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Paul Feig (born September 17, 1962) is an American director, producer, writer, and actor best known for creating the cult television series Freaks and Geeks and for directing a run of hit studio comedies including Bridesmaids, The Heat, and Spy.1 To Ghostbusters fans he is the director, co-writer, and an executive producer of Ghostbusters: Answer the Call (2016), the female-led reboot, in which he also makes two voice cameos.2
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Feig was born in Royal Oak, Michigan, and raised in nearby Mount Clemens. His mother, Elaine Elizabeth (née Artingstall), was a telephone operator, and his father, Sanford William Feig, ran a surplus store on Gratiot Avenue.3 He was raised in a Christian Science household; his father had been born Jewish and converted.1 By his own account he knew he wanted to write and direct movies from around the age of nine, and his middle-class Michigan upbringing later became the raw material for Freaks and Geeks.3
He attended Chippewa Valley High School in Clinton Township, Michigan, spent a year at Wayne State University, then transferred to the University of Southern California. While building his early career he worked as a tour guide at Universal Studios Hollywood and performed stand-up comedy.1
Feig began in front of the camera as a bit player and supporting actor through the late 1980s and 1990s. His credits include the film Ski Patrol (1990), Heavyweights (1995) as camp counselor Tim, and a recurring role as Mr. Eugene Pool on Sabrina, the Teenage Witch (1996 to 1997). Being abruptly written out of Sabrina helped sour him on acting and pushed him toward writing and directing. He self-financed and made an early independent feature, and while touring with it he wrote a spec pilot for a high-school series set in the early 1980s.1
That pilot became Freaks and Geeks, which Feig created and which he developed with his longtime collaborator, producer Judd Apatow. Aired by NBC in 1999 to 2000, the show was critically acclaimed but short-lived, canceled after a single season. It nonetheless became a touchstone of American TV comedy and an early showcase for actors such as James Franco, Seth Rogen, Jason Segel, Linda Cardellini, and Busy Philipps. The series earned Feig writing Emmy nominations.1
After Freaks and Geeks, Feig directed widely in television, including episodes of The Office, Arrested Development, Mad Men, 30 Rock, Parks and Recreation, Weeds, and Nurse Jackie. His work on The Office brought further Emmy recognition and a Directors Guild of America Award for comedy-series directing in 2009. He later created the science-fiction comedy Other Space (2015).1
Feig's feature directing debut was the drama I Am David (2003), followed by the family comedy Unaccompanied Minors (2006). His commercial breakthrough came with Bridesmaids (2011), a low-budget, female-driven comedy that grossed well over $250 million worldwide and earned Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations. He followed it with two more hits built around Melissa McCarthy: the buddy-cop comedy The Heat (2013, with Sandra Bullock) and the spy spoof Spy (2015), which he also wrote and produced. This run of successful R-rated, female-led comedies is what made him Sony's choice to relaunch the Ghostbusters franchise.1
After Ghostbusters he directed the thriller A Simple Favor (2018, with Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively), the holiday romance Last Christmas (2019), the fantasy adaptation The School for Good and Evil (2022), and the action comedy Jackpot! (2024). In 2025 he released the sequel Another Simple Favor and the thriller The Housemaid.1
Feig founded the production company Feigco Entertainment. He is also an author, having written the memoirs Kick Me: Adventures in Adolescence (2002) and Superstud: Or How I Became a 24-Year-Old Virgin (2005), along with the young-readers Ignatius MacFarland novels.1 In 2021 he launched a spirits brand, Artingstall's Brilliant London Dry Gin, named after his mother's maiden name and produced in partnership with a craft distillery; the gin has won spirits-competition honors.4 Feig is also widely noted for his sartorial style, frequently appearing in tailored three-piece suits.1
On the finished film Feig is credited as director, executive producer, and co-writer with Katie Dippold.2 He first met Dippold at San Diego Comic-Con 2014, near the Guardians of the Galaxy space-pod in the Marvel section, to discuss developing a new Ghostbusters film. The two began writing the script in October 2014. To set the mood for a horror-comedy they disconnected from the internet and kept their Halloween decorations up well past the holiday.
Feig has two voice-over cameos in the theatrical cut. He provided the voice of the host of the in-universe television program Ghost Jumpers, performing the role as a tribute to Ernie Anderson, the announcer voice for ABC in the 1980s. He also voiced the man who radios Rowan North about a clogged toilet. Feig had filmed an on-camera cameo as well but cut it during post-production. In the alternate extended scene "The Singer Gets High," he portrayed the Head of Thunder Gun Records.
Several production and story details trace directly to Feig's choices. He sketched the design for Kevin's "ghost with boobs" that appears during the climactic ghost parade. The character Vanessa the Desk Clerk was named after Annie Potts' character Vanessa in the 1978 film Corvette Summer, a favorite of Feig's. The choice to have the Baba Booey Shouter shout "Baba Booey" reflects Feig's fandom of Howard Stern. During filming of the alley scene where the team tests the proton packs, rats ran under Feig's chair.
Feig is the first film director to have a Funko Pop figure made in his own likeness. His only design input for the figure was requesting that it feature a purple tie.
Feig served as a consultant on Ghosts from Our Past: Both Literally and Figuratively: The Study of the Paranormal (Three Rivers Press), the in-universe companion book tied to the 2016 film. He is thanked in the acknowledgments on page 215.5
He wrote the introduction for the Ghostbusters 101: Everyone Answers the Call trade paperback.6 In Ghostbusters 101 #1, a post-it note at the bottom of a stack reads "Check with Paul," a nod to his role as director and consultant.7 In Ghostbusters 101 #5, page 1, panel 1, Feig appears as a background figure on the far right.8
In the first level of the Lego Dimensions Ghostbusters (2016 Movie) Story Pack, Feig appears as a character locked in a cupboard. Once freed, his character says, "I wonder if they'd be mad if I remade 'Back to the Future.'" This is a callback to a joke Feig made during press for the film in July 2016.
Feig has been married to producer Laurie Karon since 1994. The couple lives in Los Angeles.1
The Funko Pop figure of Feig is of recurring collector interest on GBFans.com as a piece of Ghostbusters: Answer the Call (2016) memorabilia. The figure's distinctive purple tie, his only design request, makes it identifiable in collection photos. His documented attention to production detail, including the named-character nods and his on-set involvement, has provided context for community discussions of the 2016 film's props and design decisions.
Some content on this page was researched using the Ghostbusters Wiki on Fandom.
"Paul Feig," Wikipedia, accessed 2026-06-13, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Feig (birth, family, Christian Science upbringing, education, acting and television career, Freaks and Geeks, feature filmography, awards, personal life). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11
Ghostbusters (2016), Columbia Pictures / Sony Pictures. End credits and theatrical cut (director, executive producer, co-writer with Katie Dippold; two uncredited voice cameos). ↩ ↩2
"Feig, Paul 1962-," Encyclopedia.com (sourced from Contemporary Authors), accessed 2026-06-13, https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/feig-paul-1962 (father's Gratiot Avenue surplus store, childhood ambition to direct). ↩ ↩2
"Artingstall's Brilliant London Dry Gin," The Gin Guild Ginopedia, accessed 2026-06-13, https://www.theginguild.com/ginopedia/gin-brands/artingstalls-brilliant-london-dry-gin/; and Artingstall's Brilliant London Dry Gin official site, accessed 2026-06-13, https://www.artingstallsgin.com (brand launched by Paul Feig, named after his mother's maiden name, distilled in partnership with a craft distillery). ↩
Erin Gilbert and Abby L. Yates, with Andrew Shaffer (2016). Ghosts from Our Past: Both Literally and Figuratively: The Study of the Paranormal. Three Rivers Press, New York. ISBN 978-1101906187. p. 215 (acknowledgments thanking Paul Feig). ↩
Ghostbusters 101: Everyone Answers the Call TPB (IDW Publishing, 2017). ISBN 978-1684051250. Introduction by Paul Feig. ↩
Ghostbusters 101 #1 (IDW Publishing, 2017), p. 20. Post-it note reading "Check with Paul" at the bottom of the stack. ↩
Ghostbusters 101 #5 (IDW Publishing, 2017), p. 1, panel 1. Paul Feig appears as a background figure on the far right. ↩
