Kenan Thompson speaks at the 2025 Blackweek Conference in New York
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Kenan Thompson behind the camera for a horror flick? How about helping brands up their storytelling game? The longest-running cast member in SNL history is stepping into a new chapter of creativity that finds him expanding his lens while still keeping his standing Saturday night date.
“It feels freeing and exciting, stepping into new phases in life and career,” says the 48-year-old who made his screen debut in 1994 as an original cast member on Nickelodeon sketch comedy series All That. “It’s always nice to get out on the promotion trail for things that we’re initiating ourselves as opposed to being tasked to do so. It’s just a different dynamic.”
The promotion trail for Artists For Artists, the independent production studio Thompson co-founded in 2021 with producer John Ryan Jr., is getting some heavy foot traffic this summer. After setting records at Paramount+ with the 2023 Good Burger sequel, the company that provides expansive creative and financial autonomy for its talent, has several high-profile projects launching with partner Range Media.
For one, there’s the extension of the Kenan & Kel Universe with an array of multi-platform programming featuring Thompson and longtime comedic partner Kel Mitchell that’s rooted in the legacy brand with an eye to next gen. Then there’s the growing roster of projects that find Thompson ensconced behind the camera. Chapter 51, the Tyler Shields-directed comedic thriller that stars Colman Domingo and Abigail Bresnan, premieres June 23 on VOD platforms. The film is Thompson’s first producing credit of a project he doesn’t star in. Then there’s the entry into the brand space beginning with a suite of social media content for a popular candy brand, and Thompson children’s book, Unfunny Bunny, which published in January and is on track to get a universe of its own.
For Thompson, the momentum represents both wing-spreading and security. “Just on a philosophical level, I think I’m leaving behind the worry of, ‘Will I be able to work and support myself?’ Because now we’re moving in so many different directions there’s always work to be done and I’m not worried about, Will I have a job? I mean, I got like 17 jobs at the moment—which is great.”
On the Kenan & Kel front, Orange Pop!, a free match-3 puzzle game featuring Thompson and Mitchell voicing hi-energy comical bits, is first out of the gate on the App Store and Google Play. Feature film Kenan & Kel Meet Frankenstein is in development and comic book series Kenan & Kel Meet Zombies, which also blends horror, comedy and adventure, is being published by Range Comics. Also in the works is more merch and a lifestyle collection developed in collaboration with designer Sean Wotherspoon that blends nostalgia, storytelling and contemporary style.
“It’s about continuing the momentum of Kel and I being adult performers now and opening that chapter and bringing along all the fans from all those years ago. And we’re so blessed because kids are constantly finding it, whether their parents show it to them or their siblings or whatever. I’m constantly getting told by young generations they love the show, they just have such an affinity towards it, and Kel and I have such a good time working together,” says Thompson, hinting a live tour may be in the offing.
“And Kel and I have such a great work ethic. We were putting in 14-hour days and then taking pictures afterwards because we were so appreciative of the people of Rhode Island just coming out and watching us,” he says of filming Good Burger 2, which broke the record for the most-watched domestic launch for an original film in Paramount+ history.
Beyond the good vibes, “I learned that we can do it,” Thompson says of his AFA partnership with Ryan. “We can actually get a production to a place, get it funded, and get it done. From us suggesting we do it to having the capabilities to help people feel comfortable about greenlighting… it was a very nuanced kind of thing to be allowed even to have such large percentage participatory stakes and other things. We’ve always wanted to get to that point, and the time is happening now so it’s just very exciting to watch the rose blossom.”
And while Thompson will still be on screen plenty, he’s embracing his role behind the scenes. “I’m really having fun putting things on their feet. And just that instant gratification of like, ‘Cut. We got it.’”
Genre-wise, “I can do comedy really well because I get it, and I’m enjoying the storytelling part of it and that’s something that I’ve gotten better at. I’ve been around SNL and writers like Seth Meyers. The storytelling is very strategic. The smarter the sketch, the harder they worked on it, and that’s all good math for me these days. Meaning, the writing part is challenging and then once you get on set, you’re starting to create it, that’s the fun part,” he says.
“Comedy and horror, they’re pretty similar in that they’re very straightforward as far as how you approach the moments in those kinds of movies. You’ve got to set things up for the punchline and in horror, you have to set up the suspense. I think they’re interchangeable a little bit as far as shooting styles is concerned. Big action, I think that takes an actual expert to make sure you’re not just wasting two different crews—you gotta really know what you’re doing. That’ll be the next chapter, 2.0. I think I need to go to school so that I can talk to the lighting department intelligently and so I can actually be the final voice on these decisions.”
Recently, Thompson and Ryan found themselves saying yes to creating a suite of social storytelling for a prominent candy brand, which for the moment is under literal and figurative wraps.
“After that first day of shooting, I was having such a good time, and I realized how quick the day goes when you’re directing like this. I thought I would be tired, but there’s just so much going on, and you’re not taking a lot of up-and-down breaks like actors do all day. This is such a different experience,” he says.
“I loved the feeling of getting it right and putting something in the can and keep adding to the canon. All of a sudden you start looking at your work semi-edited together and it’s like, ‘Yo we did really good.’ I usually don’t really love watching myself so I stay away from monitors and stuff a lot of the time. But when it’s someone else, it’s like, ‘Oh I can really take a microscopic approach to this whole thing and fix any and everything that I see that’s bothering me.”
And after three-plus decades on the other side of the camera, Thompson is also fired up about creating environments that serve everyone on set.
“I have a lot of excitement to be another voice for the underserved, the underrepresented, to protect them on set and things. Sometimes it’s the actors, sometimes it’s the grips who are having a hard day. And I’m just trying to make everybody feel special and be considerate of time for everyone. You can’t just treat the actors like their time is more special than a crew person because they’re working, you know, sometimes almost four times as hard,” he says.
“I like the approach where everybody’s important. And me being an actor, I think I’m sensitive to that because I’ve been hurry-up-and-waiting for the last 35 years. So if there’s a way to smooth that out in any way for each department, I try to do that. And when you’re not wasting time you get a better performance out of people when they’re a little more jovial.”
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