Taika David Cohen ONZM born August 16 1975 known professionally as Taika Waititi is a New Zealand film and television director producer screenwriter actor and comedian He is the recipient of an Academy Award BAFTA Award and a Grammy Award and has been nominated for two Primetime Emmy Awards His feature films Boy 2010 and Hunt for the Wilderpeople 2016 have each been the topgrossing New Zealand film Waititis 2004 short film Two Cars One Night earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Live Action Short Film He codirected and starred in the horror comedy film What We Do in the Shadows 2014 with Jemaine Clement which was adapted into a television series of the same name 2019present The series has been nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series His most recent directing credits include the superhero film Thor Ragnarok 2017 and the black comedy film Jojo Rabbit 2019 the latter of which he also wrote and starred in as an imaginary Hitler Jojo Rabbit received six Academy Award nominations and won for Best Adapted Screenplay Furthermore Waititi earned a Grammy Award for producing the films soundtrack In addition to directing an episode of the television series The Mandalorian 2019present he also voices the character IG11 for which he garnered a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Character VoiceOver Performance