Ken Sanzel

Ken Sanzel
Born	1964 or 1965 [1]
Occupations	director, screenwriter, producer
Years active	1997–present

Ken Sanzel is an American film and television director, producer, writer, and former law enforcement officer. Sanzel spent a decade as an officer of the New York City Transit Police Department before becoming a screenwriter in the 90s.

Career

Ken Sanzel worked as an officer of the New York City Transit Police Department for ten years. In 1990, Sanzel and his plainclothes partner encountered a pair of armed muggers IRT Subway train in Brooklyn attacking a couple with a baby. A shootout ensued in which one of the muggers fled while the other suffered a non-lethal gunshot wound and was quickly arrested. Sanzel took a shot in his left shoulder which left a bullet fragment embedded in his body. As a result of his actions Sanzel was awarded the New York City Police Department Combat Cross and Distinguished Duty Medal. ^[1]

Sanzel began writing screenplays in the early 90s in his off hours from his job. ^{[1] [2]} Sanzel managed to achieve success thanks to a childhood friend who became a film executive leading to Savoy Pictures buying three of his screenplays and hiring him to write a fourth one. Sanzel left his role as a detective for the Transit Police Department not long thereafter. ^{[1] [3]}

As Sanzel had a relationship with CBS, regularly selling them pilots. Then chairwoman Nina Tassler asked him to come on board the first season of Numb3rs to help improve the police dialogue. ^[4] Sanzel began regularly collaborating with creators Nicolas Falacci and Cheryl Heuton, which led to him becoming a regular contributor on the series, writing and directing a few episodes. ^[4]

Following his work on Numb3rs, Sanzel was hired by CBS to serve as showrunner and executive producer for the first season of Blue Bloods. ^[5] By August 2010, it was reported that Sanzel had exited Blue Bloods as showrunner due to creative differences with star Tom Selleck with Sanzel favoring more compelling procedural storylines while Selleck favored softer character focused material. ^[5]

In April 2012, it was reported Sanzel had signed an overall deal with Universal Television. ^[6]

In May 2018, it was reported that Sanzel would write and direct Kill Chain, an action-thriller for Millennium Films starring Nicolas Cage. ^[7]

Filmography

Films

Year	Title	Director	Writer	Producer	Notes
1998	The Replacement Killers	No	Yes	No
1998	Scar City	Yes	Yes	No
2002	Lone Hero	Yes	Yes	No
2015	Blunt Force Trauma	Yes	Yes	No
2019	Kill Chain	Yes	Yes	No
TBA	Best Pancakes in the County	Yes	Yes	No

Television

Year	Title	Creator	Writer	Producer	Notes
1997	Lawless	Yes	No	No	Wrote and produced the original pilot which went unused after Frank Lupo became showrunner. [4]
1999	Dodge's City	Yes	Yes	No	Also director, Unsold Pilot for MTV/UPN [4] [6]
2005	Jonny Zero	Yes	No	No
2005	Numb3rs	No	Yes	Yes	Consulting Producer, 104 episodes
2010	Blue Bloods	No	Yes	Yes	Executive Producer, Showrunner, 6 episodes
2010	Nomads	Yes	Yes	Yes	Executive Producer, Unsold Pilot for The CW [6]
2012	NYC 22	No	Yes	Yes
2012	Ironside	No	Yes	No
2019	Reef Break	Yes	Yes	No

References

1. Hirschfeld, Neal (February 8, 1998). "A Police Officer Moves On To the Moviemaking Beat". The New York Times . Archived from the original on December 18, 2010. Retrieved January 22, 2026.
2. "Ex-cop sees violence through a different lens". Variety . January 18, 2013. Archived from the original on October 30, 2014. Retrieved January 22, 2026.
3. "Fandango biography". Archived from the original on January 22, 2026. Retrieved January 22, 2026.
4. "*Interview* Director Ken Sanzel". ActionReloaded. April 14, 2021. Archived from the original on May 7, 2021. Retrieved January 22, 2026.
5. Finke, Nikki (August 5, 2010). "Showrunner Ken Sanzel Exits 'Blue Bloods' After Creative Tension With Tom Selleck". Deadline Hollywood . Archived from the original on September 4, 2014. Retrieved January 22, 2026.
6. Rose, Lacey (April 26, 2012). "'Numb3rs' Producer Ken Sanzel Lands Overall Deal at Universal Television". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on October 23, 2021. Retrieved January 24, 2026.
7. Ritman, Alex (May 9, 2018). "Cannes: Nicolas Cage to Star in 'Kill Chain' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on June 25, 2021. Retrieved January 24, 2026.

External links

• Ken Sanzel at IMDb