1), 2020s 67 (2) - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Requa, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3182354, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0720135/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/56412 ## Streaming the US now - **Disney+:** [*This Is Us*](https://film.one/tv/this-is-us.md) (76), [*Paradise*](https://film.one/tv/paradise.md) (73), [*Jungle Cruise*](https://film.one/film/jungle-cruise.md) (61) For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country. ## Fi1m on John Requa > John Requa’s work with Glenn Ficarra mixes comedy, drama and deception. We value their attention to actors, though the storytelling can be less persuasive than the people caught up in it. In *Paradise* (2025), Sterling K. Brown gives us a reason to follow a mystery through some improbable turns. We were moved by his performance because he makes the feelings believable when the plotting is harder to accept. That is a useful starting point for John Requa, one of the series’ directors: his work repeatedly gives actors room within stories that depend on misdirection. Requa’s work is inseparable from that of Glenn Ficarra, his writing and directing partner. They wrote *Bad Santa* (2003) before making their feature directing debut with *I Love You Phillip Morris* (2009), which combines comedy and drama in a story of cons and identity. The ensemble romantic comedy *Crazy, Stupid, Love.* (2011) followed, then the con-artist caper *Focus* (2015). The subjects change, but their interest in liars and people deceiving themselves persists. In *Focus*, the storytelling becomes more conventional once the premise is established. They storyboard extensively, encourage improvisation within scripted scenes and use multiple takes to find a natural chemistry between actors, an approach that serves *Crazy, Stupid, Love.* well. Their later move towards television made sense for directors interested in staying close to characters. Requa directed the pilot and multiple episodes of *This Is Us* (2016), helping establish its intimate visual style. The handheld camerawork favoured by the partnership lets us feel we have dropped in on people’s lives, and gives the actors space to make an impression without a big speech. *Paradise* also makes the limits of that approach clear. Its mystery holds our attention, but the second season asks for more patience with loose plotting and flashbacks. These are weaknesses in the series, not faults we can simply assign to Requa, though they do show how much his kind of actor-centred work depends on the writing around it. Try *Paradise* if a character-led mystery is your sort of evening; accept that the plotting will occasionally need forgiving. ## Biography John Requa is an American screenwriter, director and producer. He has frequently collaborated with Glenn Ficarra on films including the screenplay for *Bad Santa* (2003) and the direction of *I Love You Phillip Morris* (2010), *Crazy, Stupid, Love.* (2011) and *Focus* (2015). On television Requa has directed episodes of *This Is Us* (2016–2022) and *Paradise* (2025), on which he also serves as executive producer. He was born on 1 January 1967 in Burien, Washington. *Sources: imdb.com, motionpictures.org, en.wikipedia.org.* ## On Fi1m (3) ### Directed (2) — the average rests on these - *Paradise* (2025), Fi1m 73, Director, Executive Producer — [page](https://film.one/tv/paradise.md) - *This Is Us* (2016), Fi1m 76, Director, Executive Producer — [page](https://film.one/tv/this-is-us.md) ### Wrote (1) - *Jungle Cruise* (2021), Fi1m 61, Screenplay, Screenstory — [page](https://film.one/film/jungle-cruise.md) ## Complete filmography (29) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *Paradise* (2025), series, Executive Producer, Director — Fi1m 73, [page](https://film.one/tv/paradise.md) - *Rabbit Hole* (2023), series, Executive Producer, Director, Writer, Creator - *DC League of Super-Pets* (2022), Executive Producer - *WeCrashed* (2022), series, Executive Producer, Director - *Jungle Cruise* (2021), Screenstory, Screenplay — Fi1m 61, [page](https://film.one/film/jungle-cruise.md) - *NEXT* (2020), series, Director, Executive Producer - *The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part* (2019), Creative Consultant — Fi1m 63, [page](https://film.one/film/the-lego-movie-2-the-second-part.md) - *Smallfoot* (2018), Producer, Screenstory - *The Lego Batman Movie* (2017), Creative Consultant — Fi1m 74, [page](https://film.one/film/the-lego-batman-movie.md) - *Bad Santa 2* (2016), Characters - *Storks* (2016), Executive Producer - *This Is Us* (2016), series, Executive Producer, Director — Fi1m 76, [page](https://film.one/tv/this-is-us.md) - *Whiskey Tango Foxtrot* (2016), Director - *Patriot* (2015), series, Executive Producer - *Focus* (2015), Director, Writer - *Back in the Game* (2013), series, Executive Producer - *Crazy, Stupid, Love.* (2011), Director - *Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore* (2010), Characters - *I Love You Phillip Morris* (2010), Director, Writer - *Bad News Bears* (2005), Screenplay - *Bad Santa* (2003), Writer - *Cats & Dogs* (2001), Screenplay - *The Wild Thornberrys* (1998), series, Writer - *The Angry Beavers* (1997), series, Writer - *Honeymoon with Harry*, Director - *King of the Jungle*, Director - *16 States*, Screenplay, Producer - *Guys and Dolls*, Screenplay - *Misadventure*, Director, Executive Producer --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/john-requa