Eric Appel (born August 13, 1980) is an American filmmaker working in television, film, and commercials. Originally from Endicott, New York, Appel attended the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, majoring in computer animation. Describing his childhood interests, Appel said, "I was always playing around with video cameras, but I was also the kid that drew cartoons. It's weird. I was so obsessed with movies and television, but nobody ever told me that I should go to film school... [W]hen I decided to go to school for animation, it felt like a no-brainer. However, when I actually went away to college, I realized that I had made a mistake (and also that I wasn't that great at drawing). I actually spent more time working on videos with my roommate, who was majoring in video production, than I did working on my own project ." While in college, Appel also began performing improv comedy after his girlfriend brought him to a "show at the University of Pittsburgh called 'Friday Nite Improvs,' where anyone from the audience could volunteer to go up on stage and perform these improv games." After moving to New York City, Appel started taking classes at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater, "and it wasn't long before I was basically living at the theatre. I became very involved very quickly. [I was] taking improv classes, interning, running the lights for shows and really helping out in any way that I could so I could just be around comedy as much as possible." While still in New York, Appel got a job writing for The Andy Milonakis Show, then moved to Los Angeles for that show's third season when its production was relocated to California. He subsequently wrote for Crank Yankers and Human Giant, then went to work for the comedy website Funny or Die. "Funny or Die was such a young company when they hired me...there were about eight of us all sitting around a large dining room table on laptops. Every day a few people would disappear to go shoot some shit and then the next day they would be sitting next to you editing it. Then it would go up on the site and it would either get a million hits or nobody would watch it and it would disappear and then it was on to the next thing. Everyone there worked at their own pace and you were encouraged to just go pick up a camera and make something...I used this as an opportunity to start directing my own sketches and quickly found out that not only do I like directing more than writing, but also that I'm better at it." Appel would go on pensively direct series television, with credits including Eagleheart, NTSF:SD: SUV, The Office, New Girl, Selfie, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Son of Zorn, Die Hart and The Afterparty. In 2022, Appel made his feature directorial debut with Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, based on a Funny or Die short that he directed twelve years earlier. The film won a Critics Choice Award for Best Made for Television Movie. Description above from the Wikipedia article Eric Appel, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
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Biography from TMDB.
- August 13, 1980 (46)
- Endicott, New York, USA
- Director and writer, also editor and producer
- 26 on MovieCove · 40 credits in all
What are Eric Appel's films like?
Across their 12 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Self and Bonds.
Themes
What they feel like to watch
A split, not a type: Ironic 1 · Wry 1 · Earnest 2
Light 4 · Serious 0 · Dark 0
A split, not a type: Grounded 1 · Stylized 1 · Heightened 2
Gentle 2 · Charged 2 · Intense 0
A split, not a type: Steady 2 · Shifting 1 · Whiplash 1
Straight-faced 0 · Some laughs 1 · Funny 3
Slow burn 2 · Even-paced 2 · Relentless 0
Casual 4 · Engaged 0 · Full focus 0
Easy watch 4 · Affecting 0 · Heavy 0
Resolved 4 · Open-ended 0 · Ambiguous 0
Moods and endings
- Happy2
- Bittersweet3
- Ambiguous4
- Cyclical3
AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.
Where can I watch Eric Appel's films?
As of October 24, 2026, 18 of their 26 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on The Roku Channel (5).
Subscription and free streaming for Eric Appel's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.
Filmography
40 credits, 26 with a MovieCove page.
Soundtrack: DCM '26 (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2026)
The Breadwinner(2026)
Midcredits score: 32nd percentile of all films
Die Hart 2: Die Harter (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2024)
Die Hart(2023)
Midcredits score: 14th percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 77th percentile of all films
The Afterparty(2022)
Midcredits score: 65th percentile of all shows
Die Hart(2020)
Midcredits score: 4th percentile of all shows
Making History(2017)
Midcredits score: 25th percentile of all shows
Son of Zorn(2016)
Midcredits score: 39th percentile of all shows
Teachers(2016)
Midcredits score: 22nd percentile of all shows
Benched(2014)
Midcredits score: 53rd percentile of all shows
A to Z (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2014)
Selfie (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2014)
Bad Teacher(2014)
Midcredits score: 6th percentile of all shows
Linclone (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2014)
Silicon Valley(2014)
Midcredits score: 98th percentile of all shows
Growing Up Fisher (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2014)
About a Boy(2014)
Midcredits score: 63rd percentile of all shows
The Michael J. Fox Show(2013)
Midcredits score: 27th percentile of all shows
Back in the Game(2013)
Midcredits score: 24th percentile of all shows
Trophy Wife(2013)
Midcredits score: 42nd percentile of all shows
Brooklyn Nine-Nine(2013)
Midcredits score: 97th percentile of all shows
Hot Package(2013)
Midcredits score: 25th percentile of all shows
We Are Men(2013)
Midcredits score: 8th percentile of all showsSwords, Knives, Very Sharp Objects and Cutlery (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2012)
Animal Practice (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2012)
New Girl(2011)
Midcredits score: 82nd percentile of all shows
Death Valley(2011)
Midcredits score: 76th percentile of all shows
NTSF:SD:SUV(2011)
Midcredits score: 57th percentile of all shows
Field of Dreams 2: Lockout (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2011)
Happy Endings(2011)
Midcredits score: 78th percentile of all shows
This Show Will Get You High (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2010)
Midcredits score: 91st percentile of all films
Blue Mountain State(2010)
Midcredits score: 93rd percentile of all shows
Paranormal Saw (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2010)
Infomercials (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2009)
Everything (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2009)
The Office(2005)
Midcredits score: 99th percentile of all shows
The Andy Milonakis Show(2005)
Midcredits score: 17th percentile of all showsStepdude (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
Career shape
A full career of 37 titles, 36 of them dated from 2005 to 2026.
Biggest box office
The Breadwinner (2026)
Highest rated
Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (2010)
Most popular right now
The Breadwinner (2026)
Film career
- 2022Screen debut· Weird: The Al Yankovic Story
Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it. The ring is the typical Midcredits score (the median percentile) of the role's titles that are on MovieCove, shown from 5 scored.
How do Eric Appel's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 55th percentile, the median of all 4; across a limited sample of 4 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 54th percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up9
- 50th to 74th4
- 25th to 49th6
- Below 25th7
Shape of the crowd
9 of their 26 titles are Crowd Pleasers.
- Universally Loved4
- Universally Panned1
- Divisive2
- Cult Classic1
- Crowd Pleaser9
- Broadly Agreed1
- Mixed8
Reviewers score the pacing 38/100 in their films, across 3 reviewed titles; fans 53, detractors 20. The element that speaks to their work as a director.
Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.
Is Eric Appel's work okay for kids?
Across a limited sample of up to 4 MovieCove titles with content scores.
Severity 0–100 from the Content Guide. Categories with under 10 votes on a title are not counted.
Who does Eric Appel work with?
People who share at least 2 of Eric Appel's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Curtis Gwinn shares the most, 3.
Directors
- Claire ScanlonShared titles: Making History (2017), Son of Zorn (2016)See all 2 shared titles with Claire Scanlon
- Jared HessShared titles: Making History (2017), Son of Zorn (2016)See all 2 shared titles with Jared Hess
- Payman BenzShared titles: Making History (2017), Son of Zorn (2016)See all 2 shared titles with Payman Benz
- Peter AtencioShared titles: Making History (2017), Hot Package (2013)See all 2 shared titles with Peter Atencio
Writers
- Curtis GwinnShared titles: Hot Package (2013), Death Valley (2011), Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (2010)See all 3 shared titles with Curtis Gwinn
- Derek KolstadShared titles: Die Hart (2023), Die Hart (2020)See all 2 shared titles with Derek Kolstad
- Tripper ClancyShared titles: Die Hart (2023), Die Hart (2020)See all 2 shared titles with Tripper Clancy
- Reed AgnewShared titles: Son of Zorn (2016), The Andy Milonakis Show (2005)See all 2 shared titles with Reed Agnew
Actors
- Jean RenoShared titles: Die Hart (2023), Die Hart (2020)See all 2 shared titles with Jean Reno
- John TravoltaShared titles: Die Hart (2023), Die Hart (2020)See all 2 shared titles with John Travolta
- Josh HartnettShared titles: Die Hart (2023), Die Hart (2020)See all 2 shared titles with Josh Hartnett
- Kevin HartShared titles: Die Hart (2023), Die Hart (2020)See all 2 shared titles with Kevin Hart
Composers and editors
- Jamie KennedyShared titles: Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (2022), Die Hart (2020)See all 2 shared titles with Jamie Kennedy
- Leo BirenbergShared titles: Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (2022), Die Hart (2020)See all 2 shared titles with Leo Birenberg
- Zach RobinsonShared titles: Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (2022), Die Hart (2020)See all 2 shared titles with Zach Robinson
Producers
- Alex OrrShared titles: Die Hart (2023), Die Hart (2020)See all 2 shared titles with Alex Orr
- Anson DownesShared titles: Die Hart (2023), Die Hart (2020)See all 2 shared titles with Anson Downes
- Candice Wilson CherryShared titles: Die Hart (2023), Die Hart (2020)See all 2 shared titles with Candice Wilson Cherry
- Jeff ClanaganShared titles: Die Hart (2023), Die Hart (2020)See all 2 shared titles with Jeff Clanagan
Mixed roles
- Jonah RayShared titles: Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (2010), The Andy Milonakis Show (2005)See all 2 shared titles with Jonah Ray
