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Thomas Kail

Thomas Kail

Director, producer and actor · Born January 20, 1978 (48) · Alexandria, Virginia

Thomas Kail (born January 20, 1977) is an American theatre and television director known for directing the Off-Broadway and Broadway productions of Lin-Manuel Miranda's musicals In the Heights and Hamilton, garnering the 2016 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical for the latter. Kail was awarded the Kennedy Center Honor in 2018. He has also directed the television series Fosse/Verdon (2019), for which he was nominated for two Primetime Emmy Awards. Description above from the Wikipedia article Thomas Kail, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

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Biography from TMDB.

Born
January 20, 1978 (48)
From
Alexandria, Virginia
Works as
Director, producer and actor
Titles
13 on MovieCove · 17 credits in all
Links
IMDb (opens in a new tab)TMDB (opens in a new tab)Wikidata (opens in a new tab)

Known for

TMDB popularity, last 39 days to Oct 28Up 13% in 30 days

What are Thomas Kail's films like?

Across their 8 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Self and Bonds.

Genres

Comedy2 titlesTypical Midcredits score: 61st percentile
: browse their Comedy movies
Documentary2 titlesTypical Midcredits score: 66th percentile, at or above their average across these genres
: browse their Documentary movies

Their MovieCove films by primary genre. The badge is the typical Midcredits score of the genre's films, the median percentile; an up arrow marks a genre at or above their average across these genres.

Themes

share of theme weight
Self
40%
Bonds
36%
Society
14%
Ideas
10%
Friendship3 titles, browse their movies with this themeRomantic love2 titles, browse their movies with this themePurpose2 titles, browse their movies with this themeIdentity3 titles, browse their movies with this themeArt2 titles, browse their movies with this theme

What they feel like to watch

their average across 6 films
ToneFeelDemandtheir average · filled zone: the category
Light: How heavy the subject matter and outlook get. Browse their light movies.
Tone · Weight
lightdark

Light 6 · Serious 0 · Dark 0

Stylized: How far its world departs from everyday reality. Browse their stylized movies.
Tone · Style
naturalisticheightened

Grounded 2 · Stylized 2 · Heightened 2

Charged: How hard the emotional peaks hit while you watch. Browse their charged movies.
Feel · Intensity
gentleintense

A split, not a type: Gentle 3 · Charged 2 · Intense 1

Steady: How much it swings between very different feelings. Browse their steady movies.
Feel · Swings
steadyswings

Steady 5 · Shifting 1 · Whiplash 0

Some laughs: How much of the runtime is played for laughs. Browse their some laughs movies.
Feel · Humor
noneconstant

Straight-faced 1 · Some laughs 4 · Funny 1

Even-paced: How fast it moves from scene to scene. Browse their even-paced movies.
Demand · Pace
slowrelentless

A split, not a type: Slow burn 3 · Even-paced 1 · Relentless 2

Casual: How much focus it asks of you — look away and lose the thread? Browse their casual movies.
Demand · Attention
casualfull focus

Casual 4 · Engaged 1 · Full focus 1

Resolved: How much is left for you to interpret. Browse their resolved movies.
Demand · Resolution
resolvedambiguous

Resolved 6 · Open-ended 0 · Ambiguous 0

Moods and endings

endings are an aggregate; no title is named

Dominant moods · mentions across their titles

Joyful
7
Hopeful
4
Warm
2
Romantic
2
Absurd
1
Other
5

How their films linger

Feel-good7 titles, browse their movies with this aftertasteHopeful5 titles, browse their movies with this aftertasteFun2 titles, browse their movies with this aftertaste

How their films end

  • Happy4
  • Bittersweet3
  • Ambiguous1

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 Thomas Kail's films?

As of October 24, 2026, 9 of their 13 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on Hulu (4).

Subscription and free streaming for Thomas Kail'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

17 credits, 13 with a MovieCove page; 5 appearances as themselves are hidden until asked for.

  • Moana(2026)

    Director · Executive Producer

    Midcredits score: 39th percentile of all films

  • Hamilton(2020)

    Director · Producer

    Midcredits score: 97th percentile of all films

  • We Were the Lucky Ones(2024)

    Show 8 episodes · Director · Executive Producer

    Midcredits score: 82nd percentile of all shows

  • World's Best(2023)

    Producer

    Midcredits score: 37th percentile of all films

  • Up Here(2023)

    Show 8 episodes · Director · Executive Producer

    Midcredits score: 26th percentile of all shows

  • In the Heights(2021)

    Thanks

    Midcredits score: 88th percentile of all films

  • Hamilton: History Has Its Eyes on You(2020)

    Director · Actor

    Midcredits score: 65th percentile of all films

  • The Undefeated Presents: Hamilton In-Depth (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2020)

    Director · as Self

  • Tiny Beautiful Things (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2020)

    Director

  • We Are Freestyle Love Supreme(2020)

    Producer · as Self

    Midcredits score: 76th percentile of all films

  • Fosse/Verdon(2019)

    Show 8 episodes · Director · Creator · Executive Producer · Story

    Midcredits score: 83rd percentile of all shows

  • Hamilton: One Shot to Broadway(2017)

    Actor

    Midcredits score: 56th percentile of all films

  • Grease Live!(2016)

    Director · Co-Executive Producer

    Midcredits score: 84th percentile of all films

  • The Jack and Triumph Show(2015)

    Show Director

    Midcredits score: 39th percentile of all shows

  • 2 Broke Girls(2011)

    Show 3 episodes · Director

    Midcredits score: 43rd percentile of all shows

  • Tony Awards (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1956)

    Show 1 episode · Songs · as Self - Nominee

  • Fiddler on the Roof (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)

    Director · Producer

Career shape

A full career of 16 titles, 15 of them dated from 1956 to 2026.

Biggest box office

Moana (2026)

$323M worldwide

Highest rated

Hamilton (2020)

Midcredits 97th

Most popular right now

Moana (2026)

By role

only this rolewith another role
Acting2 of 16: 1 only acting, 1 with another roleDirecting11 of 16: 3 only directing, 8 with another role · typical Midcredits score74thWriting1 of 16: 0 only writing, 1 with another roleProducing9 of 16: 2 only producing, 7 with another role · typical Midcredits score79thOther crew3 of 16: 2 only other crew, 1 with another role

16 titles, 8 with more than one role — directing and producing overlap on 7 of them.

By decade

1950s1 · crew2010s4 · 1 acting · 3 crew2020s10 · 1 acting · 10 crew

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 Thomas Kail's films land?

Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 71st percentile, the median of all 8; across their 6 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 70th percentile for acclaim.

Acclaim · how much people like their films

70thpercentile
Typical film, the median of 6

Approval · how many liked their films

60thpercentile
Typical film, the median of 6

Reach · how many have seen their films

84thpercentile
Typical film, the median of 6

Midcredits score across 13 titles, by percentile

  • 75th and up6
  • 50th to 74th2
  • 25th to 49th5

Shape of the crowd

5 of their 13 titles are Crowd Pleasers.

  • Cult Classic3
  • Crowd Pleaser5
  • Mixed5

Most divisive · producer

World's Best (2023)

84th percentile spread · 32% rated it 4 or lower

Most loved · director, producer

Hamilton (2020)

Midcredits 97th · 84% liked

Reviewers score the atmosphere 62/100 and the pacing 50/100 in their films, across 6 reviewed titles. 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.

Who does Thomas Kail work with?

People who share at least 2 of Thomas Kail's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Lin-Manuel Miranda shares the most, 4.

Actors

Editors

Producers