---
name: "Peter Ackerman"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/peter-ackerman"
fi1m_id: "peter-ackerman"
imdb_id: "nm0010004"
tmdb_id: 5717
wikidata_id: "Q30610263"
roles: ["Writer","Producer"]
reviewed_on_fi1m: 5
average_fi1m_score: 74
average_as: "writer"
average_over: 3
updated: "2026-10-05T11:10:41.495279+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."
---

# Peter Ackerman

## Identity

Peter Ackerman

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/peter-ackerman
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** peter-ackerman
- **IMDb ID:** nm0010004
- **TMDB ID:** 5717
- **Wikidata ID:** Q30610263
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Ackerman_(playwright), https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q30610263, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0010004/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/5717

Writer and producer.

## Details

- **Work:** Writer, Producer
- **Active:** 2002–present
- **Titles on Fi1m:** 5: 2 acting, 3 writing
- **Frequently works with:** [Denis Leary](https://film.one/person/denis-leary.md), [John Leguizamo](https://film.one/person/john-leguizamo.md), [Lori Forte](https://film.one/person/lori-forte.md), [Ray Romano](https://film.one/person/ray-romano.md), [Andrew Bernstein](https://film.one/person/andrew-bernstein.md), [Carlos Saldanha](https://film.one/person/carlos-saldanha.md), [Keri Russell](https://film.one/person/keri-russell.md), [Michael Berg](https://film.one/person/michael-berg.md)
- **Average Fi1m score:** 74, as writer, over 3 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 2000s 63 (3), 2010s 91 (1), 2020s 76 (1)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 74 to 66 across 3 titles
- **Score spread:** 1 at 80+, 1 at 60–79, 1 under 60
- **Genres:** Drama 2, Adventure 1, Animation 1, Comedy 1, Crime 1, Family 1
- **Screen time:** 2 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $887m across 1 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Ackerman_(playwright), https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q30610263, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0010004/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/5717

## Streaming the US now

- **Disney+:** [*The Americans*](https://film.one/tv/the-americans.md) (91), [*Ice Age*](https://film.one/film/ice-age.md) (73), [*Ice Age: The Meltdown*](https://film.one/film/ice-age-the-meltdown.md) (61), [*Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs*](https://film.one/film/ice-age-dawn-of-the-dinosaurs.md) (56)
- **Netflix:** [*The Diplomat*](https://film.one/tv/the-diplomat.md) (76)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Peter Ackerman

> Peter Ackerman has an ear for comic exchanges, though the jointly written *Ice Age* can overwork them. We prefer the television dramas he has helped write, especially *The Americans*, though a shared writing credit can only tell us so much.

In *Ice Age* (2002), Ray Romano gives Manny enough weary warmth to make the screenplay’s extra pleas for affection unnecessary. We liked him already, which made those appeals mildly irritating. Peter Ackerman shares the screenplay credit with Michael J. Wilson and Michael Berg, and the same overworking affects the banter: an amusing relationship must keep producing another line. It remains a likeable, brisk comedy, but we were happier watching Scrat pursue his acorn than hearing another glib exchange.

Stage comedy supplied Ackerman’s route into animation. His debut play, *Things You Shouldn't Say Past Midnight* (1999), led to his being hired on *Ice Age*, initially for comedy punch-ups. He later co-wrote *Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs* (2009) and *The Angry Birds Movie 2* (2019), continuing the family-animation work. Adding jokes was part of the job; our reservation about *Ice Age* is that the finished screenplay does not always know when it has enough.

*The Americans* (2013) is the substantial change of pace: Ackerman wrote eight episodes and rose to co-executive producer. Under showrunners Joe Weisberg and Joel Fields, the series gives its marriage as much attention as its espionage, taking time to make both matter. Its patience is what we value most, even though it is slow to begin. It is the strongest work here, but it would be careless to assign the whole series’ strengths to one of its writers.

*The Diplomat* (2023), where Ackerman is a writer and co-executive producer, brings the pleasure of prickly exchanges forward again. Working with showrunner Debora Cahn, he contributes to a series whose chief asset is Keri Russell and Rufus Sewell making each other’s lives difficult. We recommend it with a reservation: the politics receive less scrutiny than they need, while the relationships are good enough to keep us watching. Begin there for the argumentative company; give *The Americans* time if a slow start does not put you off.

## Biography

Peter Ackerman is an American screenwriter, television writer and producer, playwright, actor and author. He began his career as an actor in the film *Astronomy of Errors* (2000) and in Off-Broadway productions before moving into writing.

As a screenwriter he contributed to the animated features *Ice Age* (2002), *Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs* (2009) and *The Angry Birds Movie 2* (2019). On television he has written for *The Americans* and *Amazing Stories*, and served as writer and co-executive producer on *The Diplomat* (2023–). He received a Primetime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series for the 2025 episode 'Amagansett' of *The Diplomat*.

Ackerman has also written the children's books *The Lonely Typewriter* and *The Lonely Phone Booth*.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, televisionacademy.com.*

## On Fi1m (5)

### Performed in (2)

- *Ice Age: The Meltdown* (2006), Fi1m 61, as Dung Beetle Dad (voice) — [page](https://film.one/film/ice-age-the-meltdown.md)
- *Ice Age* (2002), Fi1m 73, as Dodo / Freaky Mammal (voice) — [page](https://film.one/film/ice-age.md)

### Wrote (3) — the average rests on these

- *The Diplomat* (2023), Fi1m 76, Co-Executive Producer, Writer — [page](https://film.one/tv/the-diplomat.md)
- *The Americans* (2013), Fi1m 91, Co-Executive Producer, Supervising Producer, Co-Producer, Writer — [page](https://film.one/tv/the-americans.md)
- *Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs* (2009), Fi1m 56, Screenplay — [page](https://film.one/film/ice-age-dawn-of-the-dinosaurs.md)

## Complete filmography (8)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *The Diplomat* (2023), series, Writer, Co-Executive Producer — Fi1m 76, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-diplomat.md)
- *Amazing Stories* (2020), series, Writer
- *The Angry Birds Movie 2* (2019), Screenplay
- *The Polka King* (2017), as Priest
- *The Americans* (2013), series, Writer, Co-Producer, Supervising Producer, Co-Executive Producer — Fi1m 91, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-americans.md)
- *Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs* (2009), Screenplay — Fi1m 56, [page](https://film.one/film/ice-age-dawn-of-the-dinosaurs.md)
- *Ice Age: The Meltdown* (2006), as Dung Beetle Dad (voice) — Fi1m 61, [page](https://film.one/film/ice-age-the-meltdown.md)
- *Ice Age* (2002), as Dodo / Freaky Mammal (voice) · Screenplay — Fi1m 73, [page](https://film.one/film/ice-age.md)

---
© 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/peter-ackerman