Zach Kanin

Zachary Kanin is an American writer, producer, and cartoonist. He is a former SNL staff writer and the co-creator, producer, and writer of Detroiters and I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson.

Zach Kanin
Born	Zachary Kanin Washington, D.C., U.S.
Occupation(s)	Cartoonist, writer, producer
Years active	2002–Present
Notable work	Detroiters I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson

Early life and education

Kanin was born in Washington, D.C. to Dennis R. Kanin and Carol Kanin, and was raised in Newton, Massachusetts.^[1] His maternal grandfather is former Rhode Island governor Frank Licht. Kanin began drawing as early as preschool.^[1] He attended The Roxbury Latin School in West Roxbury, MA before matriculating to Harvard University. At Harvard, he received his degree in English. He joined The Harvard Lampoon in 2002 and later became president.^[2]

Career

Kanin worked as an assistant to The New Yorker's cartoons editor, Robert Mankoff for two years after college.^[1] Eventually, Kanin began to submit his own work for publication.^[3] He has published approximately 300 cartoons in The New Yorker as of 2014.^[1] The style of his cartoons was described by Richard Gehr of The Comics Journal as "a slightly surreal place where things have gone sometimes seriously awry."^[1]

Kanin was hired to the writing staff of SNL in 2011 and left in 2016.^[3] While working there he met fellow writer Tim Robinson and the two became writing partners.^[4] They collaborated to create Detroiters (2017–2018) and I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson (2019– ).^[5] He was also a writer for Documentary Now!, The Characters, and Michael Bolton's Big, Sexy Valentine's Day Special.^[6][7]

Personal life

Kanin married Christina Angelides, daughter of former California state treasurer Phil Angelides, in 2011.^[1][8]

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Nominated work	Result	Ref.
2011	Silver Reuben Award	Gag Cartoons	N/A	Won	[9]
2012	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series	SNL	Nominated	[10]
2013		Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series		Nominated
		Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special	Saturday Night Live Weekend Update Thursday	Nominated
2016		Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series	SNL	Nominated
2013	Writers Guild of America Awards	Comedy/Variety Talk Series	SNL	Nominated	[11]
2014		Comedy/Variety Talk Series		Nominated
2015		Comedy/Variety Talk Series		Nominated
2016		Comedy/Variety Talk Series		Nominated
2017		Comedy/Variety Talk Series		Won
2018		Comedy/Variety –Music, Awards, Tributes, –Specials	Michael Bolton's Big, Sexy Valentine's Day Special	Nominated
2020		Comedy/Variety Sketch Series	I Think You Should Leave	Won
2022		Comedy/Variety Sketch Series		Won	[12]