- Born
- Height6′ 2″ (1.88 m)
- Joe Menendez is a multi-genre veteran of drama, action, horror, Sci-Fi, comedy, family and rom-com. His numerous and varied credits show that he is a skilled craftsman and an accomplished, versatile storyteller in both TV and Film.
Menendez is in post production on the Super Hero action/comedy "Henry Danger: The Movie", which he directed (and Executive Produced) for Paramount Plus and Nickelodeon Movies. He's also directed NBC's "Quantum Leap", as well as episodes of "Evil" and "Star Trek: Picard" for Paramount Plus" and multiples of "Snowpiercer", which will air on AMC in 2025.
He was the Co-Executive Producer/Director of the CW's Warner Brothers/Berlanti re-imagining of the one hour drama "Kung Fu". It marked the third time Menendez has served as the Producing Director, having also done so on Freeform's "Siren", and Disney's "Imagination Movers", where he directed multiples for all.
He has also directed episodes of "12 Monkeys" for SyFy, "Queen of the South" for USA Network, "From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series" for Robert Rodriguez's El Rey Network, and the anthology series "12 Deadly Days" which was produced by Blumhouse for YouTube Red, and episodes for the Amazon series "Just Add Magic" and the Hulu series "East Los High."
Menendez directed the family adventure "Legends of the Hidden Temple" for Nickelodeon. The movie is based on the popular 90s game show of the same name, which premiered November 26th, 2016, and the thriller "Nightclub Secrets" for Lifetime.
Completely Bi-lingual in English and Spanish, he has directed three Spanish-language features, the first coming in 2007, when Menendez directed (and edited) "Ladrón Que Roba A Ladrón" (To Rob A Thief) for Lionsgate Films, which opened on 340 screens nationwide on August 31, 2007 and went on to boast a record-grossing opening weekend for a Spanish-language film in the U.S. In 2015, he directed the sequel to Ladrón with the action-comedy feature "Ladrones", for Pantelion Films, which received a CinemaScore of "A". His third Spanish-language feature was the romantic-comedy "Quiero Ser Fiel." The film premiered in Latin America in 2014, remaining in the top ten of Mexico's box office for two weeks. In 2016, the film made its U.S. debut.
Menendez was also a Co-Producer on another Pantelion feature "Aztec Warrior."
In 2011, Menendez directed "3 Holiday Tails" for MarVista Entertainment. The film premiered under its TV and DVD title, "A Golden Christmas 2: The Second Tail" on ION Television in December 2011.
"Hunting of Man", which he edited, wrote and directed in 2002, won best picture at the 2003 New York Latino International Film Festival and the coveted Festival Director Award For Excellence at the 2003 Method Fest where Menendez was also nominated for Best Director.
Menendez has directed multiple episodes for several Nickelodeon and Disney series. Shows including: Kirby Buckets (2014), 100 Things to Do Before High School (2014), Zeke and Luther (2009) for Disney XD including the June 15th, 2009 World Premiere "Bros Go Pro" which scored record ratings, coming in at #1 for the night, Big Time Rush (2009) True Jackson, VP (2008), Just Jordan (2007), Unfabulous (2004), Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide (2004),Taina (2001) and The Brothers Garcia (2000) for which he won an Alma Award for Outstanding Directing In A Comedy in 2001.
Menendez has now added author to his long list of credits, having published his debut novel, the science fiction thriller, "Mindshot" in 2013. The book is available in print and eBook everywhere.
Born in New York City, at the raw age of 7, Menendez commandeered his grandmother's Super 8 movie camera and began directing, shooting and editing movies starring his little brother, cousins and friends. He moved to L.A. in 1992, and since then, he's never stopped working as either a writer or a director or a producer. Or all the above.- IMDb Mini Biography By: anonymous
- SpouseRoni Eguia Menendez(July 13, 2002 - ?)
- Race / EthnicityHispanic / Latino / Latina / Latine
- The late Ninón Sevilla was his great aunt.
- Named one of "The Top 100 Latinos on the Move" by Latino Impact Magazine in 2001.
- Often shoots entire scenes in one continuous take with no cuts, known as "oners".
- His feature Ladrón que roba a ladrón (2007) had, at the time, the highest grossing opening weekend for a Spanish language film in US movie history.
- He was a one-time Co-Chair of the DGA Latino Committee.
- The whole notion of the movie (Ladrones) is that it's an American movie. A lot of people pause and cock their heads when you say it is an American movie. 'Well isn't it in Spanish?' - they'll say. Well yeah, it's an American movie in Spanish. To take that even further, everything in the movie is structured like an American movie. The jokes are primarily styled like American jokes. It's really because we don't know how to make a Mexican movie, a Dominican (movie) or a South American (movie). All we know as [people of] Latino descent being raised in this country is how to do things American-style.
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